Our Dr. Becker returns to ‘The Doctor Oz Show’ to share pet-people safety tips
By Pet Connection Staff
November 4, 2009

We promised you details about Thursday’s edition of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and here they are. Check your local listings for channel and time.
Our Dr. Marty Becker is a member of Core Team Oz, and on Thursday America’s Veterinarian and Dr. Oz are sharing information about the diseases your pet has that you can get. They’ll let you know who is most at risk — the very young or very old, along with the immunosuppressed.
Rather than just talk about the scary stuff that could happen, they’ll offer preventive solutions that go beyond washing your hands and using a pooper scooper. Did you know that MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) is eight times more likely to occur in homes with cats, and that it can ping-pong back and forth between pets and people? They’ll talk about why that happens. They’ll also provide information about why you shouldn’t let your pet lick you in the mouth (no matter how much fun it is for both of you), why parasite control for the four-footers benefits our health, and skin infections (ringworm anyone?).
And for those of us who forget to do poop patrol at least every other day (we know who we are) Dr. Becker will remind us why that’s important.
Both doctors have a simple solution: Get rid of the risk and keep the pet! We know that the health benefits of having a pet far outweigh the risks.
On Dec. 3, Dr. Becker will be back for another visit to Oz, taping a segment on what to do in a pet health emergency. Pet Connection blogger and Purdue U vet school emergency and critical care expert Dr. Tony Johnson provided the background to make sure only the latest and greatest information is offered.
We’ll let you know when the next can’t-miss segment will air!
Chicago Now blogger Stephen Markley wrote about
Since early this year, there’s been an e-mail floating around about two Labradors named Cookie and Coco who desperately need a home because the family lost their home to foreclosure. It began as “we’ve lost our home and need to move in two weeks” and grew to “we’re moving overseas in two weeks.” It ended with “Please, please forward these pics to all your friends.”
“I just saw something on the road that looked bad. We’d better turn around,” said my friend Jennifer. She was driving us home from our Italian class. I hadn’t noticed whatever it was because I wasn’t staring at the road, and it was dark.
I’ve always been a rather neurotic hand washer, even before I had non-specific hepatitis not once but twice (once idiopathic, once from a blood transfusion). I hate anything sticky on my hands, and so I wash after eating an apple or something that drips, or after cleaning the kitchen or bathroom. Knitting dries my hands. Sadly, thanks to genetics I also have fairly dry skin.