Pets May Help Build Immunity During Pregnancy

Keeping pets in the home during pregnancy may help prevent eczema and asthma in babies. Two studies presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) indicate that having pets, dogs in particular, in the home during pregnancy decreases the chance of children developing these immune related diseases. In …

Animal Assisted Therapy at the San Diego Airport

On a recent trip through the San Diego Airport, I was surprised to see a dog wheeling around the airport. He was dressed for the holidays wearing a Santa hat, elf collar and a vest that read, ‘Pet me’ in big bold letters. People surrounded him like presents around a Christmas tree. Young and old, travelers, …

Study Reveals Dogs Prefer Petting Over Praise

As we all know, dogs like petting. But do they like petting  better than praise? Erica Feuerbacher, a fellow and doctoral candidate from the University of Florida, Department of Psychology and Dr. Clive Wynnne, professor from Arizona State University teamed up to answer this question. The researchers set up three experimental groups of dogs and then measured their reaction to …

Fashion Month – Julie The Chimp

Since September is fashion month, I decided to write about animal fashion. No, I don’t mean animal print fabrics or other animal inspired clothing for human wear.  Instead, I thought it would be fun to celebrate an animal who started her own fashion trend. Julie is an adult chimpanzee who lives in the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust Sanctuary …

Animal Hoarders

As a veterinarian, I believe it is appropriate that most of the attention regarding hoarding focuses on the animals that suffer in these deplorable situations. But the hoarders need help too. In 2013, animal hoarding was recognized as a psychiatric disorder. The cause is still under debate. One theory suggests that hoarding animals may be caused by neglect or abuse …

Helping Humans and Dogs with Breast Cancer

The University of Pennsylvania, College of Veterinary Medicine has joined the fight against breast cancer in women as well as dogs. Lead by Dr. Karin Sorenmo, a veterinary oncologist and Dr. Olga Troyanskaya, a bioinformatics professor at Pinceton, the team studies how breast cancer develops at the molecular level. The program accepts shelter dogs with …

Dogs Provide Help For Veterans With PTSD

    In honor of memorial day, I thought I would highlight the role animals play in helping our veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  Here in Arizona, the nonprofit organization Soldiers Best Friend matches dogs with soldiers who suffer from this debilitating problem.  Once a soldier is accepted into the program, they are matched with a dog …