Family Pets May Harbor MRSA, Other Nasties

The nasty, drug-resistant bacteria known as MRSA may have a new carrier: the family pet. The scourge of hospital wards and locker rooms, MRSA often begins with small red bumps that can turn into painful abscesses requiring surgery to drain them.

If not detected and treated, they can find their way into the body, causing infections in heart valves, lungs, joints, bones and the bloodstream.

Yes, Kitty and Spot may be boon companions, but their friendship comes with the possibility of the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and at least 30 other pathogens, according to Dr. Richard Oehler and his colleagues at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa.

Many of these bugs are transmitted by bites and scratches, but others -- such as MRSA -- can cycle back and forth between pets and owners, Oehler and his colleagues warned in a review article, which appears in the July edition of the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

"Pet owners are often unaware of the potential for transmission of life-threatening pathogens from their canine and feline companions," the researchers said.

Particularly worrisome is a growing body of evidence that cats and dogs can be colonized by MRSA -- germs that are probably acquired from their owners, since cats and dogs usually carry a different strain of Staphylococcus bacteria.

But the cats and dogs can give the bug back. As long ago as 1988, researchers reported that a cat living in a United Kingdom geriatric unit had passed MRSA back to people. Screening of patients and staff showed that 38 percent of the nursing staff there had colonies of the bacteria living somewhere on them.

And that's not uncommon, according to Lawrence McGill, a veterinarian at the ARUP Animal Reference Pathology Laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"There is more and more data pointing to the [fact that the] most common source for animal infections with MRSA is from humans, including contact with medical facilities where humans are treated," McGill said.

In 2006, researchers isolated MRSA from the skin sores of a three-year-old domestic short-haired cat and -- for the first time in a household pet -- confirmed the pathogen as belonging to the infamous strain known as USA300.

The USA300 clone is a major source of skin infection in community-acquired MRSA in the United States -- and the owner of the cat had indeed experienced repeated soft-tissue staphylococcal infections.

Dogs, Cats May Harbor Germs, But Non-Bite Spread Remains Rare

The treatment of infections from pets is the same as for MRSA acquired from other sources, Oehler said. Mild-to-moderate infections can be treated with oral anti-staphylococcal agents, while more serious disease can be treated with drugs injected into the sites of infection.

But MRSA is not the only potential bacterial threat that pets can harbor. All told, at least 30 pathogens can be transmitted from pets to people, Oehler and his colleagues said, including species of Pasteurella, Streptococcus, Fusobacterium and Capnocytophaga.

Many are transmitted by bites and scratches, the researchers said, noting that in 2001, more than 350,000 Americans were treated in emergency departments for non-fatal dog-bite-related injuries.

In the U.S., dog and cat bites make up about 1 percent of emergency room visits every year, and the numbers are similar in Europe.

Roughly 60 percent of animal bites are by dogs; the cost to treat them exceeds $1 billion per year. Between 10 and 20 percent of animal bites are attributed to cats.

Severe infections can occur in about 20 percent of all dog and cat bites, the researchers said.

When bitten, hands are the most parts of the body to develop infections, as well as to develop rapidly spreading and disabling damage. In fact, between 30 and 40 percent of these hand bites become infected.

But pet lovers need not worry about handling their pets, as spreading the germ in this way is relatively rare.

"Petting or handling pets will not result in infection very easily," McGill said, adding that keeping pets clean, maintaining immunizations and controlling parasites "will go a long ways to keeping the pet and owner healthy."
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FDA Approves Drug for Dogs' Cancer

Having raised and bred show dogs, Lisa Peterson knew there was something wrong with her 9-year-old Norwegian elkhound Basia when she put her up on the table to groom her -- and noticed something unusual in the dog's mammary chain.

"It was a lump that was getting bigger; it was suspicious," she said.

Peterson took Basia to her veterinarian, who scheduled exploratory surgery. But on the day of the operation, it was already too late. Basia had cancer, and the tumor was already too big to be operated on. And she had to be put down.

Peterson's experience is not unusual when it comes to a type of tumor known as canine cutaneous mast cell tumors, which account for roughly one-fifth of all skin tumors in dogs. And they often are deadly.

But now a new drug -- the first to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat cancer in dogs -- may soon change that outcome for some pet owners.

Palladia, manufactured by Pfizer Animal Health, has elicited optimism from veterinarians and pet owners alike.

"It is a real breakthrough for a cancer drug to be made specifically for animals," said Lawrence McGill, a veterinary pathologist at ARUP Laboratories in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"Hopefully, this is the start of many products coming forward so that we can help pets with cancer. I strongly suspect that veterinary medicine will continue to utilize human anti-cancer drugs where appropriate, but new drugs directed towards improving the health and welfare of dogs, cats and other pets will be greatly utilized and appreciated," he said.

Dog Cancer Drug Shows Attitude Shift

The fast-growing nature of canine cutaneous mast cell tumors makes them particularly dangerous, veterinary experts say.

"Unfortunately, this tumor can double in size overnight," said Gregory K. Ogilvie, a veterinary oncologist in Southern California.

This type of cancer can be lethal for other reasons as well.

"The tumor is unlike any other in that it releases chemicals in the bloodstream that can cause swelling, inflammation, bruising bleeding, stomach ulcers and therefore anemia and significant abdominal pain," Ogilvie said.

For these reasons, many owners view the new option as a godsend. Peterson noted that the approval of the drug shows "companies catering to consumers' needs to care for their pets at a high level," as well as a shift in many people's attitudes toward dogs.

"I think it shows that in our culture, dogs are really considered valued family members," said Peterson.

Assuming pet insurance will cover the cost of the drug, Peterson said, "It's going to be win-win for the pet owner who needs to care for their animal should they get cancer."

Insurance and cost remain a concern, but it is too soon to tell whether it should be.

Ogilvie said he and other veterinarians spoke with Pfizer officials who were trying to determine a fair price for the drug.

"From the veterinary community, the hope is it will be affordable for the average client for many months, if not years of therapy, and the company has assured us that it will be," he said.

Rick Goulart, a spokesman for Pfizer Animal Health, confirmed that a price has not been set. He said that the drug was currently available, but only through veterinary oncologists, who are attempting to figure out the best protocol for administering the drug. Because of this testing, the drug is provided to the oncologists without cost.

"The drug is made available to this specialist, who through the end of the year will be able to advance their experience with it," he said. "Veterinarians who now have access to the product are gaining experience with Palladia as they determine what protocols are right for bringing a pet owner in to get [a dog] treated for mast cell tumors."

Palladia will be available for sale through veterinarians in 2010.

Optimism For The Future

Like other cancer drugs, Palladia has unpleasant side effects that can include impaired mobility, diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight loss. However, it differs from many conventional cancer therapies in pets.

"This is a therapy that has capitalized on decades of basic research to understand how cancer survives thin the body and how to beat it," said Ogilvie.

The drug attacks the tumors' communications systems and ability to spread through the body.

Perhaps its most important for pet owners is that it is an oral medication that can be administered at home.

"Most cancer therapies have to be administered by a high-technology system and oftentimes in the hospital," said Ogilvie. "This oral therapy removes our patients from the clinic and places them on the couch with their families and therefore allows their families to provide this therapy ... in [a] loving environment.

"It really adds the personal touch that our clients can provide in their home along with the greatest advancement in molecular therapeutics and veterinary medicine."
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Pets and Pesticides: Severe Reactions to Common Pet Treatments Increase Dramatically

t happens tens of thousands of times a day. People treat their pets with over-the-counter, topical treatments used to kill fleas and ticks. But reports of severe reactions have spiked dramatically in the past year.

Forrest Desmond and his wife own five dogs. They bought a spot-on treatment and used it on all five of the dogs.

"Within a half-hour, all five of them were sick, agitated, throwing up, coughing, wheezing," Desmond said. "These dogs are the most important things in our lives. ...These are our children."

The Center for Public Integrity, a non-profit, investigative journalism organization, has documented these cases and pushed the government to release numbers. In 2008, more than 44,000 severe reactions and 1,200 deaths were reported, a 50 percent increase from the year before, according to the center.

Veterinary experts believe that when used correctly, the majority of the products are safe. They say the risk to pets from fleas and ticks is far greater than a possible reaction to one of these treatments.

Still, the sharp rise prompted an evaluation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates topical pet treatments and says it is "intensifying" its evaluation of such products.

"Pretty quickly, we decided that it was important for us to inform the public that there was something going on with these products," said Jim Jones of EPA's pesticide program.

EPA posted information for consumers on its Web site, and initiated an internal investigation to determine the cause of the reactions.

Topical treatments have grown in popularity in the past decade. They are convenient to apply and veterinarians prefer them to shampoos and sprays. More than 100 million doses of the store-bought products are administered a year.

The treatments are designed to kill fleas and ticks by attacking their nervous systems. They are meant to stop the spread of diseases that fleas and ticks can carry.

Pet Medicine Industry Reacts

The industry insists its products are safe and believes the majority of the cases result from owners misapplying the treatments.

"The incidence is extremely rare and occurs in a very small number of cases," said Mark Newberg, the director of corporate affairs for Central Life Sciences, which manufactures some of the products.

"When we are able to evaluate cases ... virtually all cases show improper use of the product," he stated.

People will sometimes buy products meant for a dog, but use them on a cat without realizing the mistake. "We're telling consumers it's very important to read the labels of these products," Jones of the EPA said.
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