STUDY: Have Fun and Help Your Local Shelter Cats Fight Respiratory Infections

Some people volunteer at their local shelter and socialize with the cats living there. While this activity is enjoyable to humans it is also beneficial for cats. The study, Effect of interactions with humans on behaviour, mucosal immunity and upper respiratory disease of shelter cats rated as contented on arrival helps illustrate the benefits of human interaction for cats.

96 shelter cats were included in the study. One group received pleasant interaction with one person for ten minutes four times each day. Treatment lasted for ten days. The control group had a researcher in front of their cage (on the same schedule as the treatment group) with eyes averted.

The treatment group of cats kept their nice dispositions and had lower incidences of upper respiratory infections when compared to the control group. Here are the highlights of the study:

• Human interaction by petting, playing and grooming improved shelter cats' welfare.
• Treated cats were more content and less anxious and frustrated.
• Treated cats had increased concentrations of immunoglobulin A in their feces.
• Within 10 days, treatment had substantially reduced viral shedding.
• Treated cats had less respiratory disease, especially good responders to treatment.

Researcher (and coauthor) Nadine Gourkow said there was a "strong association between positive emotions induced by gentling and good health." It is thought that happy cats produce higher levels of immunoglobulin A which decreases their risk of upper respiratory infections. Researcher (and coauthor) Clive J.C. Phillips said, "We have learned that the domestic cat is very responsive to good treatment by humans."

Phillips said that these findings are also significant for cats living in a home. Similar results may also be found in dogs regarding kennel cough infections though this has not yet been examined. Phillips said, "The study has emphasized to me how sensitive pets are, including my dog, to gentle treatment."

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How Similar Are Canine and Human Diabetes?

Both dogs and humans are susceptible to developing diabetes. Diabetes in dogs presents itself similarly to type 1 diabetes in humans. While the disease appears similar on the surface there are some key differences between canine and human diabetes.

Researchers have been examining pancreatic tissue from 23 diabetic dogs and 17 unaffected dogs. The pancreas contains islet cells which contain beta cells. Beta cells produce insulin which turns sugar into useable energy for the body. Diabetic dogs and humans with type 1 diabetes all show a loss in beta cells and therefore their bodies cannot produce enough insulin. The diseases still appear quite similar however Dr. Jake Kushner (Chief of Pediatric Diabetes and Endocrinology at Baylor College of Medicine) said "There were some real surprises. Dogs had very few islets. In man and mouse, there are often residual islets, but these dogs had very little left. It suggests some sort of really aggressive process destroying those cells."

The method in which these islets are destroyed are not yet known. The researchers did not see evidence of inflammation or autoimmune problems. Type 1 diabetes in humans is caused by the immune system attacking islet cells. Kushner believes that the dogs included in the study may have been in such an advanced state of disease that an autoimmune attack was no longer occurring.

Dr. Kushner found that the composition of islet cells is different in dogs than in humans. In healthy humans islet cells consist of approximately 50% of beta cells compared to 80% in dogs. It is possible that this is why diabetic dogs are typically older since they have more cells to die. Dr. Kushner said, "Dogs get diabetes at a pretty significant rate, about the same rate that humans get type 1 diabetes. But, they get it later in life." Chief of Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Rebecca Hess said, "If they're starting with a larger supply of beta cells, it may give them a longer time before they develop the disease."

Montefiore Medical Center’s Director of Clinical Diabetes, Dr. Joel Zonszein said, "Although diabetes in the dog resembles type 1 in humans, they don't have the same inflammatory process we see in type 1 in humans. In dogs, we don't understand what triggers it yet. And, the anatomy of the islets is completely different in dogs. This is a nice study, but we still have to learn more."

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Will Canine Cancer Treatment Benefit Humans?

A vaccine against canine cancer has been in development for 10 years and it is finally ready for testing. Dr. Mark Mamula has been busy fighting cancer. Currently dogs with cancer are receiving two vaccinations and their disease is monitored using MRI, CAT scans, and ultrasound. Six months into the trial researchers are optimistic.

Dr. Mamula said, "We're seeing in many of these aggressive forms of cancer that they're not getting worse, they're not increasing in size. Of course, many humans with cancers know that if you can maintain the level of tumor size or reduce them, those are all good things for patients, human patients -- same thing in dogs."

Dr. Mamula isn’t just hoping to help dogs though, he’s hoping to begin human clinical trials in approximately 18 months. "The reason that this trial is very important to our proposed human trials is that canine cancers look, for all the world, very similar to human cancers. They progress and are aggressive much in identical ways that human cancers are," said Dr. Mamula.

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