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Paws & Claws

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas. She lives in Blacksburg now, and answers local pet owners' questions every week in The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com.

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• Halloween is not a treat for most pets

Q I have been diagnosed with clinical depression and am on medication. My psychotherapist suggested that I get a puppy or a kitten. Do you think this is a good idea?

A Pets provide their owners with companionship as well as keeping them healthy and active, and are a reason to get up in the morning. Research has shown that dogs, cats and fish can enhance a person's well-being. Stroking a pet, or even watching fish in an aquarium, can lower a person's heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate. Pets have a calming influence when their owners are stressed. They also provide comfort and help to alleviate loneliness and thus decrease depression. Pet owners have fewer health problems, sleep better, have fewer headaches and digestive problems and are generally more active.

Studies conducted over the past 30 years have shown that pet owners tend to have lower levels of cholesterol and lower blood pressure. Pet owners make fewer visits to the doctor, and owning a pet appears to increase the chance of survival after a heart attack. Pet-owning senior citizens are less likely to be depressed, tend to be less lonely and are, in general, more active.

Dr. Edward Creagan, a Mayo Clinic oncologist, said pets have such a positive influence because "we all need something to live for and something to focus on besides ourselves. Self-absorption is terrible for your health. Pets offer unconditional love, which is of significant benefit to our overall well-being."

Before getting a pet, you should ask yourself a number of questions. Are you physically able to take care of a pet? Dogs, for example, need regular walks, and all pets need a routine for feeding and exercise. Finally, can you cope with the extra responsibilities and expense that pet ownership involves? Apart from the cost of food, there are routine trips to the veterinarian that can be costly.

If you are worried about taking on a puppy or a kitten and the training involved, you can find many older, well-behaved pets looking for a home at your local animal shelter or one of the animal rescue leagues. These animals are usually already housebroken, neutered, fully vaccinated and have been screened for health issues and temperament.

Q We are having a flea problem. Both our pets keep getting fleas. We dose both pets with the appropriate flea preventative once a month according to the directions, but by the end of three weeks we are finding the odd flea again. Also, a recent guest claimed she was bitten by fleas when visiting.

A Fleas are blood-sucking insects that feed indiscriminately on animals and people. The cat flea is the one that most commonly causes the problem. Female fleas begin laying eggs within 48 hours of mating and their first blood meal, and they can lay 200 eggs in a few days. These tiny white eggs fall off the pet onto the bedding, carpet, outside -- anywhere the pet goes. The eggs hatch and develop into larvae that pupate and, under good conditions, emerge as adult fleas in about five days. However, if conditions are not favorable the pupae can wait in suspended animation until conditions improve.

To stop reinfestation the cycle has to be interrupted. I suspect in the case of your pets that, although the majority of the fleas are being eliminated by the systemic flea medication, your pets are being reinfested by fleas in the yard, and by the few that have survived in the house. Keep fleas out of the home by using a flea and tick home fogger once a month for several months. Or a regular pest removal service will be able to spray both the inside of the house and the yard. Regular vacuuming of all areas of the home, and especially pet bedding, is a great help to controlling a flea problem.