Family Pet Research Articles

HUMAN ENTERIC PATHOGENS IN DOGS IN CENTRAL ALASKA.

Abstract : A 12-month's study in Central Alaska shows that family pets are harboring a singificant quantity of human intestinal pathogens. While previous investigators in Alaska have found up to 7% of the dogs harboring either Salmonella or Shigella, this study found approximately 18% harboring these plus an additional 9% harboring related, potentially pathogenic organisms. In addition, the study shows that dogs in the area (1) can harbor multiple species of Salmonella at one time, (2) appear to act as transient carriers, and (3) do not necessarily show signs of intestinal infection when the organisms are present. The organisms were found in the animals throughout the year. As a result of the long severe winter, the family pet usually lives in close proximity to human friends; thus it becomes a potential vector of some significance. (Author)

Longevity of Captive Kangaroo Rats, Dipodomys

In July, 1950, my two sons live trapped two Merriam kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami) near Bishop, California, and brought them to Ann Arbor, Michigan. One of the rats was kept in a small sand-filled aquarium until it was sacrificed on November 1, 1954. It appeared to be in fair health. Its age at death was at least four and one-third years. The other rat escaped from a cage in September, 1950, and took up residence in a cool room, for the storage of home-canned foods, in the basement of a house. The floor of the room consisted of bricks laid in sand over a sandy substrate. The rat was seen infrequently, but signs of its activity were continually evident. Food scattered for it on the basement floor disappeared regularly. Moreover, the floor of the cold room gradually became a shambles of sand and bricks, caused by the collapse of rat-made tunnels through the sandy substrate and by frequent movement of the sand. On the occasions when the animal was observed closely, as for example when it was fed from an observer's hand, it always appeared to be in excellent health. It was killed by the family pet dog about January 15, 1955. Its known age was at least four and one-half years.