An interesting article by Rebecca Armstrong in the Independent:

As she makes her way through the hospital wards, Billie-Jean keeps up an impressive pace. She has to if she is going to see all the patients who are waiting for her. Wearing her official uniform, she looks neat and trim, and despite how busy she is, she always has time to stop if someone wants to say hello or slip her a Bonio. You see, Billie-Jean isn’t a ward sister doing the rounds or a doctor bringing vital medicine, she’s an Irish terrier. But despite the fact she’s a canine, not human, carer, her medical value is second-to-none because she is a Pets As Therapy dog.

Pets As Therapy is a charity that takes pet dogs and cats to hospitals, hospices, residential care homes, day centres and special-needs schools. It was formed in 1983, explains chief executive Maureen Hennis, by a group of pet owners who were convinced that their animals could help other people. “At that time, people were moving into residential accommodation and nursing homes, and they had to give up their own pets,” she says. “This wasn’t only making them sad and depressed, sometimes it was actually making them ill.”

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Megs resting comfortably, her cheek supported by a sharp edge, which she likes. She does seem fond of the Scratch Lounger. Click to enlarge.

Megs wishes you a happy holiday. (And yes, it’s photoshopped—you think she would stand for having a hat on her head?!)

Megs, sitting on the platform she uses to watch the bay. I think now she’s just sunning, but in the afternoon and night she will crouch on the platform, staring out at the bay for hours. Not sure what she’s watching for, but she’s on the job. Click photos to enlarge.

Megs this morning, sunbathing again. And she doesn’t use any sunblock. Click to enlarge.

Not good:

They are trying their best to warn us.

In the first study of its kind, Environmental Working Group found that American pets are polluted with even higher levels of many of the same synthetic industrial chemicals that researchers have recently found in people, including newborns.

The results show that America’s pets are serving as involuntary sentinels of the widespread chemical contamination that scientists increasingly link to a growing array of health problems across a wide range of animals—wild, domesticated and human.

Just as children ingest pollutants in tap water, play on lawns with pesticide residues, or breathe in an array of indoor air contaminants, so do their pets. But with their compressed lifespans, developing and aging seven or more times faster than children, pets also develop health problems from exposures much more rapidly. The National Research Council has found that sickness and disease in pets can inform our understanding of our own health risks (NRC 1991). And for anyone who has lost a pet to cancer or another disease potentially linked to chemical exposures, this sentinel role played by pets becomes a devastating personal loss.

In recognition of the unique roles that pets play in our lives, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) undertook a study to investigate the extent of exposures pets face to contaminants in our homes and outdoor environments. In a novel study representing the broadest biomonitoring investigation yet conducted in pets, what we found was surprising.

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Megs does love the morning sun. This photo is her about 5 minutes ago. Good day for her already. Click photo to enlarge.

Wonder whether this works. Only one way to see…

Megs, this morning. Good capture of “What?” expression. She does love a sunny morning, as do we all.

Molly, looking contemplative (or stunned or something).

I never see Megs in the blue tunnel, but the other morning, there she was, comfy as a clam.

Molly tried to watch The Wife at working, but it was booooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrring, so Molly fell asleep.

Very detailed MRI of a cat’s brain.

This is action for Megs: she wakes up and yawns, then she falls asleep again. Exciting times.

Since LG doesn’t have any kitties around just now, I’m posting a Friday cat blogging photo (just under the wire): Here’s Molly telling me it might be time to call it a night.

- the wife.