Are Pets Healthy in New Orleans?

I have trouble sleeping these days. Our black Lab, Hugo, wakes us up almost every hour with his violent scratching and biting. Sometimes we ban him from the bedroom, but it’s hard to do every night –– he looks too miserable, and we don’t want to make him suffer alone. This time of year shows Hugo little mercy. Allergies, fleas, skin irritation, infections –– you name it. Nothing seems to help our poor guy except for expensive steroid shots and pricey prescription meds.

My friend swears that in New Orleans more than anywhere else, pets experience a greater range of illnesses and bizarre ailments and cancer rates are on the rise, post-K. She works at a local animal hospital and plans to pursue a veterinary degree, so she knows her stuff and sees much of what she describes firsthand at the hospital –– and at home. Three weeks ago her dog developed a mysterious fungus that ravaged his skin and required an expensive round of antibiotics. I also have several other friends who struggle with their pets’ ongoing health problems.

Coincidentally, before we moved to New Orleans Hugo never visited the vet for anything but an annual exam. He never got fleas. Never had allergies. And he certainly didn’t spend an entire summer trying to tear off his flesh. None of this started until we moved here. Coincidence?

During a recent visit to Hugo’s vet I tried to broach the topic but couldn’t get a straight answer. Instead of addressing the question, the vet assured me that Hugo’s severe dermatitis wasn’t triggered by any specific environmental differences between here and New Jersey and most likely would have happened to him at some point regardless of where we lived. I’m not sure if I believe that. But I certainly want to.

Imagine if statistics actually supported my friend’s theory and revealed a higher incidence of animal health problems. What would this mean? Curious about this question, I tried to research an answer but found instead secondary reports from the Society of Environmental Journalists and other experts about concerns of lingering hazards from Katrina. According to the SEJ, affected areas will experience potential health risks for the next decade or so. And even if these risks aren’t significant enough to affect humans, they will likely affect animals, as they have weaker immunity.

Shortly after Katrina, SEJ President Perry Beeman said the government "[was] denying the public crucial information collected with taxpayers’ money on behalf of taxpayers in the first place. … What we need to know is what exactly is in the water. Which bacteria and how much? Which gasoline and oil constituents and how much? Which carcinogens? Which pathogens? Americans need to know what specific threats exist and what the government is doing about them. They are paying for the raw data, and they deserve to see it."


Five years later Beeman’s concerns haven’t panned out. Nothing suggests that there’s a pathogenic risk from Katrina-related toxins, much less a silent health epidemic amongst pets. And in Hugo’s case, I suspect his health problems are merely coincidental, even though my vet bill suggests otherwise. I’d like to believe the latter, of course.

Do you own a pet? If so, have you noticed any changes, post-K?

 

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