Health: Stories That Make Us Go Hmmm

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Reuters has a story up today about people contracting acute urinary tract infections from their pets. (SOURCE: Journal of Infectious Diseases, January 15, 2008.)

La Casa de Los Gatos has had multiple cats, dogs, and other beasties in and around La Casa for some 25 years now, and cannot recall anyone in this sometimes multi-peopled household having any urinary tract infections, let alone "acute" ones.

What's the matter, peeples? Are somebodies not washing their hands regularly, or something? How do you contract urinary tract infections from your pets? We're simply stumped at this.

Most times, UTIs are contracted by people who have continence problems - sitting around in a diaper full of poop will do that to ya. (You hear that Senator Vitter? Senator Vitter, affectionately referred to as Shitty Vitty by various New Orleans bloggers, is alleged to have a fetish for both prostitutes and diapers; oddly, unlike his colleague Larry Craig, Senator Vitter has never been censured. I guess GAY is worse, to Republicans than pooping yourself.)

Women often contract UTIs when they fail to wipe from front to back. Wearing very tight pants and overenthusiastic humping are other causes, believe it or not. As for men, UTI rates tend to be low till age 50, and climb thereafter.

But the pet thing? We don't get it. Most bacterial infections can be avoided by simply exercising basic cleanliness - washing one's hands after using the toilet or cleaning the catbox, for example. And you don't even need antibacterial soap or cleaning products. In fact, you should avoid antibacterial soaps and cleaners. We're trying not to imagine how E. coli bacteria got from your pet's digestive tract to your urinary tract, OK? We really don't want to know.

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