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6A Daily News – Saturday, July 21, 2012 healthPetsactivities & Dog helps veteran cope with stress ORLANDO, Fla. (MCT) — Among motor- cycles in all states of disas- sembly, the smell of motor oil and rumbling engines at south Orlando's Motorcycle Mechanics Institute walks a perky-eared and freckled pit-bull mix named Zoey. The 2-year-old canine isn't a roughneck biker's mascot, but a service dog who helps Paul Aragon, a U.S. Army veteran and motorcycle maintenance student, deal with his post- traumatic stress disorder. "I tried therapy, but I'm not one to open up and talk. I also maxed out on the medications. My body got used to it, and they weren't working," said Aragon, 29, of El Paso, Texas. "Not only is Zoey better, but I'm not putting something unnatural in my system." Zoey is helping him with his PTSD, the Army's poli- cy on where a soldier can acquire a service dog limits many veterans from finding a canine companion to help them overcome their anxi- ety disorders. Though Aragon says Animal Island: Pet encounters with wild creatures By Marc Morrone Newsday MCT photo Zoey, a pitbull-mix, is helping U.S. Army veteran Paul Aragon, a student at Universal Technical Institute, pictured July 3, overcome his post-traumatic stress disorder. Aragon brings Zoey to class on days when he has had a bad night or feels it will be a bad day. He has problems with anger and Zoey helps him calm down. Aragon's PTSD often manifests itself in bouts of anxiety and irritability. When Zoey detects those changes in Aragon's demeanor, the dog distracts him with playful antics. He usually brings her to his motorcycle-maintenance courses only when he's feel- ing irritable or stressed. PTSD is an anxiety dis- order common among vet- erans of war but can occur after any traumatic event involving death or injury. Laurie Tranter, a spokes- woman for the U.S. Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs, said more than 245,000 sol- diers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan and who sought care at the VA received at least a prelimi- nary diagnosis of PTSD from 2002 to March 2012. There are a variety of treatments, including med- ication and therapy using virtual reality that places veterans in a simulated war- zone environment to dis- cover what triggers their PTSD. Aragon served in Iraq in three separate tours as an Army mechanic starting in October 2002. He retired as a sergeant in in November 2011. to be service dogs, spent six months helping Aragon train Zoey after he adopted her from a New Mexico pound in October. Aragon said his brown- He didn't disclose the details of his disorder, say- ing only that it is often trig- gered by crowds or tense interactions with people. A recent incident involv- ing a heated discussion at a local Walmart "got to a point where I'm really glad (Zoey) was there," Aragon said. eyed companion had a few weeks left at the pound before workers there would have been forced to eutha- nize her if no one adopted her. Zoey is specifically trained to react to cues trig- gered by Aragon's PTSD. Kandoll said Zoey might bark, pull on her leash or stand on her hind legs for attention if she senses Aragon is stressed. "Zoey notices that I'm getting upset, and she starts tugging away at the leash," he said. "She begins to play and jump and forces me focus on her. It takes my mind off the problem." Debbie Kandoll of Mutts Assisting Soldier Heroes, or MASH, a New Mexico- based organization that trains canines from shelters Kandoll said Aragon paid nothing for the training but spent around $450 on costs associated with acquiring Zoey. Training a service dog can cost $2,000 to $20,000 depending on the type of dog, the organization pro- viding the training and other factors. Many groups raise money for training canines, and soldiers often pay a per- centage of the full cost. Rob Cain, public-affairs chief for the Army Surgeon General's Office, said the Army supports using ser- vice dogs as a way of treat- ing soldiers with PTSD, but the canines must be trained only through an organiza- tion accredited by Assis- tance Dogs International. If the canine is not from an ADI organization, the VA does not reimburse the soldier for costs associated with the dog's veterinary care and equipment. ADI doesn't have groups in 18 states, and service-dog advocates such as Kandoll and others not accredited by that organization say sol- diers are placed on long waiting lists keeping them from reaching the help they need. policy, Aragon is responsi- ble for all of Zoey's health- care costs. Even so, Kandoll said uniting Aragon with Zoey was the first step in the soldier's recovery. Because of the Army's Help Our Friends & Place Your business Info in the Daily News for only $25 "Paws & Claws" Adopt A Pet Page runs the last Saturday of every month. To be a Pet Sponsor call Suzy at the Red Bluff Daily (530) 527-2151 ext. 103 Let's all help the Tehama County & Corning Animal Shelters find homes for these pets. Tehama County Department of Animal Services, Red Bluff Jack Russell Terrier [Mix] Male Nascar This pet sponsored by THE AQUARIUM & PETS 345 So. Main St. Red Bluff 527-4588 Corning Animal Shelter Border Collie [Mix] Male Jasper This pet sponsored by CABERNET APARTMENTS & DUPLEXES 15 Cabernet Ct. Red Bluff 529-0879 Mamma Mia Corning Animal Shelter This pet sponsored by Labrador Retriever Female 238 S. Main St., Red Bluff 527-0363 SUNSHINE CLEANERS This week, one of my readers' dogs had an inter- action with a wild fox. Such things are becoming more common. When I was a kid, we never had raccoons, foxes or possums in our yards, but nowadays they practi- cally knock on our back doors to be fed, and inter- actions between them and pets are common. Many times it leads to a pet getting bitten. Although there is a lot of controversy about whether regular vaccinations are needed for dogs and cats, one thing that cannot be argued is the importance of being current on your pet's rabies vaccination. In most municipalities, it is a require- ment. You have no idea the drama that can occur if your pet gets bitten by a wild animal and all of a sudden you realize you didn't renew its rabies vac- cination. least have your pet's blood tested by your vet — a procedure known as titer — to be sure there are enough antibodies in the pet's system from previous vaccinations to protect it in case it does get bitten. ___ now 12 weeks old. All is OK with her except that she does not drink at all. She plays with the water in the dish and licks it off her paw but will not drink out of the dish like our other cat does. When we took her to the vet for her shots, he said she was a bit dehydrated and gave her an injection of fluids under her skin. Since then, I have been letting her lick water out of an eyedropper. She seems to be getting enough that way, but I cannot do this forev- er. Why won't she drink out of a dish? A: Some cats are funny about drinking water, and this comes about because the cat's ancestor — the North African wildcat — lived in an area with very little water. These cats will catch a small rodent or bird and then literally swallow it whole, thus also ingesting all the liquids the prey had in its body. So in these situations the cats rarely felt the need to drink, and this instinct has resurfaced in your cat. Such a cat should never be on a dry-food-only diet. A diet of canned food is best as it contains a great deal of water. Q: We got a kitten three weeks ago, and she is an eyedropper, I would advise you to get one of those cat water fountains. It has a constantly circu- lating flow of water that splashes into a basin. Cats find this fascinating and will happily lap the water as it is cascading out of the top of the fountain. These fountains need a bit of maintenance. You need to take it apart to clean it and change its filter every now and then — but it sure beats sitting in front of your cat holding an eyedropper. ___ Since your cat will lick water off her paw or from If you are reluctant to get the vaccine, then at Q: When I let my dogs out the other night, I heard them make a big fuss. They were barking at something up in a tree. They would not come inside when I called them. I went out to see what was up in the tree and I was surprised that it was a red fox rather than the raccoon that I expected. I brought the dogs back in and watched out the window to see how the fox would get out of the tree, but it never did and so I went to bed. In the morning, it was gone. I never knew that foxes could climb trees and I was wondering if a dog could do this as well if it had to. A: Foxes are not as closely related to dogs as we think. Dogs, wolves and coyotes are in the same genus or taxonomic order and all three can inter- breed and have fertile offspring. However, foxes are much further removed from dogs and cannot inter- breed with them at all. They are a bit different from dogs in their physical structure. The limbs of dogs are tightly bound with ligaments that prevent most sideways movement, so tree climbing, technically, would not be possible, although a very athletic and nimble dog could balance itself on a wide tree branch that was close to the ground or at an angle. Foxes, though, have a much greater rotation of bones in their limbs than dogs do, so they are able to climb trees, even though they do not have retractable claws like cats. ___ Q: The feet of my budgie are very dry and scaly. The condition does not seem to bother him, but it bothers me to see his feet that way. We mist him with a plant mister every day, and his feathers look fine, but we do not know why his feet are like this. My wife wants to try putting some petroleum jelly on his feet. Is this a good idea? A: You should never put any kind of oil-based product on any part of a bird. If you put the jelly on the bird's feet and he then drew his foot up into his feathers, the oil would get on those and cause a big mess with the bird's plumage. If the bird's feet are truly dry, apply a bit of beeswax. This also works well on a bird's beak. There may be more to this situation than just dry skin. Budgies are very prone to infestations of microscopic mites under their skin, and this causes a crusty scaling on the feet and on the facial cere of the bird. This situation will never go away by itself and needs the help of an avian vet, so my advice is to take the bird to one as soon as possible, as this condition is very painful.