Dogged Blog

Credit card fraud?

I'm getting kind of freaked out.

A month or two ago, someone tried to use my ATM card to make a purchase of around $400 from gamestop.com, a site I've never visited. Gamestop apparently thought it seemed fishy, and called me, and I told them it wasn't me. I immediately called my bank, who checked all my transactions -- that was the only fraudulent one, and it didn't go through because Gamestop had caught it. But I had them close  my account anyway.

The other day, a fraudulent charge appeared on my PayPal account, which I virtually never use. I reported it, PayPal put me through their fraud process which included changing my password, and they reversed it out right away.

This morning, someone tried to charge over a thousand dollars on an airline miles credit card I have. The charge was declined and the credit card company called me with a fraud alert.

I confirmed it was not my charge, reviewed all my other charges with them (they were fine), and canceled the card.

I never enter my credit card in public computers or my laptop. I have a router, a firewall, and spyware, adware, and antivirus programs -- Norton 360, Spybot, Adaware -- and run them all frequently, with Norton running in the background at all times. All of them are on auto-update or I update them manually every week. I have had computer techs tell me I have the cleanest machine they've ever checked. I don't even accept COOKIES except manually, even though I know they can't "do" anything to my computer.

Of course, I do use my credit cards and debit card in real life -- at restaurants, airlines, the vet, whatever. I hand them to waiters and they bring them back, and I never think about it.

The PayPal incident freaks me out, because how could someone have had my account password? It's not an easily guessable one. I've never given it to anyone, no one shares my computer, and I have never logged into PayPal from anything but my desktop at home. And like I said, I almost never use PayPal. I've never used EBay or any auction sites. I don't buy stuff online from individuals. I just don't use it much.

I have been changing and mixing up my passwords all over the web, I have checked and re-checked with my anti-spyware software and nothing comes up.

I'm seriously starting to freak out, though.  If it weren't for the PayPal incident, which for all I know was  some kind of computer glitch and had nothing to do with my account being compromised, I would feel sure this was a "real life" credit card theft... but now this one involves TWO cards, my debit card and my airline mileage card.

I'm not sure what to do. Eeek.

Editing to add: I did obtain my credit reports, and there are no incorrect addresses, no unexplained inquiries, and no accounts that aren't mine.

More veterinary drug alerts from FDA

In the last few days, the FDA has banned the use of a human drug in veterinary medicine (at least for food animals), and issued a black box warning -- its highest level of alert -- about a class of drugs that includes a human drug frequently prescribed in veterinary medicine, one of the most widely used and useful of all veterinary drugs, and a new, widely promoted, veterinary drug, as well.



FDA has ruled that a black box warning must be placed on human drugs in the fluoroquinolone family, which includes the human drug Cipro and the veterinary drugs Baytril (enrofloxacin) and Zeniquin (marbofloxacin), although it does not appear that this warning will be placed on either of those, which are exclusively veterinary drugs:

Fluoroquinolones are associated with an increased risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture. This risk is further increased in those over age 60, in kidney, heart, and lung transplant recipients, and with use of concomitant steroid therapy. Physicians should advise patients, at the first sign of tendon pain, swelling, or inflammation, to stop taking the fluoroquinolone, to avoid exercise and use of the affected area, and to promptly contact their doctor about changing to a non-fluoroquinolone antimicrobial drug.

I'm seeing what I can find out about this risk in animals taking Zeniquin and Baytril, which is sometimes given longterm to dogs and cats who have chronic urinary tract or skin infections. (Marbofloxacin is also given in a cream, combined with prednisone and clotrimazole for topical use; brand name is Aurizon.)



For the time being, I would definitely be very alert to lameness or limb pain in any animal taking Baytril, and contact your veterinarian with any concerns. Be aware that this warning is only one day old, and your pet's veterinarian may not be aware of it, nor realize that it might apply to Baytril and/or Zeniquin.



FDA also issued a ruling that the cephalosporin class of drugs -- which includes Keflex -- can no longer be given to animals intended to be used as food (they can still be used on companion animals):

By law, FDA may issue a prohibition order if evidence shows that extralabel use of a drug in food-producing animals has caused, or is likely to cause, a public health risk. In this case, FDA has gathered evidence showing that the extralabel use of cephalosporins in food-producing animals is likely to contribute to the emergence of resistance and compromise human therapies. Given the importance of the cephalosporin class of drugs for treating disease in humans, FDA believes that preserving the effectiveness of such drugs is critical. Therefore, FDA believes it is necessary to take action to limit the extent to which extralabel use of cephalosporins in food-producing animals may be contributing to the emergence of resistant variants.

This ruling goes into effect on October 8, 2008.



UPDATE: I'm thinking that we should assume Baytril at least does have this effect on dogs:

The effects of enrofloxacin on canine tendon cells and chondrocytes proliferation in vitro.

Lim S, Hossain MA, Park J, Choi SH, Kim G.

Laboratory of Veterinary Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 361-763, South Korea.



Enrofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic has been used widely in humans and domestic animals, including dogs, because of its broad-spectrum activity and relative safety. The side effects of fluoroquinolone, induced tendinopathy, tendonitis, spontaneous tendon rupture and cartilage damage, remain incompletely understood. In the present study, we investigated the in vitro effects of enrofloxacin on cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis in canine Achilles tendon cells and chondrocytes. Cell growth and proliferation after treating with enrofloxacin for 2-6 days was quantified by a colorimetric 2,3-bis(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxyanilide inner salt (XTT) assay. The results showed that enrofloxacin could inhibit the proliferation of canine tendon cells and chondrocytes at increasing concentrations (10-200 microg/ml). The inhibition of proliferation of canine tendon cells and chondrocytes after exposure to enrofloxacin were associated with induction of apoptosis, as evidenced by the typical nuclear apoptotic condensed nuclei found using Hoechst 33258 staining. It was demonstrated that canine tendon cells and chondrocytes treated with 200 microg/ml enrofloxacin for 4 days exhibited apoptotic features and fragmentation of DNA. Enrofloxacin also increased the apoptosis of canine tendon cells and chondrocytes in a dose and time-dependent manner. The results indicate that enrofloxacin inhibits cell proliferation, induces apoptosis and DNA fragmentation, which might explain enrofloxacin-induced tendinopathy and cartilage damage.

Abstract here.

Something unexpected from me

I've already blogged about this on Pet Connection, so I'll do the short version here:  I wrote something I'm really proud of in my pet column for SFGate.com today... and it's something unusual for me. I hope you'll read it.

On a related note, I have two incredible books to recommend, also somewhat unusual for me:

Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo
By Kate Jackson

Biologist Kate Jackson spent much of 2005 in the flooded forests of the northern Republic of Congo, searching for new species of reptiles and amphibians. While there she faced government hassles, bad weather, disgusting food, and seemingly insurmountable cultural barriers -- and she can't wait to go back. "Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, science, and survival in the Congo" is a fascinating glimpse into the world of a field biologist in one of the least-known ecosystems in the world. Read this book before you tell your little snake-crazy daughter that reptiles are "icky."

Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature
by Harry W. Greene

Author Harry W. Greene is the former Curator of Herpetology at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkely, and currently a Cornell University professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. His book "Snakes: The evolution of mystery in nature" tells the compelling story of the role this species plays in the natural world, and is full of some of the most beautiful and unusual photographs available. If you read only one book about snakes in your life, it should be this one.

The unexpected beauty of snakes

I was waiting for Gina to post this, as I hate to be all "go read this" about my own stuff, but she's swamped with work today, so here I am.

I'm particularly proud of my column in SFGate.com this morning, even though it probably won't be the most popular of my articles there. It's about snakes, but it's not about how to care for them, or what species make good pets, or about their diets or health or anything like that.

It's about what happens to kids, especially little girls, who get directed away from the creepy crawly things and towards kittens, bunnies, and puppies. It's about parents who shudder in horror when their child shows up with a tiny snake clutched in their hands.

And it's about how I learned to see the world in a whole new way when I first started doing editorial work for kingsnake.com, the oldest and largest reptile web site in the world, and got to know people to whom that never happened, or if it did, it didn't work:

Many of the people I met never lost that childhood wonder at the natural world. They would devote endless hours to creating habitats for animals that evolved in environments ranging from the driest deserts to tropical rainforests, sometimes having to learn by trial and error what even the experts didn't know about their snakes. They became obsessive observers of their animals, noting the slightest deviation in activity levels or appetites, their interest and their patience apparently endless.

I also became aware of how much prejudice exists against snakes and the people who keep them. Snakes in our culture have often been relegated to roles as scary monsters in horror flicks and the "ewww gross" segment on nature shows.

I spoke to a couple of local people I found through kingsnake.com: Rolf, an easy-going guy who owned boas and pythons, and defied every stereotype of the anti-social, slightly weird snake owner, and Natalie, a woman not much out of her teens who had been wandering the hills of Marin since she was a little girl, looking for snakes:

Rolf told me that he grew up all over the Northern California coast, mostly in rural areas, where, from the time he was four or five years old, he remembers always being in the middle of a forest, field, or a stream or a creek. "All children look and see things that are interesting, and I always had been involved with these little animals," he said, "You see them. They see you. They go and hide. I can see the rocks and the trees and the water, but I can't see these little bits of life that I know are there. Where are they going? What are they doing?"

[....]

Marin County's Natalie McNear fits the snake-owner stereotype a bit more. In a phone interview, she described herself as a loner, happiest when by herself in the fields and forests. But simply by being a woman who loves snakes she challenges stereotypes, too.

"I've been going outside and looking for snakes ever since I was a little kid," said the twenty-year-old, who worked at a North Bay reptile store during high school. "I would catch bugs and snakes and everything else that other girls thought were gross."

[....]

McNear's quiet observations haven't just been of her snakes; she's noticed a thing or two about how people feel about the animals as well. "(Snakes are) probably one of the most misunderstood animals that people keep as pets," she said "A lot of people are afraid of them."

I got to talk about two of the best books I've ever read about snakes and nature, and raise the larger question about why even those of us who seriously, really don't like snakes should re-consider our prejudices against those who do.

Much of what we know about snakes and other small and elusive species comes from the hard work of field biologists like Kate Jackson, the author of "Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo." Jackson, just like Natalie McNear, was once a little girl lying on her belly in the grass, looking for snakes. Today, she's a biology professor and one of the first herpetologists to slog through the swampy forests of the Northern Congo, studying and cataloguing the reptiles and amphibians she found there.

[....]

(Cornell University Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Harry Greene opens the final section of (his book) "Snakes" with this quotation from Sengalese conservationist Baba Dioum:

 

In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.

 

My purpose here is not to convince you to love snakes. I still don't, and even Rolf and McNear say what they feel for their snakes is more respect and fascination than love. But I think Dioum is right, that we only save what we care about, and we only care about what we learn to understand.

Every day, hundreds of parents, older sisters and babysitters respond with a shudder and "get that thing out of this house!" when a child shows up with a harmless garden snake in his or her hands. What if instead we taught ourselves to understand and respect people's interest in snakes and those other "mean and lowly" creatures? Wouldn't doing that not only help kids to retain, but us to reclaim, some of that sense of wonder at the natural world and the desire to preserve it for the future?

I hope you'll read the article, even if you don't like snakes -- in fact, especially if you don't. And let me know if it worked or not; did I get you to think about them, and the people who love them, in a new way?

Poop in food: What 's up with that?

Since January of 1986, I have fed raw foods to my dogs and cats. During that time, I've been told by dozens of vets that my pets are therefore at risk of dying a horrible death due to malnutrition and the jellification of their skeletal structure. This has not happened, and in fact, most of my raw-fed dogs have outlived their kibble-fed parents and littermates, and I have never had a dog or cat become ill from or suffer any symptoms related to a food-borne illness or disease of nutritional deficiency or excess.

So I was somewhat amused when I went to the Western Veterinary Conference in February and heard one of the conference speakers, who worked for one of the big pet food companies, address her fellow veterinarians on the subject of raw diets.

She wasn't really against them, she said. It's just that it's impossible to prepare a nutritionally adequate dog diet in a home kitchen, because apparently dogs have such highly specialized digestive requirements that you need a degree in biology and a commercial laboratory to formulate their diets.

That's why we never had any dogs prior to the invention of pet food a hundred or so years ago.

And she didn't really have a problem with raw diets, either, except for the fact that they're dangerous.

Now, my little weekend adventure has served to confirm for me that food safety in this country is a huge issue. I already knew that, of course, given the pet food recall and the stellar work being done by the FDA and USDA on the recent salmonella outbreak. But given my track record feeding dozens of dogs and cats of all ages and states of health (carefully chosen and handled) raw diets, I have to guess that the risks of doing so are grossly exaggerated. Not only have they not become sick from eating these foods, neither have I become sick from preparing them (which is more than I can say about eating in restaurants).

If I'd been sitting in that audience -- okay, I was, but if I were a veterinarian with no experience feeding raw diets who knew only what the pet food companies had taught me in vet school -- I'd have been quite horrified to learn that raw meat is so completely filthy and contaminated that it's literally impossible to safely handle it in a home kitchen.

In fact, this vet said that even when you wash the dishes used to prepare your dog's raw dinner in a dishwasher set on sanitize, even if you wash them in bleach and hot, soapy water, they still have measurable levels of bacterial contamination on them after washing. Even the glass or stainless steel dishes.

So I was listening to this, and watching the hundreds of vets in attendance nodding their heads and taking notes, and I wanted to stand up and say, "Does the dish somehow know that raw meat is destined for my dog's stomach and not my oven? Because what about the bowl I used to mix my meatloaf? What about whipping up eggs in a bowl before I scramble them? What about marinating chicken breasts? How am I supposed to make my own dinner, if what you're saying is true?"

And then I thought a little more, and wanted to additionally ask, "If this is true, then tell me, oh room full of veterinarians: Why aren't you all getting up out of your folding chairs and marching down the hall to the large animal veterinary seminars and asking your colleagues in agriculture exactly why this nation's meat supply is full of feces?"

I didn't want to embarrass Pet Connection, so of course I didn't ask. But it does make you wonder. Why is food safety always framed as a home kitchen problem, when most outbreaks of food-borne illness are institutional -- restaurants, nursing homes, that kind of thing?

Why are we constantly being cautioned that our food supply is so contaminated with fecal bacteria that we don't dare give our dogs a scrap of trim from the Sunday roast, and speakers at large veterinary conferences tell us we literally cannot safely sanitize dishes used to prepare meat, for us or our pets?

Why do we pass laws that meat has to be sold with lengthy "safe handling" labels, instead of laws that there shouldn't be crap in my food in the first place?

Why is it always on us?