“Pets make for good medicine at Houston hospitals - KVUE” plus 1 more

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Pets make for good medicine at Houston hospitals - KVUE Posted: 18 Dec 2010 05:03 AM PST by Brad Woodard / 11 News kvue.com Posted on December 18, 2010 at 7:04 AM Updated Saturday, Dec 18 at 7:06 AM HOUSTON -- Have you ever noticed that the older you get, the more quickly time passes?  Maybe too quickly. But tell that to an 11-year-old boy who's been hospitalized at Texas Children's for more than a week now, watching the seconds slowly tick by. "Hours feel like days at this hospital," said Brandon Galvan. "That's what he's been telling me," says his mother, Deloris Galvan.  "He's like, 'I don't even know if it's day or night.'" Brandon is at Texas Children's because of a ruptured appendix and is missing his friends, but there's one friend in particular he's been yearning to see. She may not be a doctor, but his 4-year-old Chihuahua named Chuchi makes for good medicine. "That's unconditional love," says Galvan, as he clutches his dog from his hospital bed. A dose of unconditional love made possible by an organization called PAWS Houston, which visits hospital patients each month, not with therapy dogs, but with the patients' very own pets brought from home. "There's a lot of health benefits," said PAWS director Scott Frank.  "There have been a lot of studies that actually prove it does decrease stress.  It decreases blood pressure.  It's a different kind of medicine." PAWS Houston has relationships with all the major hospitals at the Texas Medical Center. "That pet comes in, and that pet is all about the patient and enjoying and being with the patient," said Jamie Byrd, manager of the Child Life Department at Texas Children's Hospital.  "I think that's what makes it so great.  Animals just connect with us." While Brandon's visit may have been on a lighter note, that is not always the case.  Whatever the circumstances, though, it always comes back to the human-animal bond. "A lady, basically her chart read comatose.  She had no color," recalls Frank of an earlier visit to another patient.  "She wasn't eating.  She basically had no will to live.  We brought her dog to see her, and within 15 minutes she was awake.  She went home and lived for another three years." Deloris Galvan said pets show their owners love in sickness and in health.   "Sometimes I think the love they have for us is more than other humans show us," says "They love you no matter what." And that, perhaps, is the best medicine of all. Share this article: Print This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.

Ellen DeGeneres Brings Holiday Cheer To Pets - NBC Chicago Posted: 23 Dec 2010 06:26 PM PST Ellen DeGeneres' holiday cheer is going to the dogs. The talk show host has teamed up with Halo, Purely for Pets to deliver one million meals to shelter pets awaiting adoption. VIEW THE PHOTOS: Top Ten Stars With Unusual Pet Names "At Halo we want to promote healthy living for pets and eating good food is a big part of that. So, we agreed to donate one million meals of Halo to shelter pets. I mean, imagine, an animal in a shelter, in a cage, lonely - a good meal is kinda all they have to look forward to, until you adopt them!" Ellen said. The campaign launched on April 30, 2010 when the United States Post Service's social awareness stamp, "Animal Rescue: Adopt A Shelter Pet" first became available for purchase. VIEW THE PHOTOS: Dogs And Their Stars Ellen and Halo partnered with a number of non-profit organizations to donate the 1 million meals, including Freekibble, The Humane Society of the US, ASPCA, Pets for Patriots, and The National Canine Cancer Foundation amongst others. Copyright 2010 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Related Content from AccessHollywood.com: VIEW THE PHOTOS: Access Style: Doggy Fashion VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood & Pugs: The Clowns Of The Dog World! PLAY IT NOW: Access Hollywood Live: Tom Arnold Discusses His Relationship Woes With His Ex, Roseanne Barr PLAY IT NOW: Access Hollywood Live: Mix It Up With Some Holiday Cocktails More from Access: [ Ellen DeGeneres Charities TV ] Copyright Access Hollywood First Published: Dec 23, 2010 2:01 PM CST This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.

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