Extending lives
The upside to having a dog is they become part of your family. In some ways, the love we experience for them as we nurture their lives is akin to what we feel for a child. Plus, it’s true they project unconditional love for us, which is a rare quality.
The downside is their 10- to 13-year average life expectancy is decades shorter than our own, which means we likely one day will lose their companionship and affection, perhaps even by our kind and painful choice to let them find peace from undue suffering.
We’ve recently had friends who faced this reality and watched them endure deep heartache when that moment arrived after years of emotional bonding. For many, putting a beloved yet suffering pet down to mercifully end their misery is one of the hardest things in life.
Jeanetta and I have talked about this heartbreaking reality awaiting when it comes to our little taco terrier Benji. Although we each had dogs over the course of our lives before we met, neither of us have ever had one become so closely attached.
So when I read the other day in the Whole Dog Journal about an anti-aging pill for dogs, my ears perked up and I began to pant. Well, not really. I just couldn’t resist writing that.
Rapamycin is an older drug that appears to reverse some effects of aging while enhancing the quality and length of some dogs’ lives. It’s a compound with a variety of medical uses for humans and improves cardiac function in dogs. Today it’s being investigated for its potential to extend an animal’s normal lifespan, according to
Dr. Jennifer Bailey, an urgent care veterinarian in Syracuse, N.Y.
Dr. Bailey said experiments with low doses of rapamycin in mice have proven favorable in the fight against cancer, along with improvements in cognition and muscle function. And it has been beneficial in increasing their lifespan by 25 percent. As research continues, it appears the response of canines could be similar to that in mice.
“The anti-aging effects of rapamycin are exciting to contemplate—for our dog and ourselves,” she writes.
Some owners said low doses also prompted behavioral changes in their dogs.
“It would appear that there is now a drug that can the length and quality of some dog’s lives,” she said. “We’ll be looking forward with great interest to the results of these [ongoing] studies. Rapamycin seems to have many benefits to offer our dogs—and any increase of our time with them would be extremely welcome.”
FAMILY, RESPECT, LORD
Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee, tried his best the other day to scold and threaten Special Counsel John Durham over his recent findings that the Democrat-inspired “Russia collusion” ordeal was manufactured against former President Donald Trump by those in the Deep State trying to influence the last election for President Joe Biden.
According to an account in the paper, Cohen told Durham “you had a good reputation; that’s why the two Democrats supported you. But the longer you hang onto Mr. Barr [the former GOP attorney general who appointed him] and this report Mr. Barr gave you as special counsel, your reputation will be damaged.”
The part I found impressive in this exchange was Durham’s response: “My concern about my reputation is with the people who I respect and my family and my Lord, and I’m perfectly comfortable with my reputation with them, sir.”
It’s an ideal reaction to anyone who threatens another’s reputation, especially involving something as corrupt and smarmy as national politics.
MORE PET PEEVES
I always appreciate having the ability to share the voices of my readers. After all, this is the Voices page. If you have a peeve or a mystical GodNod experience, please share it with me.
One churchgoer who understandably didn’t care to be named shared this peeve: “Those who exit the church first on Sundays (back pew people) and block the sidewalk because they want to have a lengthy discussion with the priest/pastor. The proper thing to do is step off to the side and after everyone has exited and greeted the pastor/priest … then have your lengthy discussion.”
Cold shopping peeves Risa Evans of Conway. “Even if you don’t write another column about pet peeves, just reading today made me want to get mine off my chest. My newest pet peeve is that our Sam’s Club here just revamped their store so you have to walk into a refrigerated room to shop for produce. It feels like a freezer in there! Part of shopping for me is the total experience, and this really bothers me.”
David in Little Rock said, “I have a new pet peeve. It is all the histrionics, the emoting, the chest-slapping, screaming, and flexing these college baseball players are doing now. See page 5C in Sunday’s sport section, the picture in the top right corner. An LSU player hit a triple last night then stood on third base and screamed for 4 or 5 seconds. I can’t watch college basketball anymore at all, football has gotten almost as bad, and now it is moving to baseball. Act like you have gotten a hit before at some point in your life!”