Author: Richard

I am a retired obstetrician-gynecologist who has been fortunate to live and work in the wonderful community of Durango, Colorado for 40 years.

Categories
Durango Herald Hope Media

Join Me in Celebrating my 70th Birthday

I’ve lived more than half my life here in La Plata County and have reached a milestone. This month I turned 70. My only sibling, Clara, died too young at age 71, although our parents both lived to over 85. This is a good time for me to take stock.
Writing this column for the Herald has been a real pleasure. I have had reason to research all sorts of subjects and to pretend that I’m an expert in them all. Thanks to the Herald for giving me a way to exercise my mind—and hopefully stave off dementia!
It has been my great privilege to have been a part of so many people’s lives as a physician in our community. One of my greatest pleasures is to re-meet folks I have helped into this world. An unrealized goal was to deliver three generations of babies. It has been wonderful, however, to help deliver the sons and daughters of people I first met as newborns.
One of my reasons for becoming a physician and then specializing in obstetrics and gynecology was concern about human population. The world’s population has tripled since my birth, and that of the USA has more than doubled. Because of economic development and our higher standard of living, human use of resources has been multiplied many times. My original reason for concern about overpopulation has to do with my wanting to work for peace. High population density, and thus competition for resources, is a common reason for war. I am still working to minimize this cause of armed conflict. However, now there are many other reasons for concern about population, including extinction of species and climate change. I have been accused of performing abortions only to slow population growth; this is not so! There are strong individual reasons, too—almost as many as there are women with unplanned pregnancies.
Abortion is seldom mentioned in the media except with an associated dark cloud. I am proud to be a physician who performs safe, legal abortions in a caring atmosphere. Whenever I think of retiring from being an abortion provider I remember the quiet teen who sat up after her abortion and said: “Thank you doctor. You gave me back my future.”
I have a conundrum. Sometimes people comment on my quirky sense of humor, but it has not been exercised much when writing these columns. Perhaps the subjects I write about are just too serious for me to find ways to joke about them. I need help: if you can think of jokes about the future of the planet—climate change, extinction of species and overpopulation—please write me.
I also have a bucket list—a list of things I would like to do while I still am able. One big item on the list is to continue exploring the world and our immediate surroundings. We still backpack, but the distances we hike before making camp are getting shorter. Fortunately our dog, Tyrone, helps carry stuff.
Obstetrics has one unique disease that kills women and babies. Physicians have never figured out what causes preeclampsia (also called toxemia of pregnancy or Pregnancy Induced Hypertension); my bucket list includes researching its physiology. About 30 years ago I came up with a hypothesis—that PIH is the woman’s body’s way of compensating for the baby’s obstructing blood flow to the lower half of her body. I never got around to testing this theory, but I hope to do start that study soon.
One of my successes has been to learn enough Spanish to be able to function medically in that language. This has been a help to the many immigrants (and their wives) who do much of the low-paying labor in our area. Recently I have volunteered at the La Plata Community Clinic where Spanish is valuable. It seems strange, after limiting my practice to just women for so long, to also care for men, but they are rewarding. This clinic deserves our community’s support.
I am fortunate that my life is still exciting. Gail and I just celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary. We still enjoy each other’s company, and she has been a wonderful support. I feel very lucky that we found each other.
It has been a great pleasure to be a part of the Durango community, and that of the Herald. Thank you all—including those of you who disagree with me—for being part of my life. Please join me in celebrating my transition to geezerhood!

© Richard Grossman MD, 2013

Categories
biodiversity Environment

Keep your Cat Indoors

Two months ago I wrote about finding a family of cats along the trail in the Galápagos Islands. The beautiful kittens would grow up to be murderers of vulnerable animals such as the rare species of hawk unique to the Galápagos. It was with mixed feelings that I learned that a ranger would be dispatched with dogs to obliterate this invasive family.
Can these lovable pets be a hazard here in the USA? Do they cause any problems with wildlife in our backyards?
The answer, unfortunately, is that cats allowed outside can be a serious problem, causing the deaths of billions of small animals.
Once, eating dinner as a kid, Cookie (our family’s cat) proudly joined us with her own meal in her mouth—a robin that she had just caught and killed. Until then we had no idea that she had been hunting in our backyard.
Cookie was not unique. Recent reviews suggest that cats kill huge numbers of small animals. In some cases we benefit from cats’ lethal effect, such as barn cats killing mice and rats. Unfortunately they are also responsible for the slaughter of many birds.
Fortunately not all cats are killers. Indoor cats aren’t given the opportunity to commit mayhem. And some pet cats that go outside leave little critters alone. Feral cats, who survive by tooth and claw, are the most destructive. However, free ranging domestic cats are estimated to kill over 2 billion birds every year in the USA.
Islands are where cats have caused the most trouble. Many unique species have developed in the isolation of islands; Darwin’s finches are a famous example. They are all unique to the Galápagos since they evolved in that remote cluster of islands.
Pirates and other sailors brought cats to the Galápagos over 300 years ago. These four-legged intruders caused a rapid decline in the numbers of birds—and of the unique marine iguanas. A concerted effort to eradicate cats has been successful on some of the islands, with subsequent increases in members of endemic species that live nowhere else. Fortunately, the Galápagos hawk is one of those that is bouncing back due to cat control.
Things didn’t work out so well in the Hawaiian Islands. The black-faced honeycreeper (Po’o-uli) is critically endangered. There are many reasons some birds aren’t doing well in Hawaii; avian malaria, destruction of habitat and killing by predators (including cats) are all serious threats. Of the 33 species of the small, stunning honeycreepers that have existed recently, 12 are now extinct and 9 are critically endangered or probably extinct. Only two honeycreeper species seem safe from extermination.
A recent study of killing by cats divided Felis catus into three categories: those that always stay inside, those pets that have homes but spend time outside, and those that live outside. The latter category includes barn cats whose purpose and livelihood are controlling rodents. It also includes feral cats that have no attachment to humans.
The undomesticated populations are responsible for most, but not all, of the killing. It is estimated that they do away with two to three billion birds each year in the USA, and up to 20 billion small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. They certainly have earned their place on the list of the world’s most destructive exotic species! We know that birds also die from collisions with windows and windmills, but cats destroy a much larger number.
Spying on domestic cats’ habits with cameras attached to their necks suggests that innocent-appearing Fluffy may actually be a serial killer. Indeed, indoor pet cats with outdoor access may kill a half billion birds a year in the USA! The story of one pet is shown at: www.pbs.org/pov/catcam/full.php#.UTSpLBlrciJ For more evidence that pet cats might be a closet killers check out “Crittercam” videos at http://www.kittycams.uga.edu/photovideo.html
Animal rights folks focus on protecting cats, but seem blind to the mayhem that cats cause. Feral cats number perhaps 50 million in the USA. Animal rights people have developed two types of programs in an attempt to control them. The Trap-Neuter-Return policy seems most humane because it doesn’t kill these wild creatures. Unfortunately TNR programs allow cats to return to their accustomed lethal pursuits. Euthanizing wild cats is better than TNR since it prevents massacre as well as reproduction.
As loveable as cats are, they can be killers. Devices to make it more difficult for cats to kill wildlife are available; locally, For the Birds carries a couple. It is best to keep cats inside for wildlife’s sake!
© Richard Grossman MD, 2013