They found that five genera of bacteria—Corynebacterium, Bacteroides, Proteus, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus—dominated across all the cats, but that each cat had an individual microbial makeup.

Then a sample of the ear debris is looked at under the microscope to determine if there is yeast, bacteria, or ear mites. Further workup may require sedation or X-rays, but treating ear infections ...

In a puppy’s mouth, C. canimorsus is no big deal. At least a quarter of all dogs and many cats carry them. Humans normally don’t, and once the bacteria got in Julie’s bloodstream, her body ...