Emergency Veterinary Care, more trips are made at the full moon

Many speculate that there is an increase in human emergency rooms admissions during different phases of the moon, and now there is research to show that this speculation is correct for dog and cat admissions.

Work by Regan Wells, Juliet Gionfriddo and Timothy Hackett, and Steven Radecki sited studies that have shown both an increase and no change in human emergency admissions for:
Psychologic crises,
Suicide,
Gout,
Childbirth,
Dog bites,
Seizures,
Heart attacks,
Fights, and
Trauma.

When Dr. Wells et all looked at data for about 12,000 dogs and cats over a ten-year period, they found more emergency room visits occurred on the dark of the new moon and during the moons brighter and brightest phases than when the moon was at first quarter or waxing. They calculated the increased risk of emergency admission during the fuller moon days for dogs was 28% and 23% for cats. The type of emergency did not appear to have a pattern.

The complete study, “Canine and feline emergency room visits and the lunar cycle: 11,940 cases (1992-2002) is in the July 15, 2007, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.