Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing

In the spring of 2005, **cardiologist** Barbara Natterson-Horowitz was called to consult on an unusual patient: an Emperor tamarin at the Los Angeles Zoo. While examining the tiny monkey’s sick heart, she learned that wild animals can die of a form of cardiac arrest brought on by extreme emotional stress. It was a syndrome identical to a human condition but one that **veterinarians** called by a different name—and treated in innovative ways.

This remarkable medical parallel launched Natterson-Horowitz on a journey of discovery that reshaped her entire approach to **medicine**. She began to search for other connections between the human and animal worlds: Do animals get **breast cancer**, anxiety-induced fainting spells, sexually transmitted diseases? Do they suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, **bulimia**, addiction?

The answers were astonishing. Dinosaurs suffered from **brain cancer**. **Koalas** catch **chlamydia**. Reindeer seek narcotic escape in hallucinogenic mushrooms. Stallions self-mutilate. Gorillas experience clinical depression.

Joining forces with science journalist Kathryn Bowers, Natterson-Horowitz employs fascinating case studies and meticulous scholarship to present a revelatory understanding of what animals can teach us about the **human body** and mind. "Zoobiquity" is the term the authors have coined to refer to a new, species-spanning approach to health. Delving into evolution, anthropology, sociology, biology, **veterinary science**, and zoology, they break down the walls between disciplines, redefining the boundaries of **medicine**.

Zoobiquity explores how animal and human commonality can be used to diagnose, treat, and heal patients of all species. Both authoritative and accessible, offering cutting-edge research through captivating narratives, this provocative book encourages us to see our essential connection to all living beings.