Pets Can Make You Sick

Sleeping with your pet or pets can make you sick. While this phenomenon is rare, it can happen, according to a report by Elizabeth Weise in USA Today.

Good hygiene practices mean keeping your pet alongside your bed, not in it, according to an upcoming paper about animal-human disease transmission. The whitepaper will be published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

More than 60 percent of U.S. households have a pet, and research indicates about 14 percent to 62 percent of pet owners let their dogs and cats sleep with them.

This can be injurious to your health, according to Bruno Chomel, a professor at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

“There are private places in the household, and I think our pets should not go beyond next to the bed,” Chomel says. “Having a stuffed animal in your bed is fine, not a real one.”

Chomel and co-author Ben Sun, chief veterinarian with the California Department of Public Health, searched medical journals and turned up a hair-raising list of possible pathogens.

There is plague (i.e. bubonic plague) and chagas disease, which can cause life-threatening heart and digestive system disorders. Also, there’s cat-scratch disease which can be caused from being licked by infected cats.
Although many people like kissing their pet, it may not be such a good idea, according to reporter Weise. Further, researchers have found several cases where various infections are transmitted in this manner.

“The risk is rare, but when it occurs it can be very nasty, and especially in immune-compromised people and the very young,” says Chomel, who specializes in zoonoses – the study of disease transmission between animal and humans.

Larry Kornegay, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, called the article “pretty balanced.” These cases are “uncommon if not rare,” but even so, pet owners should use common sense when handling their pets to reduce risk.

Washing hands after playing with pets and regular veterinary wellness visits are very important, says Kornegay, who practices in Houston.

In general, he says, “the benefits of having a pet, whether or not you sleep with it, far outweigh the negatives, which are quite uncommon.”

Kornegay notes many pet owners disagree with the research findings. “They tell me they’ve slept with their pets for years and they never got sick,” he says.

WMB tends to agree with the latter position.

We have a pet Sheltie and although we do not sleep with our pet, we feel confident our health is in no way, shape, or form compromised.

In fact, the benefits of walking her and maintaining her overall health far outweigh any risk because of everyday exposure.

Pets are dependent on us for their needs and, in turn, they maintain our mental health because they bring out our affection and caring.

WMB believes that if you are comfortable with your pet, and there’s no known transmission of disease, you should maintain your pet-oriented lifestyle.

The risks are negligible, the benefits tangible.

TechMan