Harmful Effects Of A Pet's Lick

By Debdatta Mazumder

Saturday, June 13, 2015, 11:25 [IST]

How nice it is be to have a pet in your family! Be it a dog or a cat or some other kind of pet, it soon becomes one of your family members.

If you have kids, your pet dog or cat can be their playmate and constant companion. But if you have pets, take care of them properly. They can’t tell you their problems. So, you need to be aware about their troubles and take precautions.

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Now, if you have pets, you have to be aware about health risks they pose to you and your family too. Why? There are many people who are allergic of cat’s fur or dog’s saliva.

It is better to keep them away from animals they are allergic to. If you are very much fond of pets, then you need to know about the health effects of a pet’s lick and also aboutits impact on your health.

Experts say that dogs and cats have many kinds of micro-organisms in their saliva. What happens when a pet licks you? Those harmful things pass on to you and can create several health problems.

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It is wonderful to have pets but not the diseases. If you have children, you need to take special care as they are susceptible to such kind of bacterial attacks.Read on to know what happens when a pet licks you and know the side effects of a pet’s lick.

1. Infections

Veterinarians say that the saliva of dogs and cats has a component named Pastuerella. If this bacterium gets into you, you can get skin diseases, diseases of the lymph nodes and various other infectious ailments.

2. Cat-scratch-fever

This is another infectious disease which is caused due to cat's saliva. The responsible bacteriua is called, Bartonella Henselae. It is transmitted by fleas and is common in feral cats. But even pet cats are not free from it.

3. Intestinal Diseases

The list of bacteria in pet's saliva has many more that the two mentioned above. Your pet's saliva containsbacteria like Salmonella, Clostridia and many more which can cause lots of intestinal diseases to human beings.

4. Brain Disorder and Blindness

If you think these are the only ill health effects of a pet's lick, then you're wrong. Pets have parasites and worms in their saliva. If they lick you, these worms can be transferred to you and can even cause brain disorders, blindness, skin problems and such.

5. High Risk for Patients

If someone is undergoing chemotherapy, then he/she is at high risk of getting infected when they get in touch with pet's saliva. Aged people, children, people inflicted with AIDS are other groups of people who should avoid pet's lick.

Did you get an idea of what happens when a pet licks you? Actually, mostinfections from pets are fecal-oral. Generally, dogs have a habit to lick their butt. Now, if the dog licks the face of a human, after licking feces, it will lead to infections. .

Many animals have the parasites in their intestines which may not harmful for them but if those are transmitted into the human body, severe diseases can happen.

So, you must take some precautions. You must go through de-worming procedures, take your pets for anti-parasite programmes, treat them for controlling fleas and worms and, keep children and people at risk of infections away from their pets.