Diseases That You Can Get From Your Pet

Your pet may be your best buddy, but did you know you can get more than affection from your furry friend? Turns out, your pet can actually make you sick.

Through zoonotic illnesses (diseases humans contract from animals) many infectious diseases spread from pets to their owners, according to WebMD.

Relax, it is not all that common, but it does happen, and you can prevent it from happening to you and your prized pet.

Preventive Measures

First, the best way to avoid contracting diseases from your pets is to wash your hands often. Teach your kids to scrub up after playing with the family dog, for instance—especially right before dinner.

Although they are quite irresistible at times, avoid the urge to kiss your pet on the mouth.

Aside from frequent hand washing, take your family pet to the veterinarian on a regular basis for routine checkups.

This will help to catch any diseases before they become a bigger problem and spread to the humans in your house. Any animal—from dogs and cats to lizards and birds—should be considered a vessel for transmitting germs that can spread disease.

Rabies

Rabies is one disease you could get from your dog or cat. This is a nasty virus that spreads quickly through open wounds such as bites. Affecting the nervous system, rabies is usually fatal, manifesting itself in the early stages with a fever or headache.

These symptoms progress fairly quickly into agitation, a state of confusion and restlessness. While Fido could give you rabies, it is much more likely that you would get this disease from an infected wild animal.

You can avoid this unfortunate occurrence by making sure your pet is up-to-date with its vaccines, call animal control when you see stray or dead animals on your property rather than attempt to remove them yourself, avoid exposure to wild animals, and see a doctor if you have been bitten by any animal, pet or not.

Cat Scratch Disease

Also known as bartonellosis, this bacterial disease typically spreads from cat to cat via the infestation of fleas.

However, if the infected cat scratches or bites you, you can contract the disease as well. It starts off as a mild infection with symptoms similar to the flu, then progresses to more serious damage of the heart valves.

Your symptoms may initially involve swollen lymph nodes, fever, headache, little to no appetite, and fatigue, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Toxoplasmosis

This one also causes flu-like symptoms when contracted by humans. You can get this if you come in contact with cat feces, so it is important to stay away from cat litter if you are pregnant. Why? Toxoplasmosis can lead to spontaneous abortion or serious birth defects in your growing fetus.

You can also contract this disease from eating undercooked meat. In general, though, stay away from animal feces while gardening or working in the yard.

Teach your kids to do the same. Keeping on top of hand washing and wearing gloves when changing the kitty litter are two key ways to prevent toxoplasmosis.

While contracting diseases from your pet is rare, you should still take the proper precautions of hand washing and reporting bites and scratches as soon as they happen.