When it comes to caring for dogs, there are many different options and many different opinions. Some people like to get up close and personal with their pets, but others set limitations.
One of the things that many pet owners enjoy is getting a lick from their dog. It seems as if they are showing so much love and you would think that it was harmless, but now a warning is being sent out.
Veterinarians would like dog owners to understand the risks associated with allowing your pooch to lick you. This comes as one woman had both of her legs and arms amputated as a result of the affectionate kiss.
Marie Trainer from Stark County, Ohio was on vacation in 2019 and when she came home, she had a small cut on her hand. Her dog welcomed her with ‘kisses’ and nobody thought much of it.
Not long after, she started to get sick and things went sour very quickly.
She said: “Four days later, I wasn’t feeling well and just got sicker and sicker.”
At first, medics didn’t know what was wrong with her but after she fell into a coma, they realized it wasn’t the flu. That is when they diagnosed her with capnocytophaga canimorsus, a bacteria found in the saliva of cats and dogs.
If this saliva enters the human body, which it did to her small cut on her hand, it can result in an immune response that is severe. It can also result in blood clots that cause circulation to be cut off from the limbs.
In the case of blood clots, amputations may be necessary to keep the infections from spreading. That is why Marie had to have both of her arms and legs cut off.
Veterinarians want people to know that it’s possible to receive zoonotic pathogens from your pet. That is a type of disease that is spread from animals to humans.
According to a study from Penn State University, this could be quite serious. Sophia Kenney, who authored the study, said: “Especially with salmonella, we think about the role of agriculture and transmission – we think about eggs, we think about beef.
“But the thing is, we don’t let cows sleep in our beds or lick our faces, but we do dogs.
“We have this close bond with companion animals in general, and we have a really close interface with dogs.”
Falls Village Veterinary Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, also said: “Dogs have a reputation for being fairly indiscriminate about the things they sniff, lick, and eat. For this reason, their mouths can easily become home to bacteria like E. coli, campylobacter, and salmonella. These microorganisms are zoonotic, which means they can be readily passed from one species to another.
“While healthy adults will almost certainly survive being exposed to the viruses or bacteria in their dogs’ mouths, there is a non-zero risk of gastrointestinal illness and oral diseases from puppy kisses.
“Certain parasites like giardia, roundworms, and hookworms can also be transmitted through licks. These organisms can cause severe abdominal pain and digestive problems in dogs and humans.”
It will take some time for Marie to recover after a quadruple amputation, but she is looking at it in a positive way. She said: “It’s been challenging. Learning how to walk was the hardest thing, but I’m good, I’m doing good.”