Pet Lovers

[Kachina624]

As a nation of animal lovers, we happily lavish affection on our furry friends.

Dogs also love to show us affection - and will sometimes give us a lick, whether or not we like it.

But if you thought the worst part was a gust of dog breath to the face, then you'd be very wrong.

Letting your dog lick your face can potentially kill you.

Author and dog expert Marty Becker told Doggies Care : "All you have to do is look, watch, smell and you'll realise that is not true.

"They raid the garbage can. You know, we give each other a peck on the cheek when we say hello, they give each other a peck on the rear end."

John Oxford, professor of virology and bacteriology at the Queen Mary University in London, painted a grim but effective picture of the bacteria present in your dog's mouth and muzzle.

"It is not just what is carried in saliva. Dogs spend half their life with their noses in nasty corners or hovering over dog droppings so their muzzles are full of bacteria, viruses and germs of all sorts."

The list of potential diseases is a worrying one.

Capnocytophaga Canimorsus is an organism carried in the mouths of dogs, and it causes a very bad sepsis infection.

If you do catch this, your first symptoms will resemble those of other illnesses: fever, chills, sweats and a lack of energy. You will, however, fall ill much more quickly than you would with a more commonplace infection.

Next on the list is ringworm - one of the easiest diseases for your dog to pass onto you from their saliva.

Dogs can also carry round MRSA and not have it affect them. One little lick from them, however, can be bad news for humans.

Staphylococcus aureus is similar to MRSA and, but is more resistant to treatment.

It's also worth being aware that there's a higher risk of infants becoming infected by a dog licking them.

Of course, we should all welcome shows of affection from our pets and not live in fear of it, but its worth being wary of getting a too close to a dog's mouth.

[Foolywooly11]

As much as I love my dog, I agree. he's still a dog, after all, & will do as dogs do! 

[golding76]

Thank you.  

Same goes for my cats.  I see what they do when "playing" with one another.

[gizmogal]

Interesting!

Name and date of this source? If it's been pasted from printing in a veterinary or human health journal, please provide the citation. Thanks!

[NorthernLights]

Trust me I am never one to tell another person what to do with their animals.

But after seeing what my beloved forever dog licks...he's never licking this face. 

[AuntG]

Yeah I get it, but when I was a kid, our border collie would kill a chicken, lick his butt and slobber all over me.  I never had an antibiotic until I was an adult.  Maybe it's true that what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.😉

[Azcowgirl]

And they used to say a dogs mouth is quite germ free !! ):

[KentuckyWoman]

I don't need a source to tell me not to let a dog or cat lick my face.  I've seem them self clean themselves and I know where their tongues have been.  As much as I love our dog and cat, they aren't kissing this face of mine.  Yuck.

[Annabellethecat66]

The whole thing could be summed up by saying they eat cat poop and lick their butt.

[Kachina624]

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@gizmogal wrote:

Interesting!

Name and date of this source? If it's been pasted from printing in a veterinary or human health journal, please provide the citation. Thanks!

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It was printed in The Mirror (London, I think) with a tie to Oxford University.