Healthy pets mean healthy people – when your dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig and turtle are well, they’ll enhance your life and not pose a health risk. But if your pet is sick, there’s a small chance they could pass what’s wrong onto you.
Sicknesses that can be transmitted from pets to people are called ‘zoonotic diseases’. Zoonotic diseases are rarely passed on as long as we look after our pets and take a few simple hygiene measures.
Staying safe from the risk of infection from your pet
It pays to look after your pet and to make sure you wash your hands often after you’ve played with them. Stay safe and hygienic by:
- taking your pet for a twice-yearly vet check
- worming your pet every three months
- giving your pet a monthly flea treatment
- not touching your pet’s poo – use a bag or disposable gloves
- wearing gloves when weeding the garden (buried cat poo)
- trying not to let your pet lick your face
- ensuring your pet’s bedding is clean
- providing fresh drinking water and healthy food
- bathing and grooming your pet regularly
Common zoonotic diseases
Even though there’s a heap of zoonotic diseases to look out for, all of them can be prevented. Here are the most common:
Cat scratch disease
Pet: Cats and kittens
How it’s transmitted: Via a scratch or a bite
What happens to you: Swollen lymph nodes and fever
Prevention: Flea control and avoiding being scratched or bitten
Campylobacter
Pet: Cats, dogs and many other animals
How it’s transmitted: Contracted from the faeces (poo) of infected animals
What happens to you: Infection, fever, diarrhoea and vomiting
Prevention: Good hygiene and healthy feeding – don’t feed your pet raw, contaminated meat
Chlamydiosis
Pet: Birds
How it’s transmitted: Touching bird poo or inhaling dried bird secretions
What happens to you: Flu-like symptoms
Prevention: Good hygiene measures
Giardia
Pet: Infected animals
How it’s transmitted: Contact with an infected animal
What happens to you: Diarrhoea, stomach cramps and feeling sick
Prevention: Good hygiene measures
Ringworm
Pet: Cats
How it’s transmitted: Contact with fungal spores
What happens to you: Itchy rashes
Prevention: Good hygiene measures
Salmonella
Pet: Cats, dogs, reptiles, chickens
How it’s transmitted: Contracted from the faeces of infected pets
What happens to you: Diarrhoea and vomiting
Prevention: Good hygiene and healthy feeding – don’t feed your pet raw, contaminated meat
Toxoplasmosis
Pet: Cats
How it’s transmitted: Not washing hands after cleaning cat litter tray; not washing hands after gardening
What happens to you: Fever and swollen lymph nodes; can cause miscarriage and birth defects during pregnancy
Prevention: Good hygiene around cats and after gardening/touching soil.
Worms
Pet: Dogs and cats
How it’s transmitted: Contact with poo or contaminated soil
What happens to you: Infection caused by roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms
Prevention: Worm pets every three months and take good hygiene measures
