That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
...and so will the cat. (Sorry, Claire.) From AOLnews:
Medical researchers have long shown that contact with pets can often help both the physically and mentally ill. But now, veterinary scientists say sleeping with your pets increases the chances of contracting everything from parasites to the plague.
Diseases that travel between animals and humans are called zoonoses, which has to be among the greatest words ever.
But zoonoses, apparently, are a lot more dangerous if you sleep with your pet:
For example:
- A 9-year-old boy from Arizona got the plague because he slept with his flea-infested cat.
- A 48-year-old man and his wife repeatedly contracted MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which their physicians eventually attributed to their dog. The animal "routinely slept in their bed and frequently licked their face," the California experts reported.
Kissing pets can also transmit zoonoses. A Japanese woman contacted meningitis after kissing her pet's face.
But disease can easily be transmitted by your pet kissing you. The study cited cases where a woman died of septic shock and renal failure after her cat, with whom she slept, licked open sores on her feet and toes. In another case, a 44-year-old man died of infection after his German shepherd puppy licked open abrasions on his hands.
To which I reply: I don't care. My magnificent dog, Illy, who is pictured above in her favorite location -- the beach in Santa Barbara -- and in her favorite pose -- staring intently at a tennis ball -- is going to climb up on my bed at some point in the night, whether I want her to or not. And the risk of zoonotic infection (which is impossible to say without laughing) is just something I'm going to have to deal with, along with the risk of everything else, like the cigar I'm probably going to smoke this afternoon, and the text that I'll send at some point this week, from the car, while driving.
Yes, yes. I know. But there's something so simpering and fearful about all of these "risk" avoidance articles. It's all part of what I call the Bicycle Helmet Culture we're all a part of -- and I know that bike helmets are officially Good Things, but I also can't help thinking that there's something increasingly small-minded, risk-averse, and fearfully paralyzed by a culture that keeps trying to sand the edges off of life.
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Sep '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Kissing pets can also transmit zoonoses
Well, there goes my Ricochet social life. Thanks Rob. Pity was all I had going for me.
Oct '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
This is what I call risk management - maybe it's ok to let your pet sleep with you, but maybe it's also a good idea to cover open sores, and avoid french kissing it / him / her.
May '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Amen.
Be thankful you don't have a physician in the family. The lectures never end.
Dec '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Aren't these people who keep going on about risky behaviors that can kill you the same ones who keep going on about humanity being a blight on the planet? Perhaps they neither care for strangers or the planet and merely want to control something other than their own bladders.
Dec '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Rob Long: .
To which I reply: I don't care. My magnificent dog, Illy, who is pictured above in her favorite location -- the beach in Santa Barbara -- and in her favorite pose -- staring intently at a tennis ball -- is going to climb up on my bed at some point in the night, whether I want her to or not. And the risk of zoonotic infection (which is impossible to say without laughing) is just something I'm going to have to deal with, along with the risk of everything else, like the cigar I'm probably going to smoke this afternoon, and the text that I'll send at some point this week, from the car, while driving.
I second (and triple) everything you said here, Rob.
My first name is Robert, I have a Rottweiler/Hound mix 4 year old named Rudy who jumps into my bed at some point every night (and who has turned staring intently into an art form), I'm sitting in a cigar store with wireless as we type, and I texted my friend to meet me here while in the car about 45 minutes ago.
It's like looking into a mirror.
Jun '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Illy appears to be a Yellow Lab and I can attest to the fact that they are virtually impossible to keep out of the bed. I'd guess he pops in at about 5:00 or 5:30 am every day ready to rock n' roll. You can't keep a good dog down.
May '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
THIS is what Rob Long wakes up to every morning.
Jun '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
As usual the ninny-nannies have it exactly backwards. Living with animals builds up your immune system. It's precisely because Native Americans had no domestic livestock that they were susceptible to European diseases. (And don't bother bringing up the turkey and the llama. It's not the same as herding sheep or keeping a pig under the house.)
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Spectacular!
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Well, you make a good point. I do draw that line at that. I'm not what a friend of mine calls a "petrosexual."
Aug '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Rob Long
Spectacular! · Jan 24 at 1:19pm
Noticed in the EJHill Gazette that he also noted the death of Jack LaLanne.
Besides pulling the Queen Mary across the water in Long Beach with his teeth, he was quite a showman. Being old enough to remember him on TV, he was an icon in black leotard.
Apropos of nothing (except that I love this story) He supposedly once told someone that exercising was great for your sexlife. Why, because the smaller your belly, hips and bottom appeared resulted in another part of your anatomy looking larger than before.
I always thought that was a gas !
"Now, if we can just get all the darned animals off the bed honey, I have an idea !"
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
What on earth is their theory of disease transmission here? Why would keeping an animal off the bed protect you if the poor beast's fleas are carrying the plague, for goodness sake? "Hey, Fido's fleas are carrying the plague, but don't worry, he sleeps on the floor?"
Oct '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
There's a hundred million dogs in America and three people got sick.
I like those odds.
(I have no idea how many dogs are in America, but whatever it is, I still like the odds. I will not forsake my dog...once I get one.)
Oct '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
When I first saw the headline, I thought it was a story about beer goggles.
Jan '11
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
And speaking of beer goggles, I can't help but to wonder what on earth we might be transmitting to our pets. I suppose high blood pressure and a risk of heart disease.
At the end of the day, my cat keeps me warm at night so I can lower the thermostat and that means I'm reducing my carbon foot print. Sleeping with your cat is good for the environment.
Dec '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Don't worry, Rob: if you're walking barefoot on the beach, you're probably going to get a flesh-eating bacterial infection from the sand flora before you get anything from your dog.
In my case, the danger is more direct: my cat Spike weighs 28 pounds and sleeps on my midsection. I will surely die of asphyxia before I ever catch any zoonotic infection from him.
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Cranky1: And speaking of beer goggles, I can't help but to wonder what on earth we might be transmitting to our pets. I suppose high blood pressure and a risk of heart disease.
At the end of the day, my cat keeps me warm at night so I can lower the thermostat and that means I'm reducing my carbon foot print. Sleeping with your cat is good for the environment. · Jan 24 at 2:44pm
That's the origin of the phrase "three dog night" -- a night so cold, you need three dogs in your bed to keep you warm.
Dec '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Plague isn't the main worry with cats. It's toxoplasmosis.
The cats have evolved a wonderful symbiosis with the toxoplasmosis parasite: rodents get infected from contact with cat fecal matter, and the infection in the rodents' brains suppresses their natural fear responses, making them less likely to run and hide from cats. The cats are thus able to catch and eat the rodents more easily, reacquiring the toxoplasmosis infection and keeping the cycle going.
Humans are susceptible to toxoplasmosis. If you find that you dote on your cats and find their worst behavior endearing rather than enraging, you're probably infected.
Dec '10
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Diabetes.
Re: That Dog in Your Bed Will Kill You
Cat-to-human transmission is pretty rare. The more common route for the transmission of toxoplasmosis is undercooked meat. So if you're worried about it, keep the cats and stop eating the other animals (or cook them better).
And needless to say, don't eat out of the litter box.