Sloppy Kisses & Infections

When you and your pet are reunited after a long day of work or even something more mundane like trip to the grocery store they will show you their love. Their love usually comes in the form of a series of big sloppy kisses and chances are that you have come to be used to them. You might even welcome them and kiss your pet back. While sloppy kisses from our pets are great humans also run the risk of getting an infection, so a little knowledge can go a long way.

Sloppy Kiss Facts

Now the risk of infection is not particularly high so if you have a pet that love to show their affection with sloppy kisses you are probably going to be OK. In fact a dog’s mouth is typically much more hygienic than even our own hands. They are able to produce enzymes and proteins that act as anaerobic bacteria that help to keep their mouths clean. It also helps them to heal their wounds. Dogs and cats lick their wounds to keep them clean and to help them heal. Dogs will sometimes even lick the wounds of other dogs or humans. It has given rise to a myth that a dog has healing powers in its saliva which is not true but licking wounds is natural for them.

Why might kisses be bad? Think about this for a second. Your dog likes to smell or lick the genital areas of other dogs. You may find this disgusting but this is how dogs get to know each other. The genitals are offer the highest scent concentration and your dog knows other dogs by their scent. They use that same tongue to give you those kisses. Dogs have also been known to lick feces and eat garbage. Cats also use their tongue for toilet paper so just think about that the next time you get one of those sloppy kisses.

Dogs need their teeth brushed!

There are other bacteria in a pet’s mouth like Pasteurella which helps to transmit disease to other animals and to humans. Bacteria like this is a good reason why letting a dog lick someone’s wounds is a bad idea. In some cases it can even exacerbate the situation and catching a disease from your pet is really not that uncommon. Humans can get E.coli and salmonella from a pet as well as other diseases like Capnocytophaga Canimorsus, Campylobacteriosis, Canine Brucellosis, Leptospirosis as well as several other diseases.

Now hopefully we have not turned you off too much to getting sloppy kisses from your pet. The good news is that with proper veterinary care and good hygiene the chance of any disease being transmitted is low and some veterinarians believe that diseases are contracted more through contact with a pet’s feces rather than their mouth. Studies have also shown that humans pass more microbes to their pets than the other way around and that many of the microbes that our pets give to us are harmless and may actually help to boost our immune systems.

One of the keys to keep your pet disease free is good hygiene and that is where Doggie DoLittle comes in. A good grooming session will help to keep your dog not only feeling well but clean. We also stock high quality dog food that will supply them with the nutrients that will help to keep them healthy and active so that you will not need to worry about what comes along with those kisses that you receive. You can keep thinking that it is all love being given.

References:
http://petattack.com/sloppy-kisses/
https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2014/03/14/pet-kisses-bacterial-infection.aspx
Diseases from dogs – https://www.simplemost.com/never-let-dog-lick-mouth-face/
Woman gets disease from dog (In some cases it can even exacerbate the situation)- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/womans-pet-dog-gave-her-life-threatening-infection/

The life of an uneducated man is as useless as the tail of a dog which neither covers its rear end, nor protects it from the bites of insects. –Chanakya