When you open up your home to a new furry little friend, it can do wonders for your wellbeing. Your pet can teach your children about responsibility, get you exercising more by going for walks, and even enhance your emotional wellness. However, household pets also make you vulnerable to a whole host of health concerns. You can catch a minimum of 39 diseases directly from animals, 42 diseases by eating or touching food or water contaminated with animal faeces, and at least 48 diseases from the bite of bugs that feasted on an infected animal. The numerous wellness benefits of pets far outweigh the risks, but it can’t hurt to know what to watch out for:
1. Lyme disease. When your pets go cruising in the woods and dunes, they can bring back infected ticks and pass the Lyme disease on to you. Therefore, it’s important to check your pets for ticks on a regular basis.
2. Psittacosis (Parrot Fever). This may sounds like the plot to Pirates of the Caribbean 5, but parrot fever can affect your wellbeing with blood-tinged sputum, dry cough, fatigue, fever and chills, headache, joint aches, muscle aches and shortness of breath. Also known as psittacosis, this infection is caused by Chlamydia psittaci, a type of bacteria found in the droppings of birds, including parakeets, macaws and cockatiels, who don’t show signs of infection.
3. Cat scratch fever. You may have heard it called cat scratch disease, but this is a bacterial disease caused by Bartonella henselae. You normally get cat scratch fever after your cat bites or scratches you, as the wound becomes mildly infected. As a result of this disease, you can experience swollen lymph nodes, fever, headache, fatigue and diminished appetite. In very rare cases, complications of B. henselae infection are possible so it’s important to get checked out.
4. Plague. Yep, it may not be 1348 but the plague is still alive and kicking, albeit not to the same extent. Plague is generally associated with rats, but according to the US National Library of Medicine, ‘risk factors for plague include a recent flea bite and exposure to rodents, especially rabbits, squirrels or prairie dogs, or scratches or bites from infected domestic cats.’ The Merck Veterinary Manual notes that the plague you’ll typically find in your cat will be bubonic plague, which you can tell from such symptoms as fever, anorexia, lethargy and an enlarged lymph node that may be abscessed and draining.
5. Q fever. Although the primary targets of the curiously named Q fever are cattle, sheep and goats, although a variety of species may be infected, which includes house pets. The bacteria Coxiella burnetii is the culprit behind Q fever, which is found in the milk, urine and faeces of infected animals. The problem with Q fever is that it is resistant to common disinfectants as well as heat, which meaning it can survive for a long time. The Q stands for “query” as the etiology of the mystery disease was unknown when it was first recognised. However, now we know where it comes from; humans are infected through the inhalation of the organisms, as well as through tick bites or consuming unpasteurised dairy products.
6. Rabies. This viral disease will normally be transmitted to you if you’re bitten by an infected animal, which isn’t hard to discern as said animal will most likely be wild-eyed and foaming at the mouth. Most of the cases of rabies that are reported to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention come from the likes of raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes, but domestic species accounted for 8% of all rabid animals reported, so keep your pet’s rabies vaccinations up to date.
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