Sleeping with your pets could make you sick: study

izstigspunks

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Sep 16, 2010
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Just saw this on an online newspaper I frequently visit. Not really a bulldog-specific article, but wanted to see what you all think.

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Letting sleeping dogs — and cats — lie could make you sick, a paper to be published by a U.S. Centers for Disease Control journal warns.
That pet in your bed could be passing on meningitis, toxocariasis or cat-scratch disease, among others.

“We don’t want to scare people, but especially for children and people with compromised systems, there is a risk,” co-author Dr. Bruno Chomel, a veterinary biologist, told the Star.

“Pets are pets, they are not children,” he said. “There is some confusion in our society, and pets are becoming substitutes for children.”

Sixty per cent of cats and 33 per cent of dogs in the United States sleep on their owners’ beds; the numbers are even higher in the Netherlands.

In the U.K., 14 per cent of dogs and 45 per cent of cats snuggle onto their owners’ duvets.

In France, it’s 30 per cent of dogs and 45 per cent of cats.
Chomel knows the warning will be controversial; advance word of it has already provoked hate email. He counters that the study is scientific and raises a small, but significant, public-health concern.

Being licked by or kissing a dog or cat can be even worse, the study said, particularly if a pet licks a cut or open wound or your mouth, nose or ears.

Fending off the risk means keeping a pet healthy, washing your hands or face after a pet licks you and teaching the pet not to sleep on your bed, said Chomel.

“I use an example: If you were licking your fingers and a dog licked your fingers, you wouldn’t go back to licking your fingers, would you? It’s common-sense hygiene.”

The study by Chomel, of the University of California at Davis, and Ben Sun, chief public-health veterinarian with the California Department of Health, examined health reports from around the world that involved diseases transmitted from animals to humans, known as zoonoses.

To be published online Tuesday in the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, the study documents cases of serious pet-transmitted illness and even death.

Although he has none currently, Chomel’s previous pets never slept on his bed, even the cat.

“She knew this was not the room for her.”
 

bfletch13

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Dec 19, 2010
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Everything is gonna kill me. So I'm eat
fried foods and sleep with my Jozi dog.
If I can't be happy while I'm alive I don't
wanna be here.

Not being rude or unappreciative of this. But
I get tired of everything killing us being bad for us
and on an on.
 

bullmama

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Interesting, but as long as you are keeping your dog clean I think it is a bit odd. I always heard that a dogs mouth was cleaner than a humans?
 
OP
izstigspunks

izstigspunks

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  • Thread Starter
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[MENTION=1621]bfletch13[/MENTION] - Agree with you completely. Seems like they warn us about how everything makes us sick. What I'm not looking forward to is arguing/debating with certain fam members who are already concerned about us having a dog if they ever see this article. Hopefully I just didn't jinx myself. :eek:
 

Biogirl71

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Nov 5, 2010
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While I don't particularly believe that a dog's mouth is cleaner than a humans (I would imagine them to be about the same level of cleanliness, with variation depending on what you or the dog is ingesting), I can't imagine that the increased risk for disease from them sleeping on the bed is very significant. In addition, our pets are always in close contact with us (ESPECIALLY bulldogs, as we all know!), so I would think the "risk" of getting a disease from our dog would be about the same in either situation. The only way I could see there being increased risk would be from those who are immuno-compromised....and those who are, are at risk for worse things just being around other people. Silly study and a waste of money, in my opinion!
 

bfletch13

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[MENTION=1209]savemejeebus[/MENTION] Exactly people are so worried about what
everyone else is doing these days. And I'm not innocent of
it. I do the same things at times.
 

Wolfjen50

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Everything we do in our daily lives exposes us to some form of contagion. We cannot worry about everything or then you would become a serious germ-a-phoebe. Allowing your pets to sleep or not to sleep with you is a personal choice and a "risk" you have to ask yourself am I willing to take? For me personally I love my big goofy bulldog sleeping with me or my child. bulldog pic.jpg
 

Libra926

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“Pets are pets, they are not children,” he said. “There is some confusion in our society, and pets are becoming substitutes for children.


I stopped reading after this line. Sorry.
 

cali~jenn

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This must be referring to pets that are more outdoors? I too find it hard to believe that sleeping with my boys could cause any kind of disease. In fact assuming that the animals are healthy and clean themselves I would argue that sleeping with them or snuggling up to them would make you healthier since they can in fact help you thru stress and healing. This is obviously written by someone who does not understand what it is to love animals. Sad for them.
 

sheshistory

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Jul 11, 2010
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“Pets are pets, they are not children,” he said. “There is some confusion in our society, and pets are becoming substitutes for children.


I stopped reading after this line. Sorry.

Thank you - me too.
 

Sherry

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So, sleeping with people will make you sick too. I hope we didn't pay too much for that survey. :barf:
 

KMARINO

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Jul 21, 2010
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Forget the sleeping part, what about the drool, the snot, the phlem we deal with? :lol: Sleeping is the least of my problems, it is when he sneezes in my wide open mouth that I worry about! (not really I guess I am getting used to it) lol, that is why god invented Listerine! I would rather sleep with Vegas than a sick hubby, my chances of getting sick is much less, No offense Joe, but seriously!
 

Gertie's Mom

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I told my husband about this (I heard it on the news a couple hours ago), and he said " So, you can get sick sleeping with your wife (or Husband) if they're sick". Yeah, hope they didn't spend much on this "study".
 

mammyglicks

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Jun 2, 2010
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I agree that if you keep your dogs clean and they aren't exposed readily to toxins and such, everything should be fine. Obviously some people have allergies and that is a consideration but I too am tired of hearing everything is bad for us. I love to sleep with my babies.
 

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