dear dr. jones: can my dog make me sick?

each month, veterinarian dr. robert pepper jones answers your questions about pet health and how it effects their humans.dear dr. jones:  are there any diseases that i can get from my dog or cat? how can i protect myself?yes, there are — and the easiest way to protect yourself is by keeping your pet healthy through regular annual veterinary visits, appropriate vaccination, and parasite prevention.indoor cats are relatively risk free as long as they’ve been screened for intestinal parasites, a few of which can be spread to humans. children are the bigger concern as their personal hygiene isn’t always great. several parasites are fecal-orally transmitted, so putting unwashed hands in their mouths makes the risk for infection higher.toxoplasmosismost people with a working immune system needn’t worry about toxoplasmosis since their body is capable of preventing illness.  signs  of toxoplasmosis include flu-like symptoms in some people, but most never develop any symptoms. there is, however, a risk of serious complications for babies born to infected mothers, and for people with weakened immune systems.pregnant women should avoid cleaning cat litter boxes due to the risk to their fetus if they contract the infection, such as damage to the eyes and the brain. while this parasite is most commonly contracted from consuming under cooked meat or unwashed vegetables, practicing good personal hygiene and wearing a mask while cleaning the litter box is still a good idea. again, if it’s an option, get someone else to do it.get them testedan indoor cat — one that doesn’t hunt prey or eat raw meat — is unlikely to have toxoplasma. but if you are worried about an infection, your veterinarian can test for it. if the result is negative, then cleaning the litter box is safe. (mum’s the word, pregnant ladies. let someone else clean it — you deserve a break!) however, if your cat is an outdoor cat, toxoplasmosis is always a possibility, so pay attention to personal hygiene when coming into contact with your cat’s feces.lyme diseasewhile every pet owner is aware of the necessity of up-to-date rabies vaccination, there are two other infections to be concerned about preventing for your pet’s health: lyme disease and leptospirosis infection, both of which can be contracted by humans.lyme disease is a bacterial infection carried by ticks. while dogs have only about a five per cent risk of getting clinical lyme disease after tick exposure — and cats not at all —humans have an estimated 70 to 80 per cent risk of clinical infection if bitten by a tick carrying the bacteria that causes the disease, borrelia burgdorferi.previously an issue mostly in march and november, warmer winters as a result of climate change mean ticks are being seen all winter long in southern areas of canada and an emerging concern everywhere else. your pet can pick up a tick, bring it into your yard or house, and then the tick can lay thousands of eggs, infesting the area.i recommend all my canine patients go on simparica from december to may for tick and flea prevention, and simparica trio from june to november for the added heartworm prevention. other choices include bravecto, nexguard, and advantix.  for outdoor kitties, revolution plus^rx all year round is my preferred option.leptospirosisleptospirosis infection is a zoonotic bacterial kidney infection found in the urine of wildlife, with raccoons, skunks and rodents being the biggest carriers in urban areas. contracted from exposure to contaminated water or soil, it can also cause liver and severe lung disease in dogs and kidney failure, liver failure and meningitis in humans. due to a successful dog vaccination campaign, it was thought to have been eradicated in the 1980’s, but unfortunately the old vaccine technology caused a lot of allergic reactions. when i graduated from atlantic veterinary college in 1992 and moved to ontario, most people declined to have their pets vaccinated against leptospirosis.fast forward to the early 2000’s and we saw our first confirmed case at my clinic in scarborough. since then, it’s made a comeback and is now a worldwide problem. i’ve since seen 29 confirmed cases in dogs, all living in the east end of toronto. the insidious thing about this infection is that to the untrained eye, the dog doesn’t appear sick for the first month or two.leptospirosis is also frustrating to treat despite being responsive to antibiotics. if seen too late, there’s little that can be done about the resulting kidney damage. my most recent case was tiggs, a border terrier owned by a physician, or as i like to call them, a “human” doctor. his owner was so in tune with tiggs’ habits that mentioning he was “not quite right” while in for a routine yearly examination — prompting bloodwork — saved his life.while owning a pet is not completely risk-free, regular annual veterinary visits, appropriate vaccination, and parasite prevention can help prevent these health risks — and many others — to you and your beloved pet.for more about infectious disease and pets, check out dr. scott weese’s excellent worms and germs blog. veterinary partner is also an excellent source of veterinary medical information.dr. robert pepper jones is a veterinarian in toronto. he and his irish wolfhound fergus are a st.john ambulance therapy dog team and in his spare time loves to cook and play tenor saxophone with the east york concert band and the sound ideas big band.don’t miss the latest on covid-19, reopening and life. subscribe to healthing’s newsletter covid life for daily updates on the top 世界杯决赛2022 and the healthing weekender delivered to your inbox on saturday.