This just in: That cute pooch smooch may not be so sanitary
From the
”
I Didn’t Need a University Study to Know That
”
department comes the following news: A U.C. Davis researcher is
warning people against kissing their pets.
Wow, somebody provided funding for that? I could have told you
that kissing an animal probably isn’t the most sanitary way to show
affection.
This just in: That cute pooch smooch may not be so sanitary
From the “I Didn’t Need a University Study to Know That” department comes the following news: A U.C. Davis researcher is warning people against kissing their pets.
Wow, somebody provided funding for that? I could have told you that kissing an animal probably isn’t the most sanitary way to show affection.
My cat gets a pat on the head now and then, a clean litter box and full food and water bowls every day – and we’re cool with each other. I even let her sit on my lap or next to me on the couch when I’m watching TV, until – like most cats – she has a sudden urge to bolt out of the room for no apparent reason.
The veterinary professor who wrote about his research in a scientific journal said that people who let their animals lick them or give their animals “kisses” or let them sleep in bed with them are at risk for a variety of diseases known as zoonoses.
That sounds scary. Will my nose become a trunk or a snout if Chloe the cat gets too close? Will I develop cat-like tendencies and start making weird noises as I watch birds forage for worms in my backyard? I do want to curl up for a nap whenever the sun shines through my bedroom window onto the carpet, so maybe I’m already infected.
To be clear, the researchers told the Sacramento Bee that animals provide numerous health benefits and companionship and interactions with them are normally higher risk only among infants and people with weak immune systems.
“The risk is not huge,” veterinary professor Bruno Chomel said. “But the trend is more and more people are sharing their environment with pets, allowing them in their beds, kissing them like crazy.”
Eww. Like crazy?
I like my cat. She catches flies by the patio window and meows at strange cats when they dare to invade our back yard. She keeps to herself and doesn’t need to be walked. She’s low-maintenance. If she wants a pat on the head, she’ll meow for one, and then take off.
Our family cat does sleep at the end of my youngest son’s bed most nights, proving, as the researchers said, that pets “have conquered our bedrooms.” But it’s not like Chloe is sharing a pillow or setting up shop in one of the dresser drawers, so I’m not too concerned about the parasitic or viral conditions that the researchers mentioned.
Still, it’s enough to give me pause (and hopefully not paws.)
It’s cute to see a dog lick a kid’s face or have a cat rub up against its owner’s leg, but in my youth I was never one for letting my Labrador get close enough to “give me kisses”.
First of all, those weren’t “kisses,” they were “licks.” And anyone who has owned or watched a dog go about its daily business knows that its snout and tongue go places that probably aren’t the most sanitary in the world. And cats bathe themselves and then cough up fur balls. I’m not kissing anyone who has never used a toothbrush.
So the message is to love your pets; take care of them; spoil them; pet them. Just don’t kiss them. It’s not natural – kind of like dog sweaters.
Adam Breen writes a blog at http://thebreenblog.blogspot.com and teaches newspaper and yearbook classes at San Benito High School. He is a reporter for The Pinnacle and former editor of the Free Lance. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
