(My sister Lucy, the beagle mix, snuggling up on a sick Daddy.)
Mama has been hacking and coughing for 2 weeks now; yesterday, Daddy came down with flu-like symptoms. It's a bit like living in a hospital up in here right now. What's a dog to do?!?
In a way, I sort of like it when my humans are sick--they stay home from work, lie around and nap all day, and leave lots of half-eaten foods around unattended. On the other paw, their sickness can be a real trial to us dogs--they don't hop up as quickly to tend to our needs, they never want to play, and there's no way we're getting a trip to the dog park.
Some dogs are very nurturing and take a lot of pride in caring for their sick folk; my sister Lucy is one of these. She snuggles up on the patient to keep them warm. She also offers her toys to cheer up the sicky, even though she'd prefer to roughhouse and romp with her people. The other 3 of us--my grouchy husky mix brother Claude, my neurotic sister Sadie, and I--are not really into nursing. I personally enjoy when I am the focus of all the pampering and attention! It should be all about me!!
So today I was pondering the issue of sickness and I thought "What if I catch something from these humans?" I mean, let's face it, people aren't the cleanest beings on the planet; you never know what diseases they are carrying around. I went on the internet and checked some of my best sources--PetMD, the Oklahoma State University School of Veterinary Medicine, and others. This is what I found out from them:
Dogs and people share some medical conditions, and can pass these back and forth. The technical term for the passing of these illnesses between species is 'zoonosis.' That sounds rather intriguing, but I'd just as soon the humans kept their crud to themselves. Luckily for us dogs, there aren't that many human sicknesses that we are prone to--mostly, humans and dogs each have their own set of sickness and don't mix them. However, there are some things we dogs can catch from our people.
Most commonly, humans give dogs--WAIT FOR IT--parasites! Yep, that's right, bloodsuckers and worms. Roundworms. Hookworms. Tapeworms. Scabies. Ticks. Even MANGE!! Yuck. It would behoove all dogs to be sure their humans are kept as clean as possible to avoid these horrible creepy crawly type transmissions.
More serious problems we can get from our humans, are bacterial infections and, rarely, some viruses. It is possible for our people to give us leptospirosis and salmonella, among other things. These things would most likely be transmitted to us when we drink human toilet water. Now, this is not usually a big deal for corgis (that short leg thing, don't ya know) but taller dogs are called by the siren song of the toilet bowl. My grouchy brother Claude is a connoisseur of the toilet water, so he needs to beware! Another weird thing we can catch from humans is MRSA--the staph infection that pops up all too often in hospitals. And, humans can be carriers of doggie diseases such as kennel cough if they are around an infected dog then come home and bring those germs to us.
Theoretically, any mammal can pass rabies to any other mammal, so it is possible we could get this deadly disease from our people. Luckily, there is almost never a case of rabies in humans these days; we are much more likely to be endangered by rabies transmission from skunks and raccoons. Besides, loving pet-parents keep their fur-babies vaccinated against this plague so it just shouldn't be an issue.
Now, let's talk about these common cold-and-flu season illnesses. One thing dogs CAN get from their humans (and vice versa) is strep throat. In fact, it is possible that humans and dogs can do a back and forth transmission of strep throat that can last and last. Dogs do get colds, but it is widely believed that dog colds and human colds are caused by completely different germs. It is also pretty much accepted that dogs don't catch the flu from humans, but, since there are some inter-species influenza viruses (avian flu and swine flu to name a couple), research continues into the interrelation of flu in humans and dogs.
Long story short, it isn't very likely that I am going to catch any of the nasty sickies that my parents are dragging around. It would still be wise to avoid sharing spit with my people right now while they are ailing, but I'm not going to pass up the chance to swipe their half eaten food if I get the chance! I guess I'm just pretty daring that way.
I hope all you readers--human and canine--stay healthy out there. Drink plenty of fluids (just not out of the toilet), eat nutritious meals, and get good exercise to keep yourselves lively and sickness free! Til next time...
Love ya,
Lily the Corgi
(Mom's homemade soup, packed with veggies, to ward off the germies. I'm hoping to score some of this myself even though I feel fine!)
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