If truth be told, no matter how often you bath your precious dogs, there is a chance that viruses, bacteria, and parasite still on their body.
It happens because of pet dogs’ lifestyle, they tend to interact freely with their surroundings.
Most people who have pet dogs regard them as best friend or companion and it is okay to take their pet to bed and sleep together with them without knowing the risks and danger that can affect human’s health.
Here are eleven diseases that might affect you if you sleep with your pet dogs
- Meningitis
Dogs’ saliva contains Meningococcal bacteria, which is one of the cause of meningitis in human. This disease can affect people who likes to take their pet to bed with them on regular basis and have contact with them, such as pecking them on its nose and mouth.
If dogs’ saliva gets inside human’s mouth, the human is at risk of having meningitis in the future. This kind of illness couldn’t be detected in a week or a month but months later. Meningitis can lead to nerve damage that begins with paralysis of half of the body and ends with permanent paralysis and mental disorders.
2. Disturbing the health of fetus in the womb
The danger of sleeping with pet dogs that possibly affect pregnant women is a virus called Toxoplasma which can be found in the dog’s fur, saliva, and feces. Toxoplasma virus is not only can be found in cats, but also in dogs. This virus can disrupt your health, especially respiratory system and for pregnant mother, it can disrupt the growth of the fetus.
Fetus in the womb has a risk of being infected by Toxoplasma from the mother who often sleep with pet dogs during pregnancy period. The said virus can get into the mother’s body from the mouth and then goes into other body tissue until it reaches placenta. An infected fetus would be at risk of born disabled or even wouldn’t stay alive if the age of pregnancy is under 2 months old.
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- Increase the risk of breast cancer
A study that has been done by virologists at Munich University shows that 79,7% of the cause of breast cancer on women is because they like to interact with their pet dogs, such as carrying, bathing, playing, and sleeping in the same bed with their pet dogs constantly for years. Breast cancer is caused by a virus named mammary tumor which can be found in dogs, the virus can also affect the dog.
- Diarrhea
The risk of sleeping with dogs exist when the dog lick and left its saliva on some parts of human’s body. Dogs carry a parasite that lives in their body in a form of worm and larva, that will grow significantly every 4 months. This parasite can transmigrate to human body through their tongue that touch human’s mouth or nose.
If this happens continuously, the pet owner will have stomachache and prolonged diarrhea. The worm parasite can hurt stomach tissue and disrupt other internal organs.
- Lyme disease
Ticks called Ixodes and its eggs live between dog’s furs. It can migrate on human body when pet dogs sleep with its owner on the same bed. The bed effect that most often seen on human who sleep with their dog is they feel itchy on their skin, rash, and redness. Other than that, irritation which started with high fever, feeling languid, and dehydration might happen.
- Asthma Relapse Suddenly
For those who have asthma, it is better not to take dog as pet in order to prevent asthma relapse abruptly in a more severe portion. Dog fur is prone to cause asthma because when entering into the nasal cavity, it will flow in the respiratory system that eventually interfere your breathing.
- Causing Insomnia
More often than not, dogs are hard to control. Dogs tend to have active behavior and always want you to play with them and interact even though you, as the owner, feel tired because you have your own activities during the day and you want to sleep immediately.
The behavior of pet dogs such as barking at random things at random time and their curiosity of the surrounding almost all the time will have effect on your sleeping time at some point. If this continues to happen, there is a chance you will have insomnia and stress because of your pet dog.
8. Swelling of the Spleen
Dogs can be affected by digestive diseases caused by worms named Toxocaracanis. The worm is carried through an environment that contains worm toxocaracanis’s eggs that accidentally entered its body when it was cleaning his feet. The danger of sleeping with dogs can be the inclusion of worm eggs and worms that get into human’s mouth.
If the worm is left on the bed and humans touched it or inhale it then humans will easily catch the disease, especially in the digestive tract. The worms can cause swelling of the lymph glands and decreased human consciousness.
9. Trigger Scurvy
Female mites live on your dog’s food plate, their playground, and some equipment that rarely cleaned and have been contaminated with toxic particles. Female mites will flourish in locations and used objects that are dirty and full of germs.
The danger of sleeping with dogs happens when your pet dog carries mites and its eggs on your bed and you unconsciously make a contact with them. Mites that lives on your pet dog’s body can jump on your body and it will make you itchy, redness on your skin, and rash.
- Rabies
Another bad effect of sleeping with pet dogs is you are at risk of getting infected by lyssaviruses virus or more commonly known as rabies, if your dog is infected by the virus and you don’t know about it because the symptom has not been seen yet. When your dog playfully bite you, that is the time the virus goes into your body.
Therefore, make sure to not let your pet dog bit you when you are playing with him/her and go see your pet’s veterinarian to get vaccine and medical checkup. This will prevent you and your pet dog from getting infected by rabies.
- Gastrointestinal Disorders
Dogs who like to have activities in an unclean area will carry bacteria which is called Campylobacteriosis with them. The bacteria could easily cling on your chair, table, your kid’s toy, bed, and any other equipment and furniture around the house trough your pet dog. If this bacteria get into your body, there is a chance you will feel ill on your stomach. This disease will also make you have a high fever, nauseous and stomachache that comes and goes.
- Serious skin infection
Dogs who are infected with skin diseases like scabies and some other types of Dermatophytosis disease will transmit bacteria to human’s skin, which will cause allergies and serious skin infections.
These skin infections will not only make you feel itchy and have medium level of rash on your skin, but this disease can also hurt your skin and leave circle-shaped mark. This condition arises because pet dog owners make a contact with their dog that has been infected by this disease but it has not shown any symptom.
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To prevent your dog from having this disease, make sure to go see your vet every 6 months and keep your house and the surrounding clean. Letting your dog sleep on his own bed will prevent you from having some risks of getting diseases which is might be carried by your pet dog.