Health Hazards of Keeping Dogs & Cats

While dogs and cats can provide companionship and comfort to their owners, people must also remember that they can also carry some fatal diseases. Pets should be selected in accordance with the owner's present health conditions and based on whether or not other pets are already in the household.

  1. Diseases Transmitted via General Contact

    • Your pet's health can ultimately affect your own.

      Pregnant women must avoid cat litter, as it can carry toxoplasmosis that can cause severe damage to the fetus such as birth defects or even cause a miscarriage. Cats can also carry a plethora of other disease, as shown by a case of a feline in California. The animal transmitted MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a disease that can sometimes be fatal to humans.

      Dogs are also carriers of disease. Although if the animal is healthy, the risk for transmission is low, a chance of infecting their owners is still present. Both dogs and cats can infect people with ringworm, Salmonella and monkeypox to name only a few.

    Diseases Contracted via Physical Attacks

    • Beware of cat's claws; they can cause disease.

      Dogs can become aggressive if they feel threatened or are startled, injured and so forth. Their attacks can range from one bite to a full-on assault of a person. Any diseases that the dog has can be transmitted via saliva--one severe example being rabies. Young children are at a high risk, as they account for at least half of all dog bites.

      Scratches from cats can cause a condition that is known as Cat-Scratch Disease. Symptoms include swollen glands, pus, low fever, headaches and fatigue. Permanent inflammation of the retina results in about 5 percent of patients, and more serious consequences can result in people with compromised immune systems such as cancer patients.

    Hazards to Other Animals

    • Cats infected with leukemia must be separated.

      If new animals are brought into a home with already infected animals, the newcomers are at a high risk to develop certain diseases. Dogs with signs of rabies must be taken to the vet immediately, as the problem is also highly transmittable to other canines.

      A major health problem in cats is feline leukemia, which is one of the biggest killers of felines. Once one cat has the disease, any other cats who share a litter box, food dish, water dish or toys with the infected animal are at a high risk to also get leukemia.