You may be wondering, what is a zoonotic disease. This type of disease means that it can be contracted by multiple different species, including humans. A few zoonotic diseases we encounter in a vet clinic are rabies, leptospirosis, staphylococcus, intestinal parasites (hookworm, roundworm, etc.), and ringworm. This is not a complete list of zoonotic diseases but a number that we believe are of importance to mention. Many of these diseases listed can be prevented with medication either injected or administered orally which can be done at our vet clinic. We have talked about rabies quite a bit in the past but it doesn’t hurt to do a brief overview. Rabies is a deadly disease which can incubate in the body for a broad range of time, once symptoms of rabies are shown in an individual it is likely untreatable and will lead to death. Luckily, we carry a vaccine that will protect your pet which will in the long run protect you. When getting your pet the rabies vaccine you are protecting them from any wild animals they may encounter when left outside unsupervised, hunting, or on a walk. This also prevents the disease from passing on to you. The vaccine will of course need to be boosted if your pet encounters a wild animal but the vaccine ensures that your pet’s body already knows how to fight off the disease. Just like rabies leptospirosis can be prevented through a vaccine, this particular vaccine is carried in our distemper/parvo vaccinations. Leptospirosis comes from infected urine of diseased animals, this can be present in bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, puddles, and it’s even present in soil. The bacteria that causes leptospirosis enters your body through either nose, mouth, eyes or a break in your skin. Now you may be thinking, this is not a difficult disease to avoid just don’t touch contaminated water. You may understand that but your pet does not. Leptospirosis incubates for 2-30 days and can lead to kidney or liver failure. This disease can lead to death in extreme cases which is why the leptospirosis vaccination is now considered a core vaccine for your dogs.

These other disease are very different from rabies and leptospirosis and can be prevented through different medication types. Intestinal parasites such hookworms, roundworms, and tapeworms can be prevented with various heartworm plus preventatives. Our preventions Heartgard+ and Interceptor+ both prevent intestinal parasites but each product protects against certain parasites. Intestinal parasites are contracted through contact with contaminated soil and ingesting either eggs or larvae, this can be common in outdoor pets or pets that go out into the backyard frequently with no supervision. If your pet is licking/sniffing infected soil or coming into contact with fecal matter outdoors this can lead to intestinal parasites. These parasites lead to gastrointestinal issues for your dog which can be seen as diarrhea or vomiting, which furthers into dehydration and many more problems. If your pet has worms and you’re cleaning their feces either in a litterbox or picking it up outdoors, you are at risk for developing worms. If your pet does happen to have worms from either visuals of a worm or symptoms, bring in a fecal sample so we can test for which worm type it is and administer the appropriate de-wormer. This is also why we stress flea and tick preventions because a number of diseases can be caught from the fleas on your pet and it is very hard to treat a flea infestation once it has gotten bad. Fleas not only bite your dogs and cats but they will bite you as well, and if they are carriers for certain diseases this can lead to contraction from either you or your pet. We also see the same thing in ticks, they may fall off your pet and decide to latch onto you because they need a host in order to survive. Ticks can carry a number of diseases such as lyme, anaplasmosis, and erlichia. Many of the diseases caught from fleas or ticks can lead to death in extreme cases.

Now the other two diseases listed above are different since that are contracted through touch. Staphylococcus is found on the skin naturally of a dog but can over grow and cause infection if there is broken skin of a dog with a weakened immune system. If you come into contact with the staph on your dog and you have a weakened immune system or broken skin in the area that touched the infection, you can catch it as well. This disease can also be contracted through touching a contaminated surface. Staph is treated through a course of antibiotics both orally and topically (on the skin). Staph is preventable by keeping your pet up to date on their vaccines to support the immune system as well as getting allergy treatment and bathing regularly. Now, ringworm is a bit different. Ringworm is actually a fungus and is spread through touching contaminated surfaces, objects, or touching the infection of someone else. The fungus that causes ringworm lives naturally on skin but can grow uncontrollably and this causes an infection in individuals with a weakened immune system. This is another example of why a pet should be given vaccinations to help their immune system. Ringworm is treated with antifungals either topically or orally. When your pet is diagnosed with any of the diseases listed in this passage, it is highly recommended you go to a doctor as well. There are many more diseases that you can contract from your pets, but these are a few that we believe are of enough importance in our area to discuss today. This is why it’s important to not only prevent by getting vaccinations and preventions, but to also bring your pets in as soon as you notice something abnormal such as a patch of fur missing or diarrhea issues. If you’re concerned that your pet may be affected by any of these disease please give us a call at 605-665-9441.