Do you have to remove dogs from your house when you go on prednisone or other immunosuppressant therapy? I know you become more vulnerable to infections but does that extend to getting rid of your dogs?

If so that is the absolute worst side effect I could imagine (I live alone with my 3 dogs - small dogs tho., Italian greyhounds)

Stephanie

DO NOT let your dogs lick you. My brother-in-law got real sick a couple years ago and was in the hospital for weeks. His right leg was twice the size of his left. It was a bad infection that was spreading fast. The doctors were puzzled. They brought a team of experts and one doctor was looking at his right foot when he asked if my brother-in-law had dogs. He said yes then the doctor asked him if the dogs ever licked his feet, BINGO they discovered how he got it. It took months to get him back to normal.
Mike
PS: I have 2 dogs but don't get to involved with either.

I have 3 cats and 2 dogs. Sleep with the cats nightly, clean their litterpans, etc etc. If you keep your home reasonably clean, and your dogs are not free-roaming (as in eating garbage, dead vermin, etc) you will be absolutely fine.

The only time you need to really AVOID pets is if you are extremely compromised, as you get with immunoablative chemo and the like. I had to keep the pets out of my living area after I had my reboot but I still pet them with my hand only and then washed up. I literally had zero immune system for 2 weeks and never had a problem. As soon as my counts were normalized I went back to all my "evil ways." LOL

Just use your noggin and you'll be fine!

I am a veterinarian.

I have been taught that healthy dogs that get regular check ups and are parasite free are ok. There is a debate about healthy pet cats; some say they are ok, others don't. If I go on imunosuppressive medication, I will keep my cat. I would not keep a cat that tested positive for feline leukemia virus if I were on immunosuppressives.

Pet reptiles such as snakes, turtles, or lizards, chickens, ducks, and other poultry are probably not a good idea. (Salmonella hazard)

Pet birds such as parrots or finches are ok if they are healthy. They can carry psittacosis but they probably don't unless they were wild caught and illegally smuggled in.

I wash my hands after handling any pets. Even the horses. That is just good hygiene. I will wash my hands after shaking a human's hands as well.


About licking; dog slobber is nasty. All slobber is nasty for that matter.

Thanks Celeste

I should have thought to ask you.

I agree, all slobber is nasty...glad My IG's are pretty clean dogs and I am a slightly OCD about clean home.
Stephanie

Southblues,

Thanks for the information. I never asked anyone about my pets, and can't imagine my life without them. It's nice to know my instincts have been correct.

LOTS of things can be remedied or prevented simply with a bar of soap and warm water!

Getting rid of your dog because of immunosuppressants
That would never be an option for me.

I do get close with animals, though I take multiple immunosuppressants. I also did this when I had chemotherapy, but I never - ever had any infections.

I always lived like this, hugging pigs, petting guinea pigs and kissing dogs. I can't imagine how empty my life would be without all this hairy love!

But I guess my immunesystem is just super, super overactive. It just attackes everything, so the good thing about it, is I never get infections or something! I also have been bitting by dogs multiple times.

This is btw one of the reasons why I don't believe in the hygiene theory; that we get auto immune diseases like MG and allergies because we are too clean.

I can't begin to imagine life without pets.