We all know that both people and animals can get sick. We also know that diseases can travel from cat to cat and person to person. Did you know that cats can spread some of their diseases to us? These diseases are called zoonotic diseases, and they are highly contagious. However, there are a few tips that you can follow to prevent these diseases from spreading from your feline friend to you and your family.
Keep Clean
If you are trying to prevent the transmission of zoonotic diseases, one of the best things that you can do to keep your family safe is to keep clean. This means washing your hands often, especially after you have played with your pet, fed it, or cleaned up any of its messes. Also, while kissing your animals may seem like a sweet gesture of love towards them, you should avoid this at all costs, because cats can carry saliva in their fur that may be laden with diseases that you can pick up when you kiss them.
Whenever you clean out your cat’s litter box, always wear rubber gloves or keep a plastic barrier between you and the stool. Usually a good pooper scooper will do the job. Feces can carry all sorts of diseases, and if you touch them with your unprotected hands, you can get very sick.
Be Health-Conscious
Check your cat for ticks on a regular basis. Ticks can carry Lyme disease, which is one of many zoonotic diseases that exist. If you do find ticks on your kitty, make sure that you perform a quick tick-removal right away. Then check yourself for any ticks. If you find one on yourself, use tweezers to pull it out, and then soak the tick in alcohol to make sure it is dead and cannot bite anyone else. Then wash the bite and your hands with warm soapy water immediately.
If your pet bites or scratches you, wash the wound right away, because cuts can quickly become infected. Also, if you are pregnant, avoid changing your cat’s litter at all costs. In fact, if you can help it, don’t come into contact with the box at all during pregnancy. If this cannot be avoided, then make sure you at least wear rubber gloves when changing the liter.
These are some of the best tips to follow in order to prevent zoonotic diseases.
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