| Melcakes | 04-26-2010 11:12 PM |
The idea that a dog's mouth is cleaner than our is laughable, as well as disproved untold times. However, kissing your dog is mostly safe, although I have to agree with the OP I hate it when my girl Zoey kisses me like crazy or tries to use her tongue on me. I think it's gross too :)
Dogs do not have any extra special antiseptic qualities to their saliva at all. Humans and most mammals have the same enzyme (I think it's called lysozyme, anyways yup it sounds like lysol ;-)
Dogs lick their own wounds to aid in healing, this is to some extent true; some enzymes found in mammalian saliva do speed healing, but having your dog lick open wounds is not so much safe at all.
Wound licking can clean wounds and accelerate healing, so it can be thought of as a form of animal self-medication and there are a number of components of saliva that have been shown by scientific research to act against infection or to promote wound healing, but in contrast to the benefits of wound licking, there is also a risk of serious infection due to the introduction of bacteria and other disease organisms into the wound, and animals may exacerbate wounds by excessively licking them.
In clinical matters, when a dog bites another dog and the wound is deep enough to require stiches a drainage hole is left because of the infectious qualities of canine saliva. Also a dog licking your wounds will introduce new bacteria and increase the risk of infection.
Here's some interesting stories I've read of cases of serious infection following the licking of wounds by pets:
* A diabetic man was infected by Pasteurella dagmatis due to the licking of his injured toe by his dog, causing a spinal infection.
* A woman recovering from knee surgery suffered a persistent infection of the knee with Pasteurella after her dog licked a small wound on her toe.
* A dog lick to an Australian woman's minor burn caused septicemia and necrosis due to Capnocytophaga canimorus infection, resulting in the loss of all her toes, fingers and a leg!!
* C. Canimorsus caused acute renal failure due to septicemia in a man whose open hand wound was licked by his dog.
* A 68 year old man died from septicemia and necrotizing fasciitis after a wound was licked by his dog.
* A seven-week old boy contracted menigitis due to Pasteurella from contact with pet saliva!! | 