Raw food hygiene made simple?

979 Views 4 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Curls, 2 mo ago

id0ntkn0w

Discussion Starter · 4 mo ago

Hi,
I have a quick question about feeding raw. I'm ok with the disinfecting surfaces but have two concerns.....
1) My dogs sleep on my bed....How soon after they have eaten is it ok for they to lick my face and to be on the bed....hate the idea of bacteria contaminating my whole house! And not having them inside or licking is never going to happen...haha!
2) Is their poop dangerous? When they head out to the lawn to poop, is the grass infected with anything dangerous? I always pick it up and dispose of it in the hedge. Again, I dont want to have an unsafe yard....
or am I overthinking it after everything we went through with covid!

Please set me straight

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dogslife

· #2 · 4 mo ago

I doubt that the licking will do anything. That wouldn't concern me apart from the fact that I find it odd to let a dog lick your face. I know a lot of people do it but it's a choice I wouldn't personally make.

As for poop, it is possible for poop to carry parasites like giardia, which can be passed on to humans if you handle to poop or the grass where infected poop has been.

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OldNick

· #3 · 2 mo ago

Raw food is no more a health problem than prepared stuff and if it's meat then probably better. You yourself are dropping bacteria and such around the house

The poo can certainly carry nasties, such as intestinal worm eggs. So cleaning it up is necessary and with caution, like plastic or rubber gloves, or a shovel. Or you can get those little plastic bags that allow you to grab the poo then turn the bag inside out. To any garbage guys my apologies, but the bin is probably a better place than the hedge. When you consider that used disposable nappies are often disposed of in the trash....

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emeraldecho

· #4 · 2 mo ago

Letting a dog lick your face can expose you to a whole host of nasties: Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Clostridium, E. coli, Salmonella, Pasteurella, Leptospira, Capnocytophaga canimorsus, and Campylobacter.

Most of these have nothing to do with feeding raw food (though feeding raw food can certainly increase the risk of some of them). If you want to play it safe, I wouldn't let them lick your face (particularly mucous membranes: eyes, nose, mouth).

Feces are also a risk for transmission, though if you clean up promptly, the sun is also a very effective disinfectant for the grass. For that reason, I'd think twice about using the hedge for disposal - higher ground moisture and less sunlight will actually prolong the viability of the infective agents.

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Curls

· #5 · 2 mo ago

I personally never let my dogs lick my face. I don't let people lick my face either. (Though admittedly, people try it far less frequently.) Just, no, ugh.
I don't worry particularly about dogs carrying diseases into the house. Yes, theoretically a sick dog could bring in something I could catch. Really, though I've caught far more diseases from other humans than from my pets. In all my years of living with dogs and cats there have only been two incidents where I was sufficiently concerned about infection that I sought treatment from a doctor. Once was due to a bite on my hand from a particularly ill tempered cat. It happened on a holiday weekend, so I had to go to the hospital emergency room for antibiotics. The other was for a tick bite from a tick that rode into the house on one of my dogs. The bite showed the red ring typical of Lyme disease, so my doctor put me on antibiotics for a week. That's it.
I always dispose of dog poop in the trash. Our town ordinances require us to remove any waste our dog leaves in public. At home I have two big dogs. I pick up two-three large scoops of dog poop per week from my property if I'm not taking the dogs elsewhere for walks. I can't imagine having an entire season's worth of dog poop in my hedge attracting flies and maggots. Just, no, ugh.
It is possible for an unwell dog to contaminate the soil with parasites or dog specific diseases such as parvo. How long these last depends on the nature of the parasite or disease. I keep my dogs up to date on their vaccines and parasite treatments to ensure they stay healthy.

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