Most adult dogs in good health wont experience any negative effects of toxoplasmosis and wont require treatment. However, dogs with severe symptoms may need immediate hospitalization. They may be given fluid therapy to treat dehydration, anticonvulsive medication to prevent seizures, and antibiotics to help control the infection.
How Can We Safely Care for a Pet?
Here are some tips to help your family safely care for pets:
After you choose a family pet, take it to a veterinarian for vaccinations and an exam. Schedule regular checkups and routine vaccinations for your pet as recommended. This will keep your pet healthy and lower the chances that it can spread an infection to your family.
Teach your children to wash their hands after touching pets, handling your pets food, or cleaning your pets cage, tank, or litter box. Wear gloves when cleaning up animal waste. If you have a bird, wear a dust mask over your nose and mouth when cleaning the cage or coop. Dont let kids clean cages or litter boxes until they’re older and know how to do this safely and responsibly.
Have kids wash their hands after visiting petting zoos, farms, or friends’ houses where there are animals.
Remind family members to avoid kissing or touching your pet’s mouth because infections can spread through saliva.
Keep your pets living area clean and free of waste. If your pet goes outdoors, pick up waste regularly and dont let kids play in that area.
If possible, keep pets out of areas where food is prepared or handled, and dont bathe your pet or clean aquariums in the kitchen sink or bathtub. Wash your pet outdoors or consider professional pet grooming.
Avoid strange animals or those that look sick. Never adopt a wild animal as a pet.
Watch kids carefully around pets. Young kids are more likely to catch infections from pets because they crawl around on the floor with the animals, kiss them or share food with them, and put their fingers and things in their mouths that may be contaminated.
Talk to your doctor if you have questions about infections from pets. If you have concerns about your pet’s health, talk to your veterinarian.
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Some of the biggest public health crises of the last few years can be traced back to animals. HIV got its start as a virus in monkeys, and Ebola probably jumped to humans from other primates or fruit bats. And there’s no points for guessing the animals from which we got bird flu and swine flu. But animal-borne diseases can start a lot closer to home. In fact, there are a number we can pick up from our dogs and cats.