Why does a dog lick?
Why lick dogs? Dogs lick their fellows as a sign of submission and so the owner, as head of the pack, often gets a proper French kiss.
Half of the Dutch dog owners can appreciate such a kiss and can be licked in the face by their dog.
There are people who claim that dog saliva has healing powers. Langue de chien, langue de médecin, says the French proverb: a dog’s tongue is a doctor’s tongue. However, we now know better. Although we also like dogs very much and we do not suffer from friction, we think it is important to point out the negative aspects of a dog kiss.
Lick to wounds
Dogs that lick their own surgical wounds are more likely to have an inflammation of the wound which leads to more pain, itching and poorer wound healing. In addition, a dog can lick the sutures from the wound. It is therefore advisable not to let a dog lick its own wounds.
Dogs that lick their owner’s operation wounds can also cause a nasty inflammation. There are even publications by people who died from such inflammation. More details can be read in: zoonoses in the bedroom.
Medications in dog saliva
Certain medications can be excreted via the saliva. Means used for chemotherapy are an example of this.
ESBL and other resistant bacteria
ESBL-producing bacteria are insensitive to many antibiotics. They are multi-resistant.
During testing, feces was collected in dogs for 6 months. 32 of the 38 healthy dogs tested had at least one ESBL bacterium in the stool at least once. In 9 dogs the bacterium was permanently present in the stool.
Dogs can pass this bacteria on to the owner again. If this bacterium causes bladder, renal pelvis or pneumonia, it is difficult to treat.
Other particularly resistant microorganisms (BRMO) are also found in dogs including MRSA, MRSP. Due to the close contact between pet and owner, the bacteria can easily jump from animal to human and human to animal.
A dog can get ESBLs via: eating raw meat (100% of the raw chicken meat and 40% of the veal contains ESBL bacteria), eating. feces and an antibiotic treatment.