From: mlhb@mammoth.dr.att.com (Sky Warrior)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: dog myths (was Tea-totalling dog!)
Date: 29 Dec 92 15:50:38 GMT
Reply-To: mlhb@drutx!att.com
Organization: Bell Labs, DCTT, Denver, Co.

In article <19id02Jk30M101@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com>, bws20@duts.ccc.amdahl.com (Brian W Simmons) writes:
|> In article: <1992Dec28.001045.6997@midway.uchicago.edu>
|> 
|> Betsy Weatherhead says she thinks a dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's.OM>
|> (see appended stuff below).  FWIW, I'll have to agree and add some more
|> hearsay evidence.  My wife took microbiology last semester and her profess
|> or also maintained that human mouths were significantly less clean than
|>  dogs'.  Anybody taking micro now, or have access to swabs and culturing
|> materials?  How about doing a test?
|> 
|> bws
|> 
|> --------appended--------------------------------------------------------
|> > It is a myth that dogs have less germs than humans.  (I learned that while
|> > working for a vet). 
|> 
|> I'm not so sure this is a myth.  The vet I worked for believed that dogs'
|> mouths were fairly sanitary.  It's true that their licking of problem spots
|> can cause more harm than good, but generally not because of increased
|> infection.  My other personal experience on this subject comes from working
|> in an (human) emergency room.  A human bite was considered massively more
|> dangerous than a dog bite.  Procedures for cleaning, antibiotics, and 
|> follow-up care differed drastically.  The emergency room was in a teaching
|> hospital, where doctors came to do a residency in emergency care, so I'm
|> only assuming that their decision to treat human bites from dog bites was
|> well founded.

When I was bit by a dog, I had to undergo having the wound washed out with 
a catheter and hydrogen peroxide (OUCH!  They had to use a local because it
was so painful!) and then I was on mega doses of antibiotics to prevent
infection.  My hand was wrapped, but they dared not stitch the wound because
they were afraid of it getting infected.  My doctor told me that dogs have
something special in their saliva that actually deteriorates human skin 
(a little plus -- sarcastic ;-)  Anyway, I've learned valuable lessons from 
that experience.

I'm very convinced that dogs have the same amount of germs as humans from
what I've seen at the vet office.  Well meaning people often brought 
back their dogs with serious infections because they didn't listen to the
vet and let their dog lick its wounds (they *hated* the Elizabethian collar).
Dogs lick out of instinct and in the wild it is better than nothing.  

My guess about human bites versus dog bites:  Dog diseases are not necessarily
contracted by humans, but human diseases can be transmitted readily through
a human bite.  Dogs have different diseases and "germs" which humans may
not be susceptible to.  (Parvo and distemper are good examples)

With all the nasty stuff dogs get into (garbage, feces eatting, dirt, etc.) I 
can't believe that a dog's mouth is all that sanitary.  This is not a 
condemnation of our four-footed friends,  I'm truly not one to say "Ick!
Dog Germs!"  ;-)

-- 
-----------------------------                                              
SKY WARRIOR aka MLH Bonham  | "Good tea.  Nice House." -- Lt. Worf
mammoth!mlhb@druhi.att.com  |----------------------------------------------
mlhb@drutx.ATT.COM          | SKY WARRIOR RACING KENNELS - Coming to an
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