My bowl is about 3-4 inches high, sitting atop a table 2.5 feet high. The dog is 3.5 feet away from the table, and is about a foot tall.
If it shakes itself or scratches itself with its hind leg, can its parasites land in my bowl?
More importantly, if I then eat the bowl’s contents, after they’ve been infested with the dog’s parasites, can I get sick or seriously ill, if I have no serious immune deficiency?
Fleas can jump rather amazing distances. I wouldn’t be surprised to find one in any given location in the dog’s normal environment. Usually, ingesting one won’t be a health problem for you, but there may be exceptions.
Does the dog *have *fleas or parasites?
Hey, it’s extra protein.
Why do you think the dog has fleas?
Why are you obsessed with the deadly filthiness of dogs? Dogs have lived alongside humans for tens of thousands of years. If just being near them was enough to kill you, humans would have died out by now.
WhyNot brings a good point. My dog scratches and shakes, but she doesn’t have fleas or ticks, which would be the ones you’d be thinking about. Most of the other ectoparasites are burrowers and diggers. Heck, even attached ticks and fleas won’t be easy to shake off.
Fleas that typically infest dogs and cats can carry tapeworms, but those are specific for the dog and cat, not humans. They do not carry Yersinia pestis (bubonic plague). For that you need the rat (rodent/lagomorph) flea.
IIRC, mode of transmission of tick-borne diseases requires a tick bite, although looking through a table seems to show a few have demonstrated transmission after crushing the tick (which could happen if you eat it). But then, a tick would be harder to shake off a dog than a flea, since ticks like to bite and attach.
Short answer: Very unlikely to happen, and in the event it does occur, even less likely for someone to get sick.
Yeah, I’m… not sure that dog ownership is for you.
It’s not her dog; she’s staying with a friend who has a dog. At least, that’s what we were told in the toothbrush thread.
Ohhhh, that makes more sense.
Toothbrush thread?
Once you live with dogs, you get pretty blasé about these concerns.
This morning, as I was leaving for work, I noticed our new rescue was carrying something in her mouth, and looking rather guilty. I stopped her, ordered her to drop it, and took the sandwich my wife had packed for work out of her mouth. She (the dog) had unzipped the cooler and removed the sandwich. My wife said “great - what am I going to have for lunch?” I mentioned that it didn’t look like the plastic sandwich wrap had been punctured, and she agreed, so she re-wrapped the sandwich and left for work with it…
Ah… Seconding SeaDragonTattoo’s comment in that thread.
Expanding on other points: If the dog looks like it has mange, yes, that may or may not be contagious to you. Depending on if it is really mange (vs bacterial skin infection), and if so, what was the parasite that caused it (some are species-specific). But again, that has nothing to do with a dog shaking. And the solution is easy. Do not pet the dog, wash your hands after touching it if you have to do that. Also, treat the dog.
A dog that shakes or scratches doesn’t have to have parasites. Even if it has, it is unlikely any will dislodge from the warm fur to do air acrobatics and land in your food. Even more unlikely that that one idiot flea/tick is carrying any other disease that will make you sick.
Adding to the end of the "even more"s… Even more unlikely that that one idiot flea/tick that is carrying any other disease will spread it if you swallow it given that it is a skin parasite.
Dear OP - Tell me something; why are you staying in a home with a dog if you are so afraid of all their creepy-crawlies??