Hal, I think that may be the first time I had an audible reaction to a post :eek: . But that is the cutest picture ever. 
I swap spit with the house pets. The more objectionable (read: my mother goes into dramatic convulsions) habit is letting the dogs lick the babies’ hands while they’re sitting in the highchair. Hey, they’re bonding.
As I think on this more, however…
Our Freddy is the resident ‘sheep eye licker’ and all the sheep line up for his services when he goes to the barn with me. On occasion I’ve caught him servicing the other end.
(note to self re: baby hand licking)
Freddy is a dog.
Just in case that wasn’t clear.
I also share spoons and food with the cat. Also, he likes to lick the salt off of chips or pretzels, and when he’s done, I usually just eat the de-salted chip.
I mentioned this once in a thread about “What do you do that grosses out your SO?” (or something like that) and was somewhat amazed at the number of people who thought this was beyond gross. It was one of my proudest SDMB moments.
Well, I was hoping it wasn’t the baby 
I kiss my rats on their little heads and fuzzy backs… sometimes they’re too quick, and they’ll manage to get a lick on my lip (especially if I’ve just eaten, or I’ve freshly applied lipstick – they like to eat lipstick, for some reason.)
Once in awhile, one of them will grab my lip with their sharp little paw and… well, I don’t know what they planned on doing. It hurts like Hell and I yank them away.
They do love to lick my hands and chew on my fingernails/clean out under them for me.
They also like to dive down peoples’ shirts, especially mine. Not really that gross, but if rats make you oogey I can see how it would be really unnerving.
I don’t share utensils with them, but frequently when I’m done with my dinner I’ll let them snatch up what crumbs of leftovers they can off the plate before I shove it in the dishwasher. The little buggers line up by the door of their cage and just stare at you while you eat. I swear, it’s worse than any dog or cat I ever met.
I kiss my dogs on their muzzles and I kiss the kitties on the side of their heads. That is IT.
I used to kiss my cat on his forehead and cheeks–the sides of his head, you sickos! I’d also rub my own cheeks on him because he was so soft.
Poor puppies and kitties! 
How will they know that you love them if you won’t share germs? 
Got four cats and we all engage in nose touching and cheek rubbing as ritualized greetings. But yeah, me and the Missus kiss their tootsies and their foreheads, too. Big Baby eats from my cereal bowl in the mornings if I leave the table for more than 5 seconds, but I just shoo him away and keep eating. It’s not like he uses my spoon!
When I was a kid, my pet anole (lizard) hopped in my mouth! Quite a surprise, and I really had to surpress the urge to snap my jaws shut…
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think cleaning litter boxes is about the grossest thing you can do. Also, when my Dot was a kitten she really liked to lick my armpits. Ieeeewwww.
Whenever I have a coffee at home I let my rattie girls have a few sips from my cup before I drink it. They clean themselves 10 times a day or more, compared to my once-a-day shower, so I’m not too worried about germs from their end. They should be worried about me!
I have no pets. As a veterinarian I get more than my fill each day at work and could and could not imagine having one 24/7.
I have witnessed many things waaay more icky than anyone has described so far. I used to see a Husky that presented with perianal fissures. The owner confided that he and his roomie had been using the dog sexually. The dog recovered.
Once a female dog owner asked me if peanut butter was bad for dogs. I talked a bit about the fat content. Remembering a discussion my technician and I had once about women applying PB to areas they wanted the dog to lick (she had read about it in Cosmo or somewhere) I asked the woman why she was asking. I expected an innocent reply, instead she turned beet red and that was the end of our conversation.
Folks, we have a winner!
vetbridge, what is a vet’s responsibility if you see obvious cases of animal abuse or neglect, or obvious illegality like your first example? Do you have to alert animal control? Can you just have a serious talk with the owner? Would you be within your right to not return an animal to its owner, if the problem was really bad? I apologize if you don’t want to discuss such issues, but you got me wondering about legal and ethical obligations.
Oh, I wuv ‘em up lots of ways that aren’t icky! I hug them, and pet them, and scratch their bellies, nuzzle the cats’ fur with my nose, and give 'em treats, and play fetch with the dogs, make 'em Christmas stockings…they know I wuv 'em. 
Kiss kitties on the noses and lips, check.
Blow on their behinds when they are presented, check.
Let them eat off my plates and silverware, check.
Eat food after they have licked and rejected it, check.
My kitties like to play “Centerpiece”. In this game, the kitty sits in the middle of the table while the family is eating (so that we all have something to look at). This permits the kitty to monitor everyone’s food and their willingness to part with it. Frequently a bit of the kitty will stray into the people’s plates and is calmly removed. This bit is often a paw, but may also be a tail.
I also remove ticks from the kitties and pick their noses if necessary. I used to have a cat who needed subcutaneous fluids every day, which meant sticking him with a needle. Not icky, at least not to me.
Vetbridge, please finish the dog story!
This isn’t icky, but it is fun for me.
Sadie the VunderDog just loves to have the area just above the base of her tail scratched, and it will send her into semi-orgasmic fits. Our term is “scratching her butt”.
Whenever I get the urge to mess around with Booger the tomcat, I’ll scratch his butt, too. Except, to tomcats, that is some kind of grand insult, and it pisses him off royally.
This one is icky, and not fun.
Sadie has the canine form of MS and is increasingly impaired walking and standing; I think we’ll put her down before the month is up. On 2 occasions now, I’ve taken her outside to poop, and she fallen back into her piles; I’ve had to wipe her butt for her.
“Mam, you blushed when I asked why you were curious about peanut toxicity, so I assume you are a deviated prevert and vividly imagine that you’re using the peanut butter in an extremely lewd manner. I shall be reporting you to the author-it-TAYS and taking your dog to a canine counselor to help it recover from the greivous psychological damage you’ve caused it by letting it eat peanut butter. Yes sir ree, I’m gonna do that just as soon as he finishes cleaning his asshole with his tongue.”
(With apologies to Vetbridge)