Risk of serious burns and poisoning
Washing your hands frequently is one of the barrier gestures to avoid coronavirus contamination. It seems that everyone has understood this to the point of wanting to do the same with their pet. But some owners go way too far by adopting dangerous behaviors for their animals.
Social networks are currently blooming with alert messages from more and more veterinary clinics to see dogs arriving with serious burns on their paws because their owners wanted to disinfect them using bleach or gel hydroalcoholic.
In addition to skin burns, these products can also irritate your pet's mucous membranes if he licks them.In a press release published this week, the Order of Veterinarians also recalls that the hydroalcoholic gel, which, as its name suggests, contains alcohol which can be responsible for very serious poisoning of your pet.
Dogs and cats do not transmit coronavirus
It is worth remembering above all that, given the scientific knowledge currently available, there is no proof that pets play a role in the spread of the disease. As proof, the American veterinary diagnostic laboratory Idexx screened more than 3,500 samples of cats, dogs and horses from South Korea or American states where the human coronavirus was developing and all of them turned out to be negative.
On the other hand, it is likely that our dogs and cats could serve as simple vectors for the virus, like a doorknob, the screen of a mobile phone or clothing, if an infected person touched , sneezed, coughed or spit on his coat.
What are the right things to do?
By respecting the rules of confinement and social distancing when your doggie walks, the risk of your pet ending up with viral particles on its coat or paws becomes very minimal.
Also read: What precautions should you take when walking your dog during the COVID-19 epidemic?But, if in doubt, it is entirely possible to wash the paws (or your dog's coat) with water and dog shampoo. It's effective enough to rid it of any viral particles (no need for disinfectant, bleach or hydroalcoholic gel)!
If you have to do it often, be careful to dilute the shampoo before use (so as not to irritate your skin and destroy its protective layer of sebum) and rinse thoroughly with water clear. And, in any case, be careful to dry your dog's paws and the spaces between his fingers to avoid maceration phenomena.
As always, also remember to wash your hands with soap and water after petting your pet. Also avoid close contact (this is not the time to sleep with your dog or cat), kissing and licking your hands and face.
At present, only one cat in Belgium and two dogs in Hong Kong have tested positive for the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 epidemic, but it was their owners who transmitted the virus to them most likely through close contact or due to environmental contamination of the home. On the other hand, the risk of contagion from animals to humans is considered infinitesimal by scientists.