The Dirty Truth: Raw Pet Food, Therapy Dogs, and the Germs We Share
Most of us do not look at a scoop of kibble and think:
“Potential microbiology lesson.”
Fair enough.
But a recent recall of raw pet food contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes is a good reminder that pet food is still food — and food can carry bacteria.
The good news is that dogs and cats often do not become noticeably ill after exposure. In fact, many animals may look completely normal.
The less convenient part is that a healthy-looking pet can still carry or shed bacteria and move them around the environment.
That does not mean your dog is a furry outbreak waiting to happen.
It means we should use the same basic infection-prevention habits around pet food that we already use around human food:
Handle it. Clean it up. Wash your hands.
Simple.
What happened with the recall?
Northwest Naturals recalled two frozen raw chicken pet-food products after FDA testing found bacterial contamination.
One product tested positive for Salmonella.
Another tested positive for both Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.
At the time of the recall, no illnesses had been reported in people or animals.
So this was not an outbreak. It was a contamination recall — basically the microbiology version of catching the problem before it became a bigger one.
Can pets actually get sick?
Yes, but that is not the whole story.
Dogs and cats can develop illness from Salmonella, and Listeria infection is also possible, although recognized listeriosis in companion animals is uncommon.
Some pets may develop diarrhea, vomiting, fever, poor appetite, or lethargy.
Many will not.
And that is where infection prevention comes in.
An animal does not have to be coughing, vomiting, or looking miserable to carry microorganisms.
A perfectly happy dog can eat, drink, lick, walk across the floor, curl up on the couch, and generally continue its very important job of supervising the household.
Meanwhile, bacteria can potentially travel with it.
How does pet food contaminate a home?
Usually in very ordinary ways.
Pet-food contamination does not require anything dramatic. A hand goes into the food bag, then to the scoop, the bowl, the counter, and the faucet handle. Raw food may drip onto the floor or contaminate a toy. The dog eats, licks, wanders through the house, and life goes on — along with whatever bacteria may have hitched a ride.
That is simply how microorganisms move through an environment.
Dry food can carry risk too. Kibble and pet treats have been associated with Salmonella contamination in the past.
So the handwashing message is not:
“Only wash after raw pet food.”
It is:
Wash your hands after handling pet food or treats.
Raw, canned, refrigerated, frozen, or dry.
Soap and water does the job nicely.
Why soap and water?
Alcohol-based hand rubs work against Salmonella and Listeria.
But after handling food, soap and water makes more sense because it removes food residue, oils, particles, and microorganisms from the hands.
In other words:
Sanitizer is great.
Soap and water is better when you have been digging around in the dog-food bag.
Especially if your dog eats the kind that smells better to him than it does to you.
What about petting the dog?
Routine petting is different from handling pet food.
If hands are not visibly dirty, alcohol-based hand rub is appropriate after ordinary animal contact.
If hands are visibly soiled, wash with soap and water.
Again, no drama required.
And this is where therapy dogs come in
Therapy dogs can be wonderful in healthcare.
They bring comfort, distraction, companionship, and sometimes the first real smile a patient has had all day.
The answer is not to make therapy animals sound dangerous.
The answer is to have a good program.
A proper therapy-animal program should include healthy, clean animals, trained handlers, clear rules about where animals may go, patient consent, infection-prevention oversight, and hand hygiene before and after contact.
Our sample Service Animals, Therapy Animals & Pet Visitation Policy recommends multidisciplinary oversight involving Infection Prevention and relevant clinical departments. It also addresses when therapy-animal visits may not be appropriate, including certain isolation situations and sterile or highly controlled environments.
Handlers should supervise the animal throughout the visit, follow approved procedures, recognize signs of illness or stress, and follow facility infection-prevention and hand-hygiene requirements.
And some things are simply off-limits.
No licking wounds.
No nosing around invasive devices.
No helping with medication preparation.
The doggo does not need a job in sterile processing.
Hand hygiene protects everybody
This is probably the most important takeaway.
Hand hygiene after animal contact protects the patient.
Hand hygiene before animal contact helps protect the animal and the next patient too.
Our sample policy recommends hand hygiene before and after therapy-animal contact and encourages handlers to remind patients, visitors, and staff to participate.
That is a simple step with a lot of benefit.
The Dirty Truth
Pet food can carry bacteria
.
Pets may become ill. Or they may look completely fine.
Either way, microorganisms can move through food, hands, animals, and the environment.
That is not a reason to fear pets.
It is a reason to practice good hygiene.
Feed the dog.
Pet the dog.
Enjoy the therapy visit.
Then wash your hands.
Easy enough.
