Thank you handymac!
Good for you...a healthy person might never get any ill effects but the risk is there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Out of the sack, cat! Sleeping with pets carries disease risk

From the article you linked:

"The American Veterinary Medical Association doesn�t have a formal recommendation about pets sleeping with their humans. But "a little common sense will go a long way," in reducing risk, says AVMA president Larry Kornegay, who affirms that zoonotic diseases are "uncommon, if not rare."

Most government recommendations are based on incomplete or politically skewed research/information. Such advice is also usually biased too far to the BEWARE!!! end of the spectrum.

OK..how about from the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine

Here is a link that might be useful: Your Pet Could Be Making You Sick

That article starts out with this:

"Even healthy pets can carry parasites, bacteria or viruses that cause mild to life-threatening illness in people. Of the 250 zoonotic diseases � meaning infections transmitted between animals and people � more than 100 come from domestic pets.

Because most zoonotic diseases are under-diagnosed or not reported to health authorities, no one really knows how many cases occur each year. And even though disease transmission is low in comparison to how many people sleep with their pets � more than half of all U.S. pet owners � the risks are still there. Researchers estimate that several million infections are passed between pets and people annually in the United States, ranging from skin conditions to life-threatening illnesses."

And ends up with this:

"This is not meant in any way to scare you away from having a pet. In truth, the health benefits of owning a pet can and should outweigh any risks. Research shows all kinds of conclusive evidence that pets could help heal and soothe health complaints. Heart attack victims who have pets live longer. Apparently, even watching a tank full of tropical fish may help lower your blood pressure, at least temporarily. Bringing a pet into a nursing home can improve people�s moods and desire and ability to interact socially."

Most articles like that never identify those 'researchers' to whom they give so much credence.

I totally agree there are some folks who need to be careful around pets---for instance, reptiles can pass Salmonellosis and pentastomid worms.

And birds----psittacosis (or "parrot fever"), salmonellosis, cryptosporidiosis, and campylobacteriosis.

Now, the possibilities of any of those diseases being transmitted to humans are quite slim as long as proper precautions are taken.

Same with dogs and cats.

Actually, in parts of the US, people get diseases from wild animals much more frequently than from domesticated ones. And these diseases can often be contracted just by cleaning areas where the infected rodents have deserted.

Hantavirus
Lymphocytic Chorinmeningitis
Leptopirosis
Rabies
Vector-borne Diseases(parasites)
Plague
Lyme Disease
Gastrointestinal Disease

Looks like not so much hogwash anymore.

>>never identify those 'researchers' Not so, they have names in some of the articles.
There are allot of reports out there and I have to believe in these....not yours.

Several reports of pasteurellosis � bacterial infections that can be acute and involve pneumonia, abscesses or even blood infection � have been attributed to sharing a bed with pets, being licked by or kissing pets. In one case, an infant contracted pasteurellosis after two family dogs had licked the hands of the infant's 2-year-old brother, who then let the infant suck on his little finger.

Brucella canis Infection (brucellosis): A bacterial disease rarely associated with dogs.

Campylobacter Infection (campylobacteriosis): A bacterial disease associated with dogs, cats, and farm animals.

Cryptosporidium Infection (cryptosporidiosis): A parasitic disease associated with dogs, especially puppies, cats, and farm animals.

Dipylidium Infection (tapeworm): A parasitic disease associated with dogs, cats and fleas.

Giardia Infection (giardiasis): A parasitic disease associated with various animals, including dogs and their environment (including water).

Hookworm Infection: A parasitic disease associated with dogs and cats and their environment.

Leishmania Infection (leishmaniasis): A parasitic disease associated with dogs and sand flies outside the United States.

Leptospira Infection (leptospirosis): A bacterial disease associated with wild and domestic animals, including dogs.

Lyme Disease: A bacterial disease that can affect dogs and ticks.

Q Fever (Coxiella burnetii): A bacterial disease occasionally associated with dogs.

Rabies: A viral disease associated with various animals, including dogs.

Ringworm: A fungal disease associated with dogs.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: A bacterial disease associated with dogs and ticks.

Roundworm: See Toxocara infection.

Salmonella Infection (salmonellosis): A bacterial disease associated with various animals including dogs.

Tapeworm (flea tapeworm): See Dipylidium Infection.

Toxocara Infection (toxocariasis, roundworm): A parasitic disease associated with dogs and cats and their environment.

Here is a link that might be useful: Diseases from Dogs

Cats can be worse...as I was reading that cats can have more diseases.

Here is a link that might be useful: Zoonotic Diseases & Cats

Konrad---I clicked on that last link you provided.

Here is the FIRST sentence:

"Although dogs can pass germs to people, you are not likely to get sick from touching or owning dogs."

Your link. I rest my case.

I wasn't too concerned in touching a dog... as you see in my first post I emphasize kissing and you called it Hogwash.

Yes, I did. Because you started a debate. This is the Pet Debates forum.

"Approximately 60 percent of all human pathogens could have been transmitted by an animal, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...from a website."

Says nothing about kissing a pet. Nor about allowing a pet to sleep on a bed with a human.

Plus---that quote is actually an estimate with basically empirical evidence for support.

So, being the debate liking person I am, I proceeded to present evidence to the contrary. Some of which was actual scientific investigation. None of my links said that the information in the initial statement was wrong, they just said the percentages were wrong. And the cause for alarm is overdone.

OK..sure, alarm is sometimes overdone but there is a risk, no hogwash!

Cats & dogs who roam in your neighborhood and come into the house can be allot worse then heaving them strictly in your home.

I came to this statement from ET & Billy about this, from over 20 years ago, they say no pets should be in your home.
And about keeping and breeding rabbits.

21. About 59% of all plague victims of all times came to their end only because they had been infected by cats and dogs.

Billy's family was also affected by pets..

Quetzal
In a very strong manner,
Engelbert has been attacked, as well as Cornelia, both of whom already show damages that can't be repaired again.

50. The same applies to your wife and to the boys Atlantis and Methusalem, Maria, and the son Rolf.

51. Jacobus is also included in this, who already shows strong signs.

More in link
Note: English translation can be slightly misleading a little, one's in a while,.. I only have noticed it in one sentence.

Here is a link that might be useful: Contact report..Quetzal talks about the dangers of keeping domestic animals

I met a lady who had two miscarriages. A doctor asked her if she had cats, she did. She got rid of them and had a baby. I don't remember the details of what she got from the cats that caused the problem.

My toy poodle was sitting beside me on the sofa, when she jumped down I looked down on the sofa for some reason and there lay a tape worm. It was about 6 inches long, no dogs or cats my bed thank you.

That's interesting, ..I'm glad now that my parents never let any pets into the bedroom.

Konrad: In the middle ages they killed all the cats because they mistakenly thought they were spreading the plague. Instead the plague ran rampant because the cats weren't around to kill the rodents which were the actual culprits. If you properly treat your animals with medications for fleas, ticks and worms the above problems mentioned don't take place. My doctor told me when I first got pregnant not to change the litter box, I had already read that in many of the books I had read (there's something in the feces) so my DH took over that duty. I have 3 lovely adult children now.

Good for you!
I've heard that too about killing cats, haven't heard that of the litterbox, we had a "house" cat, my wife did the duty, also have 3 lovely adult children now. Anytime the cat is let out it could bring home something.

The disease you can get from litter boxes is toxoplasmosis. Cats get it from eating rodents, so indoor/outdoor cats pose the worst risk. You can also get it from digging in your garden if a cat or wild animal has used it as a potty. Most people just get flu-like symptoms, but it can be very dangerous to unborn babies and people with compromised immune systems.

Someone mentioned roundworms earlier and they are a bigger risk from wild animals than pets if your pets are getting vet care. Most heartworm preventative medicines also kill roundworms. They are a scary parasite because although they remain in the digestive tract of animals, in humans they migrate all over the body, even into the brain. Kids sometimes get them from digging in dirt where wild animals have been. They get the eggs under their fingernails from feces in the dirt and then put their hands in their mouths.

Another concern that I don't think anyone has mentioned is a bacteria you can get from pet birds that causes lung cancer in humans. They say you should clean a bird's cage everyday to prevent the bacteria from growing in the droppings to be safe.

We've had all kinds of pets all my life, including when my kids were small and as far as I know none of us has ever gotten sick from them. That said, I am very, very careful and try to be aware of all the risks with each type of pet. No face licking is allowed from the dogs, I keep their vaccinations and medications up to date, and I taught my kids to always wash their hands after handling any of the pets.

I think if we really thought about all the dangers we face around us, we'd be afraid to touch anything or even breathe. But there's no reason to not be aware and to take reasonable precautions to keep your family healthy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Toxoplasmosis

Thank you Deb for all this info,..well said!

Our cat was a house cat,..never allowed to be outside, I guess this made things safer, ...but it still had regular vet visit and all the necessary shots. Perhaps it's overkill?
We have a cat bylaw, not cat outside.

We better stop kissing and taking other humans to our beds, that's going to cause way more diseases. Those creatures gave me a cold this year just by being next to them!

Sure, kitteh, but hopefully most people take precautions to avoid spreading disease among humans, too. That's a topic for some other forum, though, since this is a pet forum : )

I'm 74 years old and have never known any one who ever got a disease from their pets. I've slept with at least one dog all of my life and will continue to do so. They are good for my mental health.