# MRSA Super-Bug Transmissible To Our Dogs ...



## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

Now, this is scary ... very few people are aware of MSRA, yet so many people carry it or suffer from it - it is carried in the nasal passages (and to a lesser extent, the groin, armpits etc). It is an evil drug resistent Staph,

Usually contracted in hospital (my preemie son copped a severe dose from a 3 month ICU stay and continues to get hideous bouts to this day). Easily stopped by proper sterilisation, but Vets, Doctors, Nurses etc often do not wash their hands between patients and, voila, another victim gets it .... DAMN THEM, how hard can it be!!??!! I'd bet London to a brick 99% of people working in that environment have it living in their noses - we often swab out nasal passages with Bettadine which is supposed to reduce/kill that part it reaches but we have it in our blood once the sores are gone. Unless you've had it, you cannot imagine the suffering it brings, and drugs will NOT cure it but they WILL destroy your liver.

I had no idea MSRA was transmissible to our dogs, and now I'm terrified of getting my 3 pups desexed. Read up on the link below, but especially Bella the Samoyed's story in the RHS Margin - if you ignore all the airyfairy comments & look for those whose dogs also caught it during surgery, this is one horrific bug.

Has anyone here had a dog suffer with this condition, or maybe it has and you just weren't aware of it? MANY OLDER VETS AREN'T EVEN AWARE ANIMALS CAN CATCH IT, now that's the scariest darn part of it all!!!

Are some animals more MRSA prone? (Staph Infection (MRSA) in dogs, cats and animals)


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

In between posting the above and this morning, I shot off an email to a dear Scientist friend who coincidentally spends his working life trying to develop a cure for MRSA Staph infection in humans.

This was his reply, which has set my mind at ease a great deal, especially the fact I can request the Vet to give a particular post-op antibiotic that will stop it before it begins ....

_"with regards to MRSA, there a few things to keep in mind:

- the skin of dogs and people get colonized by a different mix of bacteria, partially due to their different skin chemistry and partially due to their different environment - e.g. most people don't roll around in the dirt that often, unless they are very young, or lick their own genitals...

- even if the dog is colonized with MRSA, this doesn't mean anything will happen, even after surgery. usually the immun system is quite capable of dealing with that kind of stuff without any help and it can deal equally well with resistant and normal bacteria. an animal's immune system is usually even better due to being more exposed to all kinds of bugs; eating raoadkill, licking anything that smells remotely interesting, and similar activities make sure of that.

- if you let your vet know of your concerns, he/she can also put the dogs on a different broad spectrum post-op antibiotic to make sure that they catch any possible MRSA lurking somewhere.

MRSA is not more likely to cause any infections than the normal S. aureus, it is just more difficult to treat once an infection has happened. however, the complications that arise are usually due to the fact that it takes some time to figure out that the strain is actually more resistant than the normal type giving the bacteria more time to multiply; in your case the right precautions can be taken once the wound becomes inflamed because you already know it may be MRSA. 
Also, MRSA is resistant to some of the antibiotics that get used in tablets and injections, but the topical ones, like the good old iodine, alcohol, etc still work, so a wound can still be quite effectively sterilized using those.
In addition a number of the antibiotics used for animals are different to the ones used in people so the bacteria will be less likely to be resistant agains them."_


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

I think your scientist friend is spot on. I don't usually worry about MRSA except in people (and pets) who are immunocompromised. As he pointed out, MRSA (and other pathogens including salmonella) are present in the environment. They are everywhere. 

The best way to avoid these types of bacterial infections is to keep a clean environment (washing hands, etc.) and to foster a healthy immune system. Fresh air, exercise, healthy non processed fresh foods are best. Limiting vaccines, stress and insecticides/parasitics is important as well. 

There are some things we can't do much about, air pollution, depleted soils, etc. but we can do the best we can with the tools we have. Antibiotics certainly have their place. However, the OVERUSE of antibiotics is what has caused these super resistant strains of bacteria to occur in the first place.


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