HIV Digest	HIV Digest Archive

HIV/AIDS patients should choose healthy adult animals as pets rather than puppies and kittens, and should have the animals examined immediately by a veterinarian. Young animals are more likely to carry and shed parasites and enteric pathogens. They are also more likely than adult animals to be clinically infected with dermatophytes. Puppies and kittens often bite and scratch, and they have poor elimination habits that could increase the risk of disease transmission.

Pet animals should be neutered at an early age. This minimizes roaming behavior in both sexes and indiscriminate urination and aggressive behaviors in the male. Neutering also prevents pregnancy, which may lower the animal's immunity and thus increase the potential for shedding zoonotic pathogens.

View our poll archive

All pets should have routine health care including a yearly physical exam, vaccinations, and fecal examination for parasites; the veterinarian should be open to suggestions by the pet owner regarding the care of an animal. Physicians and veterinarians have widely different training and interests, and often the patients are better informed than the health care provider about HIV-sensitive issues.

Stool samples of animals living with an HIV-infected individual should be submitted to a professional lab at least yearly for special tests for Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and bacterial cultures for routine stool pathogens. If enteric pathogens are present, animals should be isolated from the HIV/AIDS patient and treated, except in special cases (such as Salmonella).

All pets should be vaccinated annually. Cats should be vaccinated for feline viral rhinotracheitis, feline calicivirus, feline panleukopenia, rabies, and feline leukemia. Dogs should be vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, and rabies. Vaccination does not prevent the transmission of zoonotic diseases, but it does ensure a healthier pet.

All pets belonging to people with HIV/AIDS should be kept indoors or be restricted from roaming. This minimizes contraction of zoonotic diseases from the soil, fecal material of other animals, and carcasses of wild birds and other mammals. Homebound pets are healthier and have a longer life span than their roaming counterparts.

Cats should be tested for feline leukemia virus (FLV). HIV-infected patients should not own FLV-infected cats because of their greater susceptibility to other infectious agents. Cats that test negative for FLV should be kept indoors and away from strange cats. Stray cats should never be taken into a multicat household without first testing negative for FLV.

Pets belonging to HIV-seropositive individuals should be screened for dermatophytosis before they are brought into the home and on a yearly basis thereafter. Wood's lamp examination is inadequate for dermatophytosis screening because of low sensitivity. Culturing is the appropriate test. Skin scraping or hair samples should be done on several areas of the trunk and head to maximize the chance of identifying a pathogenic organism.

Pet dogs and cats should be sprayed or dusted with effective insecticides weekly throughout the flea season. The environment can be controlled by spraying the lawn with liquid insecticide such as SEVIN (Ortho, Burlington, Iowa), and "bombing" or spraying the house with an insecticide containing larvicide. Veterinarians are good sources of information about flea control and should be consulted. Chewing and biting behaviors should be discouraged. Situations that prompt aggressive behavior by animals, such as bathing and rough play, should be avoided. Declawing cats (including all four feet) may be considered as a way to eliminate cat scratches. Pets should not be allowed to lick or kiss their owner's face or skin. Pets should not be allowed to eat raw or uncooked meat, fish, or eggs. Keeping pets indoors prevents their ingestion of carcasses and feces of domestic and wild birds, reptiles, and animals. Dogs should be walked only on a leash.

Individuals with HIV/AIDS should not own pet birds, reptiles, turtles, or rodents until further research can be done to define the risks of acquiring zoonotic diseases from these creatures.

Folk remedies and pills containing animal products or dubious ingredients should be baked or heat-treated.

People with HIV/AIDS should exercise caution before entering occupations that involve milking, sheep- or goat-herding, pet grooming, slaughterhouse or poultry plant processing, animal care, or veterinary service.

Patients, physicians, and veterinarians should be aware that the greatest source of zoonotic agents is from humans themselves and not from animals. Unprotected sexual contact involving direct or indirect anal contact is an important source of many of these pathogens.

Editor's Note: from Medscape's AIDS Reader