Medical expert explains why you should never kiss your dog on its mouth
A physician's assistant-turned-TikToker has shared why you should never kiss your dog on the mouth.
Be prepared to never look at your dog in the same way again:
We hope you're not doing this anyway because one, it's weird and two, have you seen how many times dogs lick their arse in a day? Spoiler: It's a lot.
Still, just in case you were thinking of kissing your furry friend, here's a scary reason why you should avoid it at all costs.
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Medical TikToker @medexplained2you explained why it's time to kick your super weird habit: "If you kiss your dog on the mouth because if so it's time to stop.
You could actually lose your limbs over it."
Yep, lose your limbs over it and, just in case you thought he was exaggerating, he goes on to explain: "I'm unfortunately not kidding, because kissing your dog in the mouth can actually cause an infection with something called Capnocytophaga Canimorsus."
Try saying that three times fast.
Jokes aside, the bacteria can be passed from dog to human and cause some pretty nasty issues: "This is a serious illness that can cause widespread systemic infection, septic shock, and even gangrene and depending how fast it progresses and when it's diagnosed.
"Amputation may become the only treatment Why not avoid all that trouble and just stop kissing your dog seems like an easy fix to me," the TikToker added.
And if you thought that the content creator was just having you on, it turns out that the bacteria really can cause a lot of harm.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) even backs this up, but it's important to note that it's a fairly rare occurrence: "Rarely, Capnocytophaga germs can spread to people through bites, scratches, or close contact from a dog or cat and may cause illness, including sepsis.
"Most people who have contact with a dog or cat do not become sick. People with a weakened immune systems who have difficulty fighting off infections (for example, people with cancer or those taking certain medications such as steroids) are at greater risk of becoming ill."
Either way, risking a nasty infection just to have a slobbery kiss from your pup doesn't seem worth it, no matter how cute they are.
And we would like to take this time to say that even if there weren't a serious health risk, kissing your dog is still kinda weird.
Shola Lee