{"id":42915,"date":"2026-08-13T10:20:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T05:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=42915"},"modified":"2026-08-13T10:20:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T05:20:24","slug":"should-you-let-your-dog-lick-your-face-9-animal-hygiene-questions-answered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=42915","title":{"rendered":"Should You Let Your Dog Lick Your Face? 9 Animal Hygiene Questions, Answered"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"paragraph-content\">\n<p><h2 id=\"what-if-you-have-a-fresh-surgical-site\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 font-editorial text-black-coffee text-mobile-h2 lg:scroll-mt-28 lg:text-h2 mb-4\"><strong>What if you have a fresh surgical site?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-element\" class=\"rich-text mb-6 font-graphik text-body-large text-black-coffee mt-8 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color text-left\">Coming home from surgery might be when you most want your furry friend on your bed. It\u2019s also when experts want you to put a little distance between your pet and whatever is healing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-element\" class=\"rich-text mb-6 font-graphik text-body-large text-black-coffee mt-8 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color text-left\">Dr. Ashley Drews, an infectious disease specialist at Houston Methodist, has seen patients develop infections after a pet licked an incision or surgical drain. \u201cThat\u2019s not a good idea,\u201d she says. Keep the site covered and your pet away from it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><h2 id=\"do-you-need-to-worry-about-the-litter-box\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 font-editorial text-black-coffee text-mobile-h2 lg:scroll-mt-28 lg:text-h2 mb-4\"><strong>Do you need to worry about the litter box?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-element\" class=\"rich-text mb-6 font-graphik text-body-large text-black-coffee mt-8 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color text-left\">Yes. Cats can shed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/toxoplasmosis\/about\/index.html\" target=\"undefined\"><em>Toxoplasma gondii<\/em><\/a> in their poop, and the parasite can travel from the box to your hands to your mouth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-element\" class=\"rich-text mb-6 font-graphik text-body-large text-black-coffee mt-8 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color text-left\">Yet the litter box isn\u2019t the only way to get toxoplasmosis. The parasite can also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/toxoplasmosis\/causes\/index.html\" target=\"undefined\">turn up in<\/a> soil, unwashed produce, contaminated water, and undercooked meat\u2014especially pork, lamb, and venison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-element\" class=\"rich-text mb-6 font-graphik text-body-large text-black-coffee mt-8 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color text-left\">\u201cI think people are aware of the cat litter thing,\u201d says Jill Roberts, a molecular epidemiologist and professor at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. Meat gets less attention. Roberts is so wary of undercooked pork that she skips thick cuts, which she worries are harder to bring to a safe temperature. \u201cAll I can see is <em>Toxoplasma<\/em>,\u201d she says. You don\u2019t have to give up pork chops, but you should use a food thermometer: Whole cuts of pork should reach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fsis.usda.gov\/food-safety\/safe-food-handling-and-preparation\/food-safety-basics\/safe-temperature-chart\" target=\"undefined\">145\u00b0F<\/a>. Once they come off the heat, wait at least three minutes before cutting or eating them; the meat\u2019s temperature holds steady or continues to rise during that time, helping destroy pathogens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What if you have a fresh surgical site? Coming home from surgery might be when you most want your furry friend on your bed. It\u2019s also when experts want you to put a little distance between your pet and whatever is healing. Dr. Ashley Drews, an infectious disease specialist at Houston Methodist, has seen patients&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.time.com\/v3\/assets\/bltea6093859af6183b\/blt9fd863c675fb116e\/6a7c8b1c97a02013c12e72c2\/GettyImages-1242837619.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}