Health and safety concerns for children in households with pets

Injury prevention always!

Social media images of babies and pets together can be deceiving. Even if you feel you can trust your pet, it is NEVER safe to leave a pet alone with a baby or young child. Sadly, tragic injuries and fatalities do happen. Equally upsetting, many of these attacks are a direct result of a baby or child being left alone, without adult supervision, with a dog, or dogs, known to the family. A pet that is scared or in pain can react by nipping or biting. Even the gentlest of pets can react by nipping or biting when they are scared or in pain and, even a warning nip can have disastrous results.

Understand your pet’s body language

Learn how dogs and cats show - through body language - that they are uncomfortable or scared. Consult your veterinarian immediately if your pet is displaying aggressive or fearful behavior around your baby. Check out these resources for more information:

HOW TO UNDERSTAND CANINE BODY LANGUAGE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND BEHAVIOUR - ONTARIO SPCA AND HUMANE SOCIETY CAT BODY LANGUAGE: WHAT IS YOUR CAT SAYING? - ONTARIO SPCA AND HUMANE SOCIETY

Raw food diets

Another safety recommendation is to not feed raw meat to dogs in households with children under the age of five or with immune-compromised individuals. If you currently feed a raw meat diet to your dog, learn about the risks to your baby/child. Due to the risk of your dog shedding bacteria that may put your baby/child at risk for severe disease, it is the recommendation of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) to not feed a raw meat diet in households with young children.

Learn more about the CVMA’s position:

Safety of Raw Meat-Based Pet Food Products | Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (canadianveterinarians.net)