What Can dogs get from rodents?

Rats can transmit diseases directly to your dogs and cats, or as hosts to disease-transmitting parasites. As long as you properly care for your pet rat and keep its living conditions clean, the odds of your canine and feline friends obtaining any infection from him are low. Your larger concern is an unwanted rodent family that takes up residence near your home, or that your dog and cat finds -- dead or alive -- in his outdoor adventures.

A common mode of disease transmission from an unwanted rat to your beloved dog or cat is through ectoparasites -- parasites such as fleas, lice, mites and ticks that find their way onto rats. Some of these passengers, such as lice, prefer specific animal hosts and will not trade their rat host for your dog or cat. However, mites occasionally will, and can thus give your dog or cat a skin condition called mange. A tick carrying tularemia (rabbit fever), Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever that finds its way from a rat to your dog or cat can transmit those diseases to your pet. Fleas can also infect rats with the respiratory disease known as plague -- both bubonic and septicemic -- and typhus, transmitting them to your pet through their feces or biting him. Your cat is far more susceptible to plague than your dog. Cats can also pick up the organism, Bartonella, responsible for the dreaded cat scratch fever, but this rarely causes cats to get sick -- just the humans they scratch.

If your dog or cat gets scratched or bitten by a rat, he’s at risk of getting bubonic plague, tularemia and although rare, the monkeypox virus that’s similar to smallpox. But the rat doesn’t have to have a specific infection to spread a disease through a bite; the rat’s normal flora in their mouths and noses can carry a bacteria that causes a disease known as rat bite fever in dogs and cats. Fortunately this disease is rare in the United States.

Your dog and cat can pick up tularemia or monkeypox if they eat or just chew on an infected or contaminated rat. They also risk getting Giardia or Cryptosporidium, which are intestinal parasites and can make them ill, as well as the bacterial infections salmonella and Campylobacter. Fortunately these are rare.

It may be hard to imagine a scenario in which your dog or cat would ingest rat urine or feces, but it could occur if they drank stagnant water with these rat excretions, or eating something similarly affected. In this instance, they risk exposure to the leptospire bacteria, causing leptospirosis -- an infection in the liver and kidneys. This is a bigger worry with dogs than with cats.

The best way to prevent your cat or dog from getting rat-related diseases is to control your environment so that it’s unappealing to rats, and keeping your dogs and cats vaccinated and healthy. Keeping them indoors will also limit exposure to rats as long as the indoor environment is rat-proofed as much as possible. The effects of any of the diseases range from mild to potentially lethal, so being mindful of any variations in your pets’ usual behaviors and habits, such as lethargy and decreased appetite, will increase your chances of a proper diagnosis and full recovery.

Vermont Department of Health, Agency of Human Services
King County Public Health – Seattle & King County: Diseases from Rodents, Pocket Pets and Rabbits
Carrboro Plaza Veterinary Clinic: Leptospirosis, Canine and Feline
Iowa State University, The Center for Food Security and Public Health: Fast Facts Lyme Disease
Rat Health Guide: Ectoparasites
PAWS San Francisco: Safe Pet Guidelines - A Comprehensive Guide for Immunocompromised Animal Guardians
CDC: MonkeyPox Infections in Animals: Updated Interim Guidance for Persons Who Have Frequent Contact with Animals (Pet Owners, Pet Shop Owners and Employees, Animal Rescuers, Animal Handlers, and Animal Control Officers)
Illinois Department of Health, Prevention & Control: Fleas
King County Public Health – Seattle & King County: Zoonotic Diseases, A-Z
Second Chance Wildlife Center: Rats!!

About the Author
Based in Central Texas, Karen S. Johnson is a marketing professional with more than 30 years' experience and specializes in business and equestrian topics. Her articles have appeared in several trade and business publications such as the Houston Chronicle. Johnson also co-authored a series of communications publications for the U.S. Agency for International Development. She holds a Bachelor of Science in speech from UT-Austin.

1. Disease facts by animal
2. Rodents, pocket-pets, rabbits

There are disease concerns with both wild (rats, mice) and pet (rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs) rodents and rabbits. They can carry many diseases including hantavirus, leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV), Tularemia and Salmonella. Wild rodents also may cause considerable property damage by chewing through wiring in homes, car engines, and other places.

Diseases from wild rodents

• Hantavirus
  Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is a severe illness caused from exposure to the droppings or urine of deer mice that carry the virus. About 1- 5 hantavirus cases are reported each year in Washington State and about one third of the cases have been fatal. It is important to take precautions when cleaning up an enclosed space such as a shed, cabin or trailer where mice have nested or rodent droppings are present.

• Leptospirosis
  Leptospirosis is a disease caused by bacteria called Leptospira that infects both humans and a wide range of animals. It occurs worldwide but is more common in temperate and tropical areas of the world. Some people infected with leptospirosis will have no symptoms at all, and some people will become severely ill. Some wild and domestic animals, such as cattle, pigs, dogs, raccoons, and rodents, carry the Leptospira bacteria and pass them in their urine. Soil or water contaminated with infected urine are the most common causes of human infection.
• Plague
  Plague is a serious infection of humans caused by a germ called Yersinia pestis. It is usually caused by the bite of a flea that has fed on an infected wild animal, such as a rat, chipmunk or prairie dog. It usually causes large sores and abscesses in the glands of the arms and legs. Dogs, and especially cats, can also become infected and can spread the disease to their human companions. Wild animals in Washington state do not carry plague germs, but people and domestic animals like dogs and cats could be bitten by infected fleas while traveling to other areas of the country. Plague is treatable with antibiotics.
• Tularemia
  Tularemia is a bacterial disease caused by Francisella tularensis and is most commonly found in wild animals (e.g., wild rodents, squirrels, rabbits, hares and beavers). People and their pets can become ill from tularemia by coming into contact with infected dead or ill animals through animal bites and exposure to contaminated blood or raw meat. Tularemia can also be transmitted by the bite of an infected arthropod (e.g. ticks, biting flies), exposure to contaminated water or soil, and inhalation of bacteria. One to 10 cases of tularemia in people are reported every year. To prevent exposures to tularemia, don't handle dead or ill animals; avoid animal bites, tick and deer fly bites; and avoid direct bare-hand contact with blood and raw meat from wild animals. Don't drink untreated water in areas where tularemia is known to occur in wild animals.

• Rat bite fever Rat bite fever is a bacterial disease. The bacteria are carried by rats and are part of the normal flora of their mouth and nose. People can get infected through bites or scratches by rats. Up to 10% of rat bites may result in rat bite fever. Other animals such as mice, gerbils, squirrels, cats and dogs can also get infected and may or may not get sick with rat bite fever, and can spread it. Rat bite fever is thought to be rare in the U.S. Persons who handle rats as part of their work or children who live in rat infested areas are at higher risk of this disease.
• Leptospirosis
  Leptospirosis is a disease caused by bacteria called Leptospira that infects both humans and a wide range of animals. It occurs worldwide but is more common in temperate and tropical areas of the world. Some people infected with leptospirosis will have no symptoms at all, and some people will become severely ill. Some wild and domestic animals, such as cattle, pigs, dogs, raccoons, and rodents, carry the Leptospira bacteria and pass them in their urine. Soil or water contaminated with infected urine are the most common causes of human infection.
• Salmonellosis - rodents and pocket pets
  Salmonellosis is a bacterial infection of the intestines caused by a group of bacteria called Salmonella. The bacteria are shed in the stool of infected animals and humans. Infection can happen when a person eats food or drinks water or milk that has been contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. Infection with Salmonella can cause serious disease, especially in children younger than 5 years of age, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems.
• Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV) The primary host of lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV) is the common house mouse. Pet rodents can become infected after being in contact with wild house mice infesting pet stores or homes. Pregnant women are most at risk from LCMV infection, which can cause birth defects and intellectual disabilities in the unborn baby.
• Monkeypox Monkeypox is a disease caused by a virus. Despite being named "monkeypox," the source of the disease remains unknown. However, African rodents and monkeys might have the virus and infect people. In Africa, monkeypox kills between one and ten percent of people who get it. In 2003, African rodents infected with monkeypox were brought into the United States and housed with prairie dogs that became infected and were distributed as pets across several states. Over 70 persons were identified as becoming sick with monkeypox after contact with prairie dogs or their environment. People get monkeypox from an infected animal if they are bitten or if they touch the animal's body fluid or blood, and infected people can spread the disease to other people through respiratory droplets produced from sneezing or coughing. An outbreak of monkeypox starting in 2022 has spread across many countries that usually don't report monkeypox, including the United States. In this outbreak, monkeypox is being spread through close physical contact. There are no treatments specifically for monkeypox virus infections. However, since monkeypox and smallpox viruses are similar, certain antiviral drugs and vaccines developed to protect against smallpox may be used to prevent and treat monkeypox virus infections.

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• Last Updated July 14, 2022