As a pet owner, you love your animal companion and consider them family. That’s why it’s always so heartbreaking when you have to take your sick pet to the vet.

Many of your pet’s illnesses are caused by wildlife, who are infected because they lack vaccines and other treatments in nature. Just by being near them, these wild animals can make your pet sick. To keep your furry friend safe, it’s important to understand what diseases wildlife can spread.

Rabies

You’re probably already familiar with rabies, thanks to the horrifying headlines about the disease. It’s devastating in its effects, but it’s made worse by the sheer number of animals who carry it. Raccoons, skunks, bats, and coyotes are just some of the most common carriers, but nearly all mammals can spread the disease.

If a wild animal infects your pet, your little friend will start becoming dizzy and disoriented. You’ll notice some foaming in your pet’s mouth, and you’ll see them stumbling more often. Your pet will start eating less, and it’ll slowly grow weaker and weaker.  And if you ignore the symptoms, the disease will eventually kill your pet.

Leptospirosis

You may not have heard about leptospirosis, but it’s both a serious threat and a common one. Rats and opossumstypically spread this disease by biting your pet, or by leaving their infected waste around. The infected urine can spread the disease to your pet if they stand near the waste, and everything goes downhill after that.

Once your pets become infected, they will lose their appetite, become more lethargic, have diarrhea, or vomit. If you don’t take your pet to the vet, the disease could get much worse. Severe cases will result in bleeding in the heart and kidney failure, so make sure to call your vet if you notice any symptoms.

Lyme Disease

Lyme disease can be extremely dangerous, but thankfully the ticks who spread them aren’t very mobile on their own. What makes this disease so common, however, are the rats who ferry the ticks to new places, giving the parasites a chance to infect your pet. That’s why it’s important to get rid of pests on your property as soon as you notice them. For more information on getting rid of rats visit attic-rat.com.

Not every animal infected with Lyme disease will show symptoms. In fact, plenty do just fine. Others on the other hand may become lethargic, lose their appetite, develop a fever, or start limping. If your pet goes untreated, the disease can develop far worse symptoms, like damage to the kidney or heart.

Tapeworms

The tapeworms go through a long journey to infect your pets. First, wild animals like rats, raccoons, or plenty of others will carry fleas to your pets. Then, the fleas will hop onto your pet while carrying a tapeworm egg. If your pet gets a flea in its mouth, the egg will slowly turn into a tapeworm who will infect your pet.

Tapeworms don’t pose a serious threat, but they can still do some harm. An infected cat or dog might have a sudden change in their diet, and they might lose a lot of weight. They’re also likely to vomit more often or have diarrhea, so it’s a good idea to call a vet if you notice any symptoms.

Giardia

Giardia spreads when your pet comes into contact with the feces of a diseased animal, like rats, raccoons, or coyotes. The symptoms are quite mild and involve diarrhea and cramps. You should still take the necessary precautions if you think your pet is sick.

Keeping Your Pets Safe

There’s plenty you can do to keep your pets safe, and it starts by keeping your home free of diseased animals. So if you think you have wild animals infesting your home, contact a wildlife removal company to remove the animals and keep your pets safe.