Most pets are of no concern and if the family have a pet or pets there is no reason why the sick child or young person needs to stay away from them, so long as a few simple precautions to reduce the risk of catching an infection are taken.
General hygiene advice:
- Wash hands thoroughly after contact with any animal
- Children and young people on treatment must not touch animal poo and litter trays
- Pets should not be allowed to lick faces (if they do, wash well afterwards)
- Children and young people should not change fish tank water or put there hands in it.
Pets to avoid
- Any animal with a history of diarrhoea
- Farm animals
- Baby chicks and ducklings
- Reptiles
- Amphibians – frogs, toads, etc
- All birds, including pigeons
- Wild animals.
We recommend not getting any new pets until after the end of treatment due to potential exposure to new infections (for example, new puppies and kittens may scratch or bite while playing, whereas existing family pets are less likely to do this). Any puppies and kittens should be fully vaccinated before coming into the house. Children and young people with cancer should avoid any pet that has had the Bordetella vaccine (for kennel cough) for six weeks.
This information is taken from the CCLG publication 'Handling animals and pets', where you can find further information.