My dog carried a dead rat. Can I get sick from playing with her?

You are correct that the rat can carry diseases. I recommend to call your veterinarian and tell them what happened. They may want to check him for any bites and booster his vaccines. The main concerns for rats are Leptospirosis and fleas who can carry plague depending on where you live. Theoretically, rabies and rat poison ingestion would also be a risk. Your veterinarian will be most familiar with your local environment and the potential diseases. Also make sure Brady is up-to-date on his flea prevention. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

[Rabies](https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/rabies/) in rats and other small rodents is extremely rare. I would be more concerned with the possibility that the rat had been poisoned elsewhere and its weakness was why your dog was able to catch and kill it. Leptospirosis, an infectious disease that affects the liver and/or kidneys, is also a high risk from contact with rats. Other possible diseases your dog could contract from contact with rats are: • Rat Bite Fever (*Streptobacillus moniliformis* form). Dogs can be infected by the bacteria by biting or eating infected rats. Dogs do not themselves get sick, but serve as carriers for the infection, passing it along to humans. • [Tularemia](https://www.petcoach.co/article/tularemia-rabbit-fever-in-dogs) is caused by the *Francisella tularensis* bacterium. Rabbits, hares and rodents, including rats, are particularly susceptible to the organism, and often die in large numbers during an outbreak. If a dog eats a rat (or other animal) infected by this organism or drinks water contaminated by infected rodent waste, the dog can become ill as well as passing the disease on to humans. Symptoms in dogs include refusal to eat, fever, cough, vomiting, and diarrhea. If not caught and treated, it can lead to death. In humans the symptoms are specific to the mode of infection (deer fly, ticks, contaminated water, handling dead infected animals, etc.) but can include: chills, eye irritation, fever, headache, joint stiffness, muscle pain, ulcers on skin, shortness of breath, sweating and weight loss. • [Bubonic plague](https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/plague): dogs can become carriers of the *Yersinia pestis* bacterium if they are bitten by the flea of an infected rat. Dogs do not tend to be sickened by bubonic plague but can pass the disease on to human caretakers. • [Salmonellosis](https://www.petcoach.co/article/small-pet-rodents-can-pose-a-salmonella-risk-to-humans) can be transmitted to a dog that encounters the fecal material of rats, other rodents and especially reptiles. Symptoms in canines include: fever, diarrhea, dehydration and shock. Death can occur if untreated, and the dog can spread the infection to human through its feces.

Oh no! While it's not good Thalia had a dead rat in her mouth, she's a very good girl for dropping it right away. If she did not chew on the rat, eat part of the rat, and if there was no blood, then the likelihood that she picked up any disease from the rat is very low. The biggest concern would be if she ate part of it, chewed on it, or if you saw any blood from it in her mouth. If any of those scenarios apply, then yes, I would take her into your asap. Should the rat appear intact, there are no signs she chewed on it, and she was simply carrying it, I would wash her mouth out with water very well (use gloves to be safe!), and that should be fine. To be safe, you can get her checked out, but just carrying the rat should have no issue. Definitely get her the vaccine on Monday. I hope this helps!

There are a couple of diseases that a rat can give a person, but it's very unlikely it could be spread this way. Bacterial and parasitic diseases usually require a certain amount be ingested before they cause disease. It would take more than a lick to the outside of the mouth to give a substantial amount. There are some scary diseases like hantavirus that can be spread quite easily though. However, it is relatively rare. The best thing you can do to rule-out disease is by taking the rat to a state laboratory for testing. The government has disease monitoring laboratories that will examine and test the body for diseases of concern in your area. You can call your local vet, or Texas A&M veterinary diagnostic laboratory (https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/) for more information. Otherwise, I would not worry too much. It appears that you have done a good job washing away any potential contaminants and it would be rare for you to have contracted anything. If you happen to feel ill in the next week, then please contact your doctor and mention the rat incident. I hope that helps and all is well.

The mouth is not the problem, the problem is if they ingested the rat or not and if they are vaccinated or not, these are the two important factors when dealing with a dog the kills a rat, the mouth is irrelevant. if your dog ingested the rat you must take him to the vet urgently, because of the high risk of rat poison (this will likely be deadly if left untreated), the second issue is vaccination, if your dog is not vaccinated he is in risk of contracting a disease called leptospirosis which can cause severe health problems and in some cases can be fatal as well.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Good job Jackson. Probably not but I would monitor Jackson closely since the rat could've scratched or bitten him somewhere. Rats and other rodents don't transmit rabies so that is not a concern. I would just watch for any areas that become swollen, painful, or have some discharge which could indicate infection from the rat scratching/biting. Good luck with Jackson.

You probably do not need to be concerned since Puppy did not actually eat the rat. However, if you feel like she is acting abnormally, like vomiting or coughing excessively or acting more lethargic than normal, I would recommend taking her in to the vet just to make sure nothing is going on. There are some diseases that can be spread from rat to dog but with such limited interaction Puppy is probably fine. My only other concern would be if there was any rat poison around that the rat or Puppy could have gotten in to. If so, this could cause some bleeding issues in Puppy. Your vet can run a simple blood test to make sure this is not an issue.