Could your family pet be making you sick?

In addition to contracting rabies and Lyme disease from animals, pet owners might be surprised to learn their dogs can spread other infections to them.

Although uncommon, leptospirosis is a highly debilitating disease in dogs that is transmissible to people. It can cause kidney failure in both, according to Dr. Adam Christman, an associate veterinarian at Brick Town Veterinary Hospital in Ocean County.

"It's usually excreted out through their urine, so that's something that could be contagious to you and I," Christman said. He said the disease is preventable in dogs through vaccination.

Not to be confused with ringworm, a fungus more commonly found on the skin of dogs and cats which can be passed from pets to owners, are intestinal parasites, including roundworms and hookworms, which are sometimes visible in human stool, according to Christman.

Christman also said pet owners can sometimes develop a condition known as ocular larva migrans.

"You might be able to see these, actually inside your eye," he said.

They're also visible as crawling lesions under the neck, arms and feet and can be very itchy. Christman said in some cases, roundworms have been known to cause blindness in children. A dog infected with roundworms can deposit roundworm eggs into the soil when it goes to the bathroom. Children can accidentally ingest those eggs by playing in dirt and then sticking their hands in their mouth.

The parasite scabies is found on the outside surface of the skin and is more common in outside dogs.

"That's highly contagious and it's extremely, extremely itchy to owners," Christman said.

He said animals with scabies usually have areas of hair loss and scratch a lot. Once diagnosed, scabies is treatable in animals through monthly heart worm prevention. Veterinarians can make that diagnosis easily by looking through a microscope, according to Christman.

While Lyme disease can be transmitted to pet owners, it's not as common as one might think, according to Christman.

"It is potential for it because the tick that could infect the dog is the same tick that can infect the owner," Christman said. "That type of bacteria is usually in the tick itself."

Pet owners can prevent animals from carrying and spreading these diseases by bringing their dogs for regular, yearly check-ups and making sure they are on monthly heart prevention to de-worm them, according to Christman. He also stressed the importance of practicing proper hand sanitizing, including washing hands thoroughly after playing with pets and handling their droppings.

"Mostly the very young, the very old, or compromised individuals, are those that are more susceptible to contracting these diseases," he said.