If I fall ill I am tucked into bed with medication and chicken soup till my temperature turns normal again. Very often I can have my pet dog in the room with me because he is loyal to a fault and will not leave me alone when he knows that I am feeling unwell. I am worried that he will catch my germs and fall ill as well. Is is possible for dogs to  get sick if the owner is ill?

The short answer to this is – no. You can not make your favourite pet unwell even if you have a particularly contagious flu. This is because the viruses that cause human being to catch the flu are adapted to affect the human body. They are species specific and are not likely to decide to mutate and take up residence in your puppy dog. Does this mean that the pet is never going to fall ill with the flu?

Again the answer to that is no. Just as we have viruses that are specific to human beings, there are viruses specific to other species. Dogs can get sick if the canine version of the flu virus hits them. Also there are other bacterial diseases which science studies have proved are not quite as immune to the species divide.