A mother of two died after being given a lick on her hand by her pet dog.
Sheena Kavanagh, 53, died from septic shock after the saliva from her pet terrier — one of three dogs she owned — entered her bloodstream through a small cut on her hand.
Kavanagh, of Hilderstone in Staffordshire, England, was unable to stop Capnocytophaga canimorsus bacteria because her spleen was removed after she was assaulted by her former partner in 1988, Staffordshire Newsletter reported originally.
“It was a shock as she had been around dogs all her life. She had two Yorkshire terriers, a long-haired Jack Russell and horses, she loved all animals,” her daughter Melissa Bromfield, 27, said after the inquest at Cannock Coroner’s Court.
“She was brilliant, a devoted nan and my best friend rather than my mum. There is a massive part of our family missing.”
Dr. Hiam Ali, a pathologist, told the inquest that the bacteria which proved fatal was discovered in a blood sample taken shortly after her arrival at the hospital.
“She had antibiotics (in the hospital) which worked on the bacteria but unfortunately the damage was already done. Her blood was full of bacteria and organisms,” he said.
“Capnocytophaga canimorsus, an organism present in dog saliva, normally doesn’t cause damage. But in people without a spleen it can cause death due to septic shock. But it is extremely rare.”
Ali said a “very small” cut had been found on her hand, adding that he would have expected the penicillin that Kavanagh had taken to have protected her from the bacteria. He was unsure why it had not.