How many crohns patients had pets growing up?

I've had pets my whole life.  Dogs, cats, hampsters, fish, frogs...My grandparents also owned a farm and I was there a LOT. They had something like 10 dogs, over 30 cats, horses, goats, sheep, and donkeys.  I highly doubt not having pets around causes Crohns.

I had outdoor cats, and a couple indoor birds. I also loved playing in the dirt, but I had eczema on my hands, so often had to forgo it.

I also wasn't sick much as a kid. I would often be one of the only kids in the class not to come down with the flu during the school year.

i've had dogs my whole life.  i'm still convinced i got sick eating something bad in the middle east when i was 15...got sick and never got better.

me too always had dogs, poodle, chihuaha mix, lab, rats, sister made me eat dirt pies, etc.. swam in public pools, swam in algae filled lakes and ponds... ate stuff in south africa as a kid dont even know what it was!.. cant pick any one thing to blame but if you want your duaghter to grow to hate you , your on the right track as far as blaming yourself. she will pick up on it and blame you too.

I still believe there is a connection to vaccinations.  Maybe some of us are just predisposed to autoimmune diseases and a vaccine is the one thing that can trigger it.  Why are so many children being diagnosed, especially developing symptoms after their booster vaccines going into middle school?  and me, 11 days after being RE-vaccinated at the age of 44 (just because I didn't have my records and wanted to take 1 class at the univ).  If I had been born one year earlier, the univ wouldn't have required me to receive any vaccinations.  what luck!

I've always had dogs, cats, rodents and what ever else I could get in the door. Also, when I was a child I was always barefoot even on relatives farms. So for me personally, this theory doesn't add up. JMHO.

I am the youngest of 5 kids and the only one of the 5 who developed Crohns. While my older siblings were all in school I was at home in my backyard playing with my best friend, my dog. We made mud pies and had regular parties. So honey I think your theory is really wrong and whatever you do don't blame yourself, this disease just attacks those of us destined to get it. I smoked from a young age (13) and had many many allergies and took alot of antibiotics as a child. Anyone of those things could have caused my Crohns. I definetly do not blame my Mom for this darn disease. Hugs!

Thanks for the replies. Ya, I guess this theory is just a coincidence in my daughters case. I know I should not feel guilty about her crohns, but I do somehow. I just keep wondering if it was something I did or did not do. Maybe a vaccine is the cause, which the docs say are neccessary. Maybe she ate something while traveling out of the country. Maybe I should have breast fed and she would have gotten my antibodies. I think I will drive myself crazy questioning everything in her past, or in my relentless persuit to "cure" her. I know my daughter does not feel its my fault. She says I'm the best mom in world! So I will continue to do what a mother does, worry and search for a cure. Diana

We had several pets growing up as well.

vls ~ interesting comment about the immunizations...... I got an MMR shot shortly before I got pregnant - and starting having symptoms immediately after my daughter was born........

Yup, yup, have never been w/o at least one dog since the day I was born. I was a tomboy. I played in the mud, drank well water, drank city water, drank from streams, swam in murky water, swam in chlorinated pools, drank high sulfur water, dran floridated water, had/have horses, cats, spent a lotta time on the farm and in the woods - and even in big cities like Chicago .... my momma tried but ... when it came to me she didn't have much to work with. <VBG> I was a latch key kid LONG before the term was phrased, washing my hands didn't enter my mind much, I shared whatever I had to eat w/my dog, shared my apples and carrots w/my horse .... and I had all those dang vaccinations. I was "caught" in that period where every kid received gobs of immunizations at school. I was constantly getting bad cuts, etc. so had my share of tetanus shots as well.

My older sister and I traded measles, mumps and chicken pox one right after the other (my poor mother, I'm sure she wanted to run away from home - we are half sisters and have NEVER gotten along or liked each other. Can you imagine being trapped in the same house thru all this when we also had to share the same room?)

about the only thing I didn't do - by some miracle - was break a bone. I waited until I was an adult to get a hairline fracture of a finger when a TALL window slammed down on it and a cracked rib at work.

I wasn't one to get colds, the flu, etc. My prissy Miss Clean older sister used to catch everything.

I know that I have already posted on this and I just wanted to add one more thing. This disease is such a lonely and depressing disease which can really have a hard effect on a child. I just wanted to let you know that maybe getting your daughter a dog or pet would not be a bad thing to give her a friend and something to make her happy. There are so many people that are hard on sick people because they are uncomfortable and children probably have it worse than adults. You will never find a judgemental dog and I know that on my bad days there is nothing more comforting that having my two chihuahuas come and snuggle up next to me and kiss my hand or face. My parents were always under the opinion that every child should have the responsibility of raising a pet and learning how to care for something other than themselves, but in reality it is from my dogs that I truly first learn what unconditional love is. Nothing againt my parents because they showed unconditional love also, but a dog will always be happy to see you and happy to lick you across the nose to let you know that they care. When a child is experiencing such physical and emotional trauma from this disease, I just can't think of something that will warm their hearts and give them friendship better than a little 4 legged friend. So rather than get a dog for the germs, it is my personal opinion that is it good to just get one for support and love.

Randy, I had not ONE symptom prior to the vaccination.  No one in my family has any auto immune disease either.  I got the MMR vaccination and 11 days later blood was pouring out of me, no pain at all, just bloody D.  I saw a gastro the next day and he suspected colon cancer and did a colonoscopy the following morning (13 days after the MMR) and diagnosed me with Crohn's.  I still had no pain.  I went for a second opinion at the IU med school and they were really intrigued and confirmed the diagnosis.  Mayo wanted to study me for two weeks also but I couldn't be gone that long.  It was the Mayo in AZ that was studying this connection.  The adverse reaction to vaccine center was well aware of the connection between the two and said it was the measle portion of the vaccine the triggered reactions. A study in Scottland showes that particular strain of measles in biopsies of Crohn's patients.  I was assigned an attorney by the center but we would have to take on the CDC and by that time I was really sick and my kids were little and I was separated from my husband.  just too overwhelming