I'm a vet and here are my 5 unpopular opinions about pet ownership - and the bad habit that gives me the ick

A British vet has revealed five opinions he has about pet ownership - and he says they may be unpopular. 

Content creator @ben.the.vet shared the list in a video on TikTok, where he has more than 208,000 followers.

Diving straight into his opinions, he listed his first as disliking when people feed their animals raw meat, describing it as 'not a risk worth taking'.

Ben explained: 'When you prepare raw meat to eat yourself, if you're a meat eater, you're probably quite careful about washing your hands and avoiding cross contamination. 

'If your dog eats raw meat, then they will get raw meat juice in and around their mouth, which contains bacteria, potentially spreading it all over your house, and on your face when they lick you. 

Ben the Vet (pictured) has shared what he described as five 'unpopular' opinions he has about pet ownership

'If you have small children or anyone immunosuppressed in your house, just don't take the risk of making them sick.'

The second opinion was bound to get some people's backs up. According to Ben: 'Number two [is] people calling themselves pet parents.

'[It] makes me want to throw up just a little bit. I think we should be considering our dogs as part of the family. But you're not their parent and they're not your child. Sorry, just gives me the ick a little bit - surely I'm not the only one.'

His third point related specifically to people who have cats as companion animals. The vet said: 'Your cat is a loner and doesn't need any friends. I'm not just being mean, but it can be a disaster to introduce a new cat to our household.'

He explained that it can be 'quite hard for us to appreciate as a social species', but that cats are 'naturally solitary' - and they like being on their own. 

'They can be picky and choose to form a social group with some cats in the household but not others,' said Ben.

'Some cats basically just hate other cats. The resulting stress, as well as being unpleasant for the cat, can lead to some health issues like cystitis and urinary obstructions.' 

When it came to his fourth unpopular opinion, he said: 'Number four [is] adopting a stray dog from abroad. [This] can do more harm than good. 

While he emphasised that it i just his opinion, Ben (pictured) said people calling themselves pet parents 'gives him the ick' 

'The first consideration here is temperament. I've met many lovely ones. But a lot of these dogs have not had any social interaction with humans at a young age. And so they can find living in a household very stressful, and this can lead to problem behaviours and even aggression. 

'The second consideration is the risk of introducing exotic infections. There are several to consider, but the one we're perhaps most concerned about at the moment in the UK is an infection called Brucella. 

'It's being found more and more often in imported dogs. And if humans pick it up, it can cause serious health issues. 

'If you want to help these dogs, it may be better to just donate to a charity that helps these dogs in their country of origin.'

And finally, moving onto his fifth and final opinion, Ben said: 'If you really want to keep your dog's teeth clean, please stop giving them dentistix, and just start brushing their teeth. 

'The sticks are supposed to be clinically proven, so presumably they do something, but I think many dogs just inhale them practically. And they are very fattening. 

'I think they're making people just feel like they're doing something proactive, but I don't think that they're that great. Again, just my opinion.'