Mammals and water

[dre]

I may be opening my self up for punishment here and seem like an idiotic question (I'm fine with that).completely reomve the factor of chemical pollutants in the water. I'm in no way condoning drinking in sanitized water. Im just curious as to how other mammals dogs cattle etc can drink un sanitized water and not get ill but humans are have more chance of getting sick. Is it that certain bacteria effects humans in other ways to different mammals or is it a biological thing. Could it be something humans could build up an immunity to some of these bacteria over time I am open to any options or criticism on this thought

 

[Tomuda]

Basically because their gut flora, microflora is different from ours, think along the lines of they are consuming crap (literally) from such a young age they have a tolerance if you like, but a huge dose of a very highly contaminated water source has the potential to kill the young elderly or sick.
Thats my understanding of it.

 

[Tomuda]

Obviously im taking about soiled, stagnant not chemically polluted water, and even then there is water animals will even walk away from, i think it all depends on the pollutant.

 

[auscraft]

Dre
No such thing as stupid question
Look at this article it is part of the reason/theory http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/the-appendix-does-have-a-use--rebooting-the-gut-396277.html
tolerance is a big part too. But animals are not immune to illness from it and still can die if it is poisoned or strong pathogen their immune system can't handle.
Even with their immune system working 100% it does not mean they don't have some ill effect it is just not as bad as dying from dehydration. All pet owners know the importance of giving fresh clean water to the animals and it does make a difference

 

[Hairyman]

Animals almost certainly do get sick and maybe die sometimes, especially the young.
What microorganisms are in different water can vary so much its very hard to generalise.
While you may be able to build up some immunity to some microorganisms there are many such as giardia etc that you
cant.

On the other hand I watched an episode of 'Naked and afraid' last night where they were in a Brazilian desert, the woman tried to sanitize
all water before dinking, whereas the man took the calculated risk, given the location that it was ok to drink as is.
The woman failed to complete the 21 days due to severe dehydration and exhaustion. The man did not get sick and was able
to complete the time.
In other episodes of 'Naked and Afraid' the persons that risked drinking unsanitised water were the ones that became ill.