Question about pets and hygine.

[japple]

There was a recent thread in the lounge about dogs who eat catbox crunchies. Our dog doesn't, but only because she doesn't have access to the litter boxes. This thread got me wondering about kissing my animals. I've always kissed them on their noses or other places on their faces, and I'm sure I don't always wash my hands every time I pet the cats and then prepare food, although I try to remember to. Do you kiss your animals, and are you religious about hand washing, wearing aprons, or coverups? I guess I'm fortunate that my family all have and love animals, so if a cat hair were to pop up in the tacos, they wouldn't get too disturbed.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Cats have slobbered on me, eaten off my plate, and left fur all over

everything I own for some 30 years now, and I never got any diseases from them. As far as I know they never got any from me, either. I think there can be a problem for pregnant women handling the litter boxes of outdoor cats (toxoplasmosis), but otherwise I don't think many diseases can be transferred between cats and people. It's more the gross-out factor than a health issue, as far as I can tell.

[joanski0]

2. I let my cats lick cream cheese off my bagels.

I figure the cheese sticks onto their tongues, so it doesn't bother me. I always hug and kiss my cats. I have scratches all over me. My new kitten thinks he's a flying squirrel and is constantly jumping on my back -- when I'm cooking, brushing my teeth, looking out the windown, etc. I've never caught anything from the cats.

[CottonBear]

3. I kiss my horse on the nose and my cats on their little heads!

I have probably ingested enough horse and cat germs and hairs to be mostly immune to most illnesses. I do wash my hands a lot and keep the kitchen counters and surfaces very clean. No cats in kitchen rule.

[DainBramaged]

4. I have never though that they could hurt me in any way

In fact, I think that through the years, because of being exposed to the different bacteria they carry, I've suffered fewer colds and other weird reactions to disease.