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Question:

Yes, it’s perfectly safe: as long as you’re scrupulous about personal hygiene, your cat won’t catch anything unpleasant Alison

Response:

>     I’ve been told there is a problem for pregnant women. >  There is a > disease (toxoplasmosis???) that pregnant women are > susceptible to from > cleaning a cat’s litter box.  Maybe if this is associated > with exposure to > the cat’s litter box it would also be associated with > results of the cat’s > cleaning/grooming habits.  Does anyone know more about > this than I > apparently do??

As far as I can gather the risk from toxoplasmosis is from excreta that are a day or more old, hence the advice to clean litterboxes daily to avoid the risk of toxoplasmosis. See this web site for example: http://www.fabcats.org/is13.html That seems to imply that kissing the cat wouldn’t, in fact, be a way to catch it. However I imagine pregnant women, and people with damaged immune systems, might do well to err on the side of caution. Alison

Response:

Well, I’m almost 7 motnhs pregnant, I kiss my kitties all the time, and I’ve had no complications!  By the way, the blood test you have when you first get pregnant should be tested for antibodies to toxoplasmosis.  Mine was, and I hadn’t even asked.  Fortunately for me, I had the antibodies.  Actually, having worked in an elementary school for a few years, I’ve built up antibodies to lots of things!   Good Luck, Erin No animals in my address See my cats at: http://ourworld-top.cs.com/peteft15/id19.htm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->     I’ve been told there is a problem for pregnant women. >  There is a > disease (toxoplasmosis???) that pregnant women are > susceptible to from Alison said: >As far as I can gather the risk from toxoplasmosis is from >excreta that are a day or more old, hence the advice to >clean litterboxes daily to avoid the risk of toxoplasmosis. >See this web site for example: >http://www.fabcats.org/is13.html >That seems to imply that kissing the cat wouldn’t, in fact, >be a way to catch it. However I imagine pregnant women, and >people with damaged immune systems, might do well to err on >the side of caution. >Alison

And it is quite cheap and easy to get tested for antibodies.  I had myself tested (positive for previous exposure) so that I didn’t need to worry about caring for 5 cats should I fall pregnant by accident.  I heard that in Europe they routinely test women planning a pregnancy, or early in their ante-natal care. The Black Cat

Response:

<< a friend says you shouldn’t kiss your cat because they lick their bottoms (!) and spread it to the rest of their bodies.  what do others think? >> I’d say your friend is right, they lick their butts. I’ve been kissing my cats on the mouth since I got my first cat at the age of 7 and I’m way older than that now. I’ve always been fine. It grosses some people out but I can’t resist, they’re so cute. Candace (take the litter out before replying by e-mail) See my cats at www.gatherround.com Go to "Find an album." Password: GlenrosaCats

Response:

    I’ve been told there is a problem for pregnant women.  There is a disease (toxoplasmosis???) that pregnant women are susceptible to from cleaning a cat’s litter box.  Maybe if this is associated with exposure to the cat’s litter box it would also be associated with results of the cat’s cleaning/grooming habits.  Does anyone know more about this than I apparently do?? — "Habit is a great deadener" Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> << a friend says you shouldn’t kiss your cat because they lick their bottoms > (!) and spread it to the rest of their bodies.  what do others think? >> > I’d say your friend is right, they lick their butts. I’ve been kissing my cats > on the mouth since I got my first cat at the age of 7 and I’m way older than > that now. I’ve always been fine. It grosses some people out but I can’t resist, > they’re so cute. > Candace > (take the litter out before replying by e-mail) > See my cats at www.gatherround.com > Go to "Find an album." > Password: GlenrosaCats

Response:

>  I’ve been told there is a problem for pregnant women.  There is a >disease (toxoplasmosis???) that pregnant women are susceptible to from >cleaning a cat’s litter box.  Maybe if this is associated with exposure to >the cat’s litter box it would also be associated with results of the cat’s >cleaning/grooming habits.  Does anyone know more about this than I >apparently do??

Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by a plasmodium (an amoeba type thingy!) It is endemic in the natural environment, and approx 66% of the UK human population has antibodies to it (i.e. they have been exposed at some point). It can be caught from the soil, from unwashed raw vegetables, from undercooked meat, and from cat faeces. The disease can only be caught from cat faeces from 24 hours after defecation, so a litter box that is changed more frequently is not a risk. Cats can only pass on Toxoplasma when they are actively infective, i.e. a short period of about three weeks when they may show cold or flu like symptoms themselves. Cats catch toxoplasma from their prey. Toxoplasma is only dangerous to immune compromised humans (e.g. those with immune deficiency diseases, the very old, the very young, and those on immuno-suppressant drugs). It is not dangerous to pregnant women, but can cause blindness and other abnormalities in the foetus that they are carrying. The circumstances in which cat faeces present a danger to foetuses are as follows:- The cat has itself been exposed to  toxoplasmosis for the first time within the last three weeks, and is actively excreting Toxoplasma. AND The pregnant woman comes into contact with infective cat faeces from that cat, either in the soil whilst gardening, or from cat faeces which have been left in the litter tray for longer than 24 hours. HOWEVER, if you know any pregnant women, it would be nice of you to volunteer to clean all the cat litter trays for the duration of the pregnancy, just to be on the safe side remove nospam to email

Response:

For what it is worth, I remember my sister coming home from nursing school amazed that she had learned people have more germs on their hands after they wash them in the rest room and touch the door handle to leave then when they did after using the john! The point is that who knows if the person who just touched that door handle had "something" on their hands in minute amounts because they did not wash their hands… you now touched the door handle, you go to put a piece of gum in your mouth…wa-lah! Catch my drift? Human waste, animal waste, etc. is around us even in foods we eat I hate to say. I know it sounds outlandish and freaky. I too was appaled when I read certain things like chicken we buy before we cook it having traceable amounts of fecal matter, etc. Even vegetables as animals get into the gardens, you know. So don’t worry about it. People can wipe themselves and get fecal matter on themselves in trace amounts and not be aware to be blunt and then use their hands to say eat chicken wings! Not everyone washes their hands after themselves in their own homes! I am not an expert so I may not be on target here precisely. I am trying to draw on things I have read because I too have been concerned not about kissing my cats which I do and I love and would continue to do no matter what but I  have been germ conscious. Good luck! Beechwood

Response:

< a friend says you shouldn’t kiss your cat because they lick their bottoms (!) and spread it to the rest of their bodies.  what do others think?> Well, cats do lick themselves (bottoms and all) and smell everything, including their own excretement. I do kiss my cats, though. <g>

Response:

What a great question! I know that when I volunteered in the shelter, we were warned to remove all clothes and shower after coming home, and before touching our own pets. We cleaned litter boxes, cages, floors, bathrooms. .. etc. But that was a large place with about one hundred cats, so I think the warning was related to the higher risk involved in dealing w/lots of cats, some of whom were ill  : (  . . . I kiss my kitty’s head all the time. She doesn’t particularly seem to care one way or the other. She prefers head scratches and lots of petting.   (The *only* thing that any of the volunteers at the shelter ever contracted from a cat was ringworm. Either your cat has it or it doesn’t. If it has it, it’s an illness that is treated until cured.) The only precautions I take are to wash my hands after cleaning or scooping out the litter box; and washing my hands before I touch or prepare any food. I’ve never become ill. But I think that any person w/any immune problems would want to check w/their vet first.

> a friend says you shouldn’t kiss your cat because they lick their bottoms > (!) and spread it to the rest of their bodies.  what do others think?

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Response:

I would think if it were not safe, I’d be dead by now. <G>

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> a friend says you shouldn’t kiss your cat because they lick their bottoms > (!) and spread it to the rest of their bodies.  what do others think?

Response:

a friend says you shouldn’t kiss your cat because they lick their bottoms (!) and spread it to the rest of their bodies.  what do others think?

Response:

The amount if sh*t we ingest in ALL areas of our lives.. I’d think the risk is minimal, unless of course, someone has an immuno-deficiency.  then I may be concerned and would ask my physician. my 2