So What's Your Answer

Very intersting tid bit of information! I wash my hands after handling the cats if I am going to encounter food... But I was my hands quite frequently in general!

I have almost never seen my cats lick themselves after being simply petted.

I have seen them lick themselves to rearrange their fur after being all mussed up from a heavy scritching session, though.

They rub themselves all over me, so I was under the impression that they happen to like our comingled "house" smell.

I agree my little kitten purposely harrasses me rubbing herself all over me (probably to leave her scent on me)! I haven't seen them do that immediatley after being pet either... That's cuz they love their mommy

I would say that cats are cleaner than humans!! Just think of all the gross things humans touch: money, door handles, gas pump handles, grocery carts, keyboards, etc. Lots of germs out there.

I don't wash my hands after petting my cats either. I do wash,tho, after touching the above listed and before cooking. One supermarket has wipems at the door!

My cats have helped me overcome a mild handwashing compulsion! You can't jump up and wash every time you touch a kitty, and I quickly realized I didn't need to. Now I accept that kitties are everywhere in my house, and that's okay. In fact, it's wonderful!

I do wash before cooking, and again during the cooking process every time I have to touch a cabinet knob or the faucet handles... so I'm still persnickety, but by golly my food is clean!

And yes, I'm afraid most cats are cleaner than a lot of people -- because a lot of people are oblivious to the importance of cleanliness. I mean, gosh... how many cases of Flesh-Eating Bacteria do you need to hear about before you get nervous about shopping-cart handles?

Originally Posted by tierre0

This is a kind of funny uptake on who's cleaner, humans or cats. Someone once asked me if I washed my hands after playing with my cats. I had to answer no because most of the time I don't.

I was then reading a article this morning and came across this interesting piece of trivia.

After being handled, cats lick themselves to smooth their fur and get rid of the "human" smell.

And realized that my cats do do equactly that...Makes you wonder just what our furry friends think about us.

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My grandmother always told me when I was a small boy that "it is much safer to kiss a cat than a human" and I have remembered this all my life. Although my first girlfriend did not think much about this logic when I told it to her.

Kitters will clean herself after I pet her a lot sometimes. But not every time. I do wash my hands after I pet her sometimes only cuz of my allergies!