How dangerous is salmonella exposure?

I'm having some trouble determining just how dangerous salmonella is to cats. 

A friend of mine recently complained that letting my kingsnake, Toothless, and my cat, PJ, interact puts the kitty at risk for salmonella poisoning. The snake's feces tested negative for salmonella in August(one of my landlord's conditions for moving in with "that horrid slimy thing", and the test results sure surprised me!), but she certainly could have picked some up since then, perhaps even from my cat! But say Toothless does happen to have salmonella in her gut, and happens to slither through some of her poop(which she generally tries to avoid), and later snuggles into PJ's fur, and then PJ ingests some salmonella when grooming herself afterwards. Surely it couldn't be any worse than PJ consuming her own gut bacteria when she cleans herself after using the litterbox? Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that cats are just as capable of carrying salmonella asymptomatically as reptiles(it's supposed to be one of the litter box bacteria we need to be wary about, right?). Besides which, if Toothless now has salmonella it could quite easily have come from PJ's gut via litterbox dust in, say, the bathtub, where Toothless likes to swim and drink!

Obviously when people handle Toothless we wash our hands so that any potential bacteria won't end up on our food. But honestly, that stuff thrives on everything. There's no way either Toothless or PJ has avoided contact with salmonella throughout their entire lives. Is it really that risky to allow my pets to snuggle together? Is it really any different from two cats snuggling together, since both are potential carriers of the bacteria and have equal likelihood of contact with fecal matter?

I'd certainly be concerned if PJ's food got recalled due to salmonella contamination, since eating contaminated food could involve much greater numbers of bacteria. But I'm not sure how paranoid I should be about other methods of transmission.

On a side note; it occurs to me that some of you may see bigger issues with this situation besides salmonella transmission. Please keep the conversation on the topic of salmonella(or bacteria in general). I would not put a random cat and snake together and expect things to go well. I am very familiar with both animals and am aware of all their habits and tendencies and fully trust that these two specific individuals are safe with each other, under close supervision. PJ will not attack Toothless and will not make sudden movements to make her nervous, and Toothless no longer has any strike/constrict reflexes as she has never had to make use of such actions to acquire/kill/consume prey.

I think the likelihood of cross contamination is low. I think it would be same as if two cats snuggled together.
I don't know what snakes eat but if they eat raw meat (including mice, but I'm also thinking about chicken), you should take the same precautions after handling raw meat as you after handling your snake: wash your hands and the surface that the raw meat has touched.
Ritz got a UTI, bacteria based (I fed raw/frakenprey). The vet said she pooped where she peed--she licked her anus which had baterica from her feces (e-coli), then licked her vagina, and bingo, she got a UTI. I mention that because the source of contamination could come from the animal herself!
PS: I'd love to see a picture of your snake and cat together!

Here's some I took just now Neither of them are really looking their best because PJ got woken up from deep drooly sleep, Toothless is starting to go into shed, and my phone hates trying to focus on moving objects, but they're always beautiful anyway 

EDIT: In the top left corner of the second photo, you can see part of the little tiger who is NOT allowed to touch Toothless. He got too close there.

Wow, that has got to be one of the most unusual interspecies relationships I've heared about. I guess it's all what you 'grow up' with. I think it says a lot about you that you were able to socialize one to the other. Thanks for sharing.
Ritz isn't a particular affectionate cat, so sometimes I kiss her on what ever part of her body she presents to me; yeah, you got it: her rear end. I tell her every part of her is beautiful.
Every year the organization I volunteer with has "photos with pets and Santa". The most unusual pet this year was a possum; last year, it was a pet snake. And we had another snake this year, I think a boa constrictor.

PS: I assume it is perfectly legal for you to own snakes where you live. Some counties/cities prohibit a person from owning chickens, much less squirrels or racoons (even in a medically necessary situation--as in the squirrel / raccoon would have died otherwise if not for the rescuer.)

Ritz said:

PS: I assume it is perfectly legal for you to own snakes where you live. Some counties/cities prohibit a person from owning chickens, much less squirrels or racoons (even in a medically necessary situation--as in the squirrel / raccoon would have died otherwise if not for the rescuer.)

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No worries, only huge and/or venomous snakes are restricted here. My city has banned a lot of other animals as pets, though, including the squirrels, raccoon, and opossums you've mentioned.

Ritz said:

Wow, that has got to be one of the most unusual interspecies relationships I've heared about. I guess it's all what you 'grow up' with. I think it says a lot about you that you were able to socialize one to the other. Thanks for sharing.

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Yeah, when me and PJ were kids I trained her to interact nicely with small animals. No teeth or claws were allowed near mice, gerbils, hamsters, fish, etc. She lets all sorts of critters crawl all over her, and if they get annoying she just gets up and leaves. (birds are a completely different story) Most small animals, especially rodents, really irritate PJ, but she's had an interesting attraction to Toothless ever since we got her. PJ likes to sleep next to the snake enclosure a lot, and always comes to see what Toothless is up to when we take her out. They seem to enjoy each other's company. Toothless probably likes the warmth and security hiding in PJ's fluff, but I have no clue why PJ is so happy to be near Toothless. :lol3:



Anyway, it's interesting to consider the fact that a cat could get a UTI from her own fecal bacteria. The world is so fascinating on a microscopic level: these little guys are crawling all over everything, and it almost seems like a game of chance as to whether they'll make us sick.

That's so cool!

Just an FYI, many if not most human cases of UTI is from our own fecal bacteria. That said, you're right that salmonella grows just about everywhere. When we walk through the yard then into the house, we bring in germs...it's that easy.

I don't know a lot about snakes, but in nursing school we are taught to teach patients that are immune compromised to not own reptiles and if you must own a cat, have someone else clean the litter box. We're also taught to teach patients against raw feeding animals. Nursing school isn't real nursing, so yeah, some things I obviously say, "for the exam I'll say...":lol3:.

peaches08 said:

Nursing school isn't real nursing, so yeah, some things I obviously say, "for the exam I'll say..."

.

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Haha I come across a lot of things like that in school too. I think that we should be pushing better education for safe handling procedures rather than promoting paranoia. I recently learned that nobody at the nearby McDonald's had taken a food handling course, and most of them didn't even know such a thing exists! And people think my snake, who lives in a clean and enclosed environment, will make them sick? 

prairiepanda said:

Haha I come across a lot of things like that in school too. I think that we should be pushing better education for safe handling procedures rather than promoting paranoia. I recently learned that nobody at the nearby McDonald's had taken a food handling course, and most of them didn't even know such a thing exists! And people think my snake, who lives in a clean and enclosed environment, will make them sick? 

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Exactly! It sounds like you're using good hygiene practices. I'm also of the cloth that believes we need some exposure for good health.

Your babies are both adorable, what a cute relationship they have.  I have worked in the field for 20+ years and have never seen salmonella, so I think your cleaning etc is good.  I even feed an immune compromised dog raw and she's not contracted it, in fact it has boosted her immune system.

cprcheetah said:

 
Your babies are both adorable, what a cute relationship they have.  I have worked in the field for 20+ years and have never seen salmonella, so I think your cleaning etc is good.  I even feed an immune compromised dog raw and she's not contracted it, in fact it has boosted her immune system.

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That's good to hear! It's easy to find information about the worst possible outcome, but it's hard to gauge the likelihood of something bad happening under normal circumstances. There's plenty of research about where things like salmonella live and how long it survives in various places, but not so much about what determines the severity of reactions to infection. I'm confident that PJ and Toothless are safe together, though.