Do You Wash Your Hands After Touching Your Cat?

jaycee

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ok, my grandmother is staying with me for the weekend and she loves my cats but shes fanatical about washing her hands every time after she touches an animal (especially before touching her mouth or food). me? i dont even think about it. i never wash my hands after touching my cats. they re clean. i go touch things and eat them after petting or playing with my animals that goes for dogs and dwarf hamsters too. so am i disgusting?
 

cearbhaill

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No- why would I do that?

Germs and bacteria are not evil- they serve a purpose by stimulating our immune systems and keeping them ready for larger assaults.

IMO kids who eat worms and play in mud are much healthier than those kept in disinfected homes and hovered over. Protecting a child from every speck of dirt in the universe will backfire on you when they hit school age, and one particle of pollen triggers asthma onset. People have gotten way too crazy with antibacterial soap and antibiotics, and super strains of bacterial infections are the result.

Dirt is good and is part of life. I am by no means advocating living in filth, but obsessing over the germs you might get by petting a housecat is absurd (IMO).
 

rachey

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I only do if ive been playing with them, then i prepare food, but then i always wash my hands when i prepare food anyway.

But generally i dont bother, my cats are clean!
 

rachey

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Eurgh, also, i had some friends round last night and one of them hates cats, she was HORRIBLE to mine, i almost threw her out! She had a fit when jasmine sniffed her glass and had to go wash it with boiling water...good LORD
 

persi & alley

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Until now, it has never once in my life crossed my mind to wash my hands after handling the cat. However, after cleaning his litter box, I do wash my hands.
 

evepie

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Originally Posted by Rachey

Eurgh, also, i had some friends round last night and one of them hates cats, she was HORRIBLE to mine, i almost threw her out! She had a fit when jasmine sniffed her glass and had to go wash it with boiling water...good LORD
jeesus..

the only time i'd wash my hands after petting them would be when i were about to eat or prepare food - obviously or do anything else which i'd need to be hygenic about..
(and of course cleaning the litter box!!!)

i do know a few people who are very strict about their kids washing their hands after touching any animal..but as Cearbhaill said above, a little bit of dirt is certainly good for you!
 

arcadian girl

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Originally Posted by Cearbhaill

No- why would I do that?

Germs and bacteria are not evil- they serve a purpose by stimulating our immune systems and keeping them ready for larger assaults.

]IMO kids who eat worms and play in mud are much healthier than those kept in disinfected homes and hovered over. Protecting a child from every speck of dirt in the universe will backfire on you when they hit school age, and one particle of pollen triggers asthma onset. People have gotten way too crazy with antibacterial soap and antibiotics, and super strains of bacterial infections are the result.

Dirt is good and is part of life. I am by no means advocating living in filth, but obsessing over the germs you might get by petting a housecat is absurd (IMO)
.
agree 1000%

if i washed my hands everytime i touched my cat i'd be washing them every 15 minutes, and i'd have no skin left on them
my kitty is very clean, he never smells. ive even taken a bite of chicken meat after he's taken a bite.
 

urbantigers

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As I'm always touching my cats, I'd have very dry hands if I washed them each time! I agree with Cearbhaill too - exposure to germs is necessary for a healthy immune system. I only wash them after cleaning the litter tray.
 

shadowsoul

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No, why would I do that? Oscar is clean, and nothing and no one is germ free, we just all do our best (and does Oscar
). I only wash after cleaning the litter tray.

I have few officemates whose only idea of cats are soiled stray ones found on the street, so they equate cats with dirty. I'm like, "Excuse you, some people I meet are dirtier than my cat!". They always give that yuck whenever they see me carry Oscar, oh, and they pronounce it yak
, the diction is more insulting than the itsult itself.


I have a simple rule, if you hate cats, keep out of my place, and don't go kicking these creatures within my eyeshot, I'd be the first one reporting you to humane officers.
 

miss mew

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No way!!, my Reilly is a clean boy


I always wash my hands though after cleaning his litterbox or before I make his meals.
 

tavia'smom

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No I don't my cat is a clean kitty. But if I did that I would be washing my hands every time I turn around. I do wash my hands before cooking but that's just in general.
 

AbbysMom

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Yes, I do, every single time. I am allergic to cats and would be in big trouble if I didn't
 

fwan

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I knwo this might sound weird, but i sometimes lick teufels head or kaylees head
so no i dont wash my hands after ive petted them.

On the other hand though, I DO WASH MY HANDS AFTER IVE PETTED A DOG! eww my hands always feel so dirty!
 

lionessrampant

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I do in the shelter when moving between the Herpes cats, the FIV+ cats, the healthy cats, etc. I also wash up if I handled an incontinent cat, scooped a litterbox, or something to that effect. But just holding and loving my own cats? Nope.
 

zissou'smom

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If I washed my hands every time I touched my cat, I think I wouldn't have any hands left to wash.

I do, in general, wash my hands before I eat, but not because of the cat.

My mom always made me wash my hands after touching any animals, but then again I was playing with squirrels and birds and stray cats and goats and cows and sea anemones, so it was understandable. It was a little weird when it was a friend's dog or cat though. We didn't have pets, she probably wouldnt've told me to if we had one.
 

2dogmom

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I have the same problem as Abbysmom-I am not a cleanliness fanatic, but more than once I had scratched or petted Grey and then rubbed my face or eyes. Next thing I know, my eyes are swollen and my nose stuffed.
Bummer being an animal lover and mildly allergic to pet dander, but that is how it is. So yes, I wash my hands!
 

yayi

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Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

I do, in general, wash my hands before I eat, but not because of the cat.
It's like I wash hands after gardening but I don't after hugging my outdoor kitties.
 
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