Should I find this gross?? Cuz I don't...

jen

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This is posted in health even though it is more about my own health then the cat, but it is related to the cat so here it goes...

When the cat uses the litterbox, then comes upstairs to my bedroom and jumps onto my bed and walks around a bit or plays tackle the sheets or dives under the pillow chasing after nothing and finally lays down, should I find this gross??

I mean, all these years of owning cats, it never crossed my mind until right this moment because I just saw my stray boy downstairs using the litterbox and then he came up and hopped into bed and was playing the games I mentioned previously. Now he is sleeping right next to my pillow.

Does anyone else think of this ever? Is this completely unsanitary? Am I silly for thinking of it? Anything I should be worried about? Is this a dumb question?
 

jaycee

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yeah its kinda gross considering he at least has trace amounts of poop and urine on his paws but i dont think about it either. may i choose not to
 

sharky

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I know the feeling ... gross not considering you have way more germs than kitty
 

rumpleteazer

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You know I love my Teazer-cat but I hate it when she tracks litter on the bed. It feels like touching a door knob in a public restroom after the person before you left without washing their hands!

One thing I did is get one of those litter mats, that catches the litter on their paws as they come out of the litterbox. I cut down on the amount of litter T tracked around my apartment when I got one of those.

I also have an old bedspread that I put over my bed during the day that I can take off and shake out and wash when needed and I don't have to wonder what she tracked into my bed!
 

urbantigers

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Mine sometimes go straight from the litter box onto the bed, but I've never really given it much thought. It hasn't done me any harm so I'd say dont' worry. Mine never have much stuck to their bums, mind. Sometimes they do wear eau de litter box, but that's about it.
 

jaycee

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ok this was really gross, miyoko just used the litter box and crawled up onto my pillow to sleep on my hair, he has this thing with long hair, he just loves snuggling in it, anyway i smelled poop right away, and i had already reached up to pet him and felt a a wetness on the fur on his leg, i turned the light on and theres a damp smudge on my pillow that smells like poop!

im not using a very good litter right now (tried something new) so that could be the reason for his lack of hygene. anyway, im thoroughly grossed out now.
 

gizmocat

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I have three piecesof carpet and one rubber mat that catches the litter near Gizmo's box. I don't find her dirty and her feet are no worse than mine in the bed.
 

mirinae

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You know, I just don't worry about stuff like that.

My cats aren't allowed on the kitchen counter, where food is prepared, or on the stove ('cause it's hot!
); otherwise, they have pretty much free reign of the apartment. If I were inclined to eat off my bed -- and I mean literally put my food on the sheets in place of proper plates -- then I might consider my cats climbing on the bed after using the litterbox to be a problem. Otherwise ... well, I know they're healthy, and they don't have anything that can be transmitted through skin contact alone, so I don't stress about it. If they were getting fleas in the bed (they don't have fleas) or were actually using my bed as a litterbox, then I'd be upset. As it is, the biggest complaint I have is that sometimes they'll leave small pieces of litter in my bed (of course, it could just be me or my boyfriend, stepping on it in bare feet and then tracking it into bed with us), and that digs into my skin when I'm sleeping. Oh, and the occasional dead thing as a present left on my pillow ... That I could do without, too. (But it's the thought that counts.)
 

naturestee

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I grew up with cats. If litter box paws didn't kill me when I was too young to have a fully developed immune system, they won't kill me now.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by rosiemac

Same here, heck i kiss the pads on their paws even though i know where they've been
Sad aren't we! I kiss Bijou's paws all the time, plus (and this is gross), he leaves the litter box, jumps up, lays down facing me and proceeds to suckle my neck while kneading my face with one paw and my neck with the other. Sometimes the paw on my face is around the corrner of my mouth.
I guess I've built up any immunities I'd need by now.
 

rosiemac

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

I kiss Bijou's paws all the time, plus (and this is gross), he leaves the litter box, jumps up, lays down facing me and proceeds to suckle my neck while kneading my face with one paw and my neck with the other.
Awwwwww isn't that sweet!
 

marishka

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Originally Posted by sharky

I know the feeling ... gross not considering you have way more germs than kitty
A little off topic (isn't everything I say? heh)...
Not quite about cats, but I was watching Dr. Know on the health channel a while ago, and they tested the myth/fact that dogs are cleaner than humans, and that their mouth has antiseptic capabilities (everyone has heard this, right?) So, they found out that human mouths are cleaner, because dogs you know, use their tongue as toilet paper. But that they do have traces of antiseptic on their tongues, but it wasn't really enough to kill anything.
Eww.
I just wished they had included pet cats or birds so we could see compared to dogs if anything is cleaner, dirtier, etc.
 

kiki_585

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I honestly haven't thought about it until now. Stanley always comes straight from the litter box to my lap. I let him basically have full reign of the house except like Mirinae said about the counters and the table and stuff like that.

I have to agree with everyone and tell ya not to worry!
 

jaycee

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Originally Posted by Marishka

A little off topic (isn't everything I say? heh)...
Not quite about cats, but I was watching Dr. Know on the health channel a while ago, and they tested the myth/fact that dogs are cleaner than humans, and that their mouth has antiseptic capabilities (everyone has heard this, right?) So, they found out that human mouths are cleaner, because dogs you know, use their tongue as toilet paper. But that they do have traces of antiseptic on their tongues, but it wasn't really enough to kill anything.
Eww.
I just wished they had included pet cats or birds so we could see compared to dogs if anything is cleaner, dirtier, etc.
not only that, but we re talking about poop and urine and dirty litter on their feet and butts! i know i dont have more germs than cat poop and urine and butts! yeah, and human mouths are cleaner than animals. that thing about dogs and cats having less germs is an old wives tale.
 

gizmocat

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Sorry to tell you that human saliva is nearly as toxic as that of a Komodo dragon's. If You were ever bitten by a human being you'd have to immediately go to the hospital. It can turn septic very quickly.

as for cat pads, butts, etc.
My cat does not disgust me and she does not bring dirt into the bed. I wash the bedding anyway.
 

sophiec

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Originally Posted by jaycee

yeah, and human mouths are cleaner than animals.
You are right Gizmocat....I was having stitches put in my leg in the emergency room last month and the doctor told me that bites by humans were of the worst kind.
 

momto3cats

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Personally, I do find it gross when they go straight from the litter box to my bed or my lap. I just keep the covers pulled up over the pillow so the cats can't walk on my pillow.
 

andelawhi

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I too am guilty of kissing the pads of their feet! How can you not? They're so cute!

When we first got our cats, I really didn't think about it until I started noticing little litter pebbles in the bed with us! The probrobly got stuck to our feet and brought them into bed with us, but still. I have had one incedent where Nova somehow got a poop streak on my pillow while I was sleeping, but I luckly smelled it before I stuck my face in it or touched it. So overall, it DOES gross me out when I think about it, but I just try not too. Sleeping with my babies is more important to me than worrying about what kind of germs they might be bringing up there. And really, I don't think that any germs they do bring up would be anything that could do any damage. My immune system's pretty good. Cats are almost like babies sometimes the way you have to wipe their bums and you have to occasionally clean the poop off their foot when they step in it in the box. Baby poop doesn't gross me out, neither does my cats.
 
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