Pets and Hygiene

SavingPennies_2

Inspired by the hand licking dog thread....

I do wonder about how hygienic people are around thier pets. Ive always been quite obsessive about cleanliness, touching door handles etc and hand washing. When I first got Puss I was a bit paranoid but have gradually got "better" and not worrying so much. Although I dont kiss her I do like to cuddle her in my arms and nuzzle my face in her fur, shes just so soft and I love her! I also let her on the sofa and bed, in fact I encourage her as I want her to be comfy and spoiled! The only place she is not allowed is the kitchen worktop and dining table although she does sometimes sneak up so I always clean them before preparing meals. I also dont wash my hands after every pet/cuddle, just before I eat/prepare food, which is what I did anyway.

Yes I know her paws rummage around in her litter tray (which I clean completely every day) but as far as I can see I am much more likely to come into contact with germs on at work, on buses, public toilets and apparently something like 70% of shopping trolleys have traces of human poo on them :eek:

So...if this fairly standard or would some people be disgusted by this? or do you happily kiss and cuddle your pets and let them snuggle up on the bed?

krlyr

My dogs aren't allowed in the bed - they're not allowed upstairs at all, being such hairy, shedding breeds we wanted some no-dogs zones and also with their breeds being prone to joint problems I've never really let them run up and down stairs on a regular basis. But I'm not fussed by 'kisses' and cuddles and at the old house I didn't care about sitting on the "dog sofa" (yes, spoilt mutts got a whole sofa to themselves..new house lacks the space and they were barred from the brand new sofa incase of scratches, so they're relegated to a big duvet instead).

And if I wanted to feed the lurgey-police even more, I can mention that they're fed a raw diet. Yes, that's raw meat! Minces, fillets, bones, even the odd whole rabbit or pigs head! I practice normal food hygiene in terms of washing things down, and worming them regularly because of the whole rabbits thing, never had a problem with it in the 3.5 years I've been feeding them raw.
My brother's girlfriend once made a comment about me defrosting raw meat in a (sealed!) container on the kitchen side once (the small space next to the sink where no food was prepared, nothing was stored other than the dogs leads etc.), but what made me laugh (and roll my eyes) was that she'd often leave plates, mugs, saucepans etc. with food leftovers on the side (where we did prep food) or on the hob for days - yet I was the unhygienic one! The amount of times I had to scrub a saucepan out because she'd left rice or egg to cake on it for a week and then shoved it in the dishwasher without so much as soaking it drove me mad - I started hiding my own set of kitchenware so I knew I had something clean to use myself!

Soubrette

I do not like animals licking people faces (or feet). I'm a bit squeamish about rubbing my face into any bit of an animal to be honest

My mother in law feeds her cat icecream then uses the same spoon to feed herself - makes me want to barf (and that's not the raw food dog diet type of barf!!).

I don't like dogs sleeping on the bed either - partly due to hygiene and partly due to I think someone rolling onto a sleeping dog is an accident waiting to happen, likewise if the dog rolls on me!!

However these are my slightly oot reactions. The chances of getting something nasty is small, smaller than catching something from some strangers germs tbh - when's the last time you had a trans-species disease compared to the last time you had a cold?

However, the chances of getting something nasty is not zero so we should be at vigilant with rashes, open sores, scratches and bites and feeling unwell. We should also be vigilant in keeping our pets healthy with deworming and defleaing them.

Faith177

I always cuddle and kiss my animals my Molly Dog gives the best kisses when you're feeling down

The dogs aren't allowed on the beds because they take up all the space! The cat's however are allowed on the bed. In fact my little girl Abby comes on to the bed when called.

The cat's do get on the sides as they love to sit in the window and the only way to get to it is by climbing on the sides but I always wipe them down properly before using them.

I share the sofa with the dogs (only when OH isn't about) as I love having cuddles with them so all my blankets are covered in dog fur

moggymutt

Can't think of anything that I can catch from my animals, unlike what I could catch from other humans.

gettingready

3 out of my cats sleep with me on my bed every single nigh.

George sleeps n my bed when I am not there - the moment I get into bed - he goes to sleep somewhere else. Hmmm

Zara - if I call her she will come on the bed for cuddles but gets down few min later as she is too hot and prefers the floor.

There is no area in my flat that furies have no access to - and I am fine with that.

I am more yuuuk about say public toilets where you wash your hands but then have to touch the door handle to get out and God knows how many people touched it before you - without washing their hands

Wellyboots6

My dogs have never been allowed upstairs or on furniture. Although new doggy has somehow convinced me (and I still don't know how!) that he is allowed upstairs.

He still isn't allowed on the bed or furniture though.

He does lick quite a bit and often manages to give me a full on snog when I am not paying attention.

It doesn't gross me out too much though as I know what he eats and he doesn't lick his bum much. If he were the sort of dog to eat random things when on walks etc then I would worry a lot more.

SavingPennies_2

Interesting replies, Im glad Im not alone. I do have my limits such as sharing a spoon over a bowl of icecream is a no no! lol. I also dont like licking but thats not an issue with a cat anyway. I understand people who dont like that sort of thing and therefore dont have pets, but cant really understand having a pet if you dont like it, how could I resist a cuddle on the sofa with my baby!

Torry_Quine

When my cat cuddles up in bed is just lovely and I wouldn't try to stop it.

lisajane8482

Our cats get anywhere and everywhere, the only place they are not allowed is OH daughters room (she doesn't like them in there).

They sleep on our bed or our daughters bed when she is home (her door is closed when she's not). They walk all over the kitchen sides, we just give them a good clean and lock the cats out of the kitchen when we cook etc. I have no problem with cuddling them and when I get home from work I give them a kiss on the head. They very rarely lick me unless I've touched something yummy although Gizmo has a habbit of rubbing his mouth against yours when he wants your attention and you're asleep. This has lead to a couple of teeth touching teeth incidents when he's got a little rough because I've been trying to ignore him.

Sally_A

Licking human plates for leftovers is about the only thing that sends me. A dog can have plate scrapings, but it has to be in their own bowl.

In my head, I know they will be washed in hot water and this is a minimal risk, but it is wrong.

Lick my face, hands etc doesn't bother me in the slightest.