Daughters and hygiene

I haven’t got cats any more. But am sure lots of folks stroke their cats or let them lick their hands without rushing to wash them. What’s the difference. Likewise dogs

I remember years ago when we had a cat, I had just bought fish for my husband's dinner and put it on the kitchen table while I fetched the breadcrumbs to dress it with. Turned round to see the cat munching one end of the fish. Well, I shooed the cat away, got the kitchen scissors out, trimmed the fish and dressed it in the breadcrumbs and OH was none the wiser. He's still here and we're still married! What the eye doesn't see - and all that!

dalrymple23

My dogs always have post-dinner lickies. (a) it saves clogging up the DW filter; (b) there is very little smelly stuff in the bin and (c) it stops them sticking their heads into the machine and finding licks there - to the detriment of the door and the crockery!

We have been doing this since the seventies and noone has ever been ill - even when the children were little. It is quite normal.

Phew!! I thought this was just me!

My mother has a lovely photo of me at about 10, with my absolutely beloved cocker spaniel Cindy, we were sharing an ice cream!! Awful I know but then I used to let her, and all my other doggies, lick my face too.

Our dog food and water bowls are going in the dishwasher with our stuff and have been for years; it hasn't done us any harm!!

Do you use separate sponges etc for cleaning cats dishes?

All my life, the cats' and dogs' bowl and the pans their food is cooked in have been washed up in the way OP describes.

After that hot water is used to rinse the washing-up bowl, which is dried in a kitchen cloth before being put back in the undersink cupboard.

None of us have ever had any illness that could be attributed to this practice.

The cats' litter tray on the other hand is washed outside in hot soapy water and left to air-dry while the other clean tray is in use. And the brush used to clean it, is never used for any other purpose.

Liz46

We wash the cat's dishes after our own and give them a quick rinse in hot water. I then empty the bowl and give that a rinse in hot water. I think that's fine.

That sounds fine to me.

I'm not sure what the problem is here - the dangers of cat saliva? But I've never seen anyone disinfecting their hands/faces after being licked by cats. If everything is washed thoroughly I can't see the problem. The chances of anything being left in a washing up bowl that can infect a human must be practically nil.

So long as people keep their pets away from food prep I'm happy - I won't eat at a friend's house any more after seeing her cat sitting on the table where she was prepping the veg and giving the cat an occasional stroke. But it wouldn't have worried me that she washed the cat's dish in the same bowl after washing her ow dishes.

My dogs always have post-dinner lickies. (a) it saves clogging up the DW filter; (b) there is very little smelly stuff in the bin and (c) it stops them sticking their heads into the machine and finding licks there - to the detriment of the door and the crockery!

We have been doing this since the seventies and noone has ever been ill - even when the children were little. It is quite normal.

Yes its strange. My DD is very strict about some things but then she will leave a towel on our bread board and also she doesn't differentiate between hand towels and tea towels.

Cossy

Basgetti

How are any of us still alive?

How indeed 🤣🤣🤣

But - that means we are able to post 🤔

You will eat more than a peck of dirt before you die…..it’s a sort of quote from somewhere!

Basgetti

How are any of us still alive?

How indeed 🤣🤣🤣

I am another who washes the cat's dishes in the same water at the end of my own. Washing up bowl is then emptied and rinsed. I haven't had a tummy upset for years!
I think some hygiene precautions are taken too far. I remember finding my toddler sitting on the rockery crunching little snails, she is still alive and well at 55!

Clinical oncology*Not spaghetti* She likes seeing patients through their treatment. D/K if she thought about becoming a GP, probably not.

How are any of us still alive?

The last of the washing up water is fine as long as you don’t use the same dishcloth or scrubber to clean the dog or cats dishes. And best to clean the washing up bowl with hot water and washing up liquid afterwards.
Oh for a utility room!
You lucky ladies.

I am a great believer in scalding cloths, dish towels, sinks and basins .

I used to wash the cat bowls in the actual sink , not in the washing up bowl where our own stuff went. Perfectly ok in a dishwasher though because of extremely high water temp and detergent content .

ExDancer

I wash my cat's dishes at the end of a dish washing session in the used water left in the bowl.
My adult daughter insists I am risking our health by using the same bowl and its set me thinking. They have their own bowls and cutlery but I use the same washing bowl I have just used for our own plates and dishes.
Am I being ignorant and risking our health?~
The more I think about it the more I think she may be right.

I've done the same as you for over half a century, (during which we've had multiple cats and dogs) with no health problems.

I just think a better safe than sorry without going over the top? Just have a separate little washing bowl to hand and use a different cloth to dry? Use different marigolds gloves?

My sis and DH used to even let the dogs lick plates, yuk, but they have stopped after a little research and wash separately in a separate bowl but using the old water from handwashing other stuff so no wastage.. They are both retired doctors so I'd go with their decision

Esmay

I hate using dishes which my animals have used .
They always have their own and washed separately.
I'm going out on Saturday and I know that my friend will put a plate on the floor for her dog in the cafe .
On one occasion we found one of her cats had dragged a roast chicken onto the floor and was devouring it .
I'll cut that bit off and it will be okay ,she said blowing on on the remains.
Her family often have upset stomachs .

I think eating chicken the cat dragged onto the floor a step too far, however, it’s likely the floor would be dirtier than the cat!

I honestly think the “stomach upsets” might have less to do with any “alive” animals than the actual food she’s might be cooking and storing.

My dear AC are hysterical about sell by/use by dates and waste so much food (only an issue for me as they still live at home) I’m forever finding my blooming food disappearing from the fridge into the food bin! Interesting they don’t seem to notice the going off potatoes in the pantry or fruit they insist I buy, then don’t eat, in the fruit bowl!

We have a utility room with a sink , so dog bowls get washed up there and left to air dry .

We’ve had dogs all our lives, bowls either washed in very hot water alone, or, more likely rinsed then into dishwasher, with our things, on high temperature.

So long as hands are washed regularly and floors mopped and counters cleaned I think that’s good enough.

Those worried unduly about hygiene probably don’t have pets.

Our preoccupation with anti-bac this that and the other has caused a huge rise in allergies.

I don't know what animals can have in their saliva that might penetrate the glaze on crockery. I wouldn't share a plate with a pet (as in both eat off it at the same time), but if it's been washed in hot soapy water (machine or by hand) I'm sure it's absolutely fine.