Another "Should This Be Consumed" question; cat edition

November 3, 2015 1:16 PM

Is a cat's tongue the equivalent of a kitchen sponge?

A person owns a cat; pets this cat, is occasionally licked by this cat on hands and on face when person makes kissy noises. Person keeps a glass of water on bedside. Cat loves to drink (a small amount of) water from that glass. Is the sane reaction:

1) My God! What are you thinking? Where has that tongue been? And you with a compromised immune system!

2) Meh. The important thing is to stay hydrated, right?

Since I doubt there is actually any reputable scientific evident about this, all opinions are welcome.

posted by kestralwing to Pets & Animals (37 answers total)

Opinions are fairly split -- see for example. Personally, I find it super gross.
posted by ktkt at 1:19 PM on November 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

I find it gross but this vet says it's probably not a big deal, but by the way if your cat starts drinking a lot or from weird places it might be sick.

Also I'm desperately restraining myself from a rant about immunocompromised people and toxoplasmosis (because who knows maybe they already take precautions).
posted by Wretch729 at 1:22 PM on November 3, 2015

Though upon revisiting, it seems many more mefites are totally okay with cat-licked food items than I would expect. The compromised immune system tidbit worries me though.
posted by ktkt at 1:22 PM on November 3, 2015

For me, ew.

If this were my issue, I would keep a travel sippy thing mug for myself and put a glass out for the cat. My cat has her own glass (actually a plastic tub; she loves plastic) on the bureau.
posted by Frowner at 1:22 PM on November 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

Any unattended glass of water in our house is considered cat-taminated and washed immediately.
posted by homodachi at 1:26 PM on November 3, 2015 [7 favorites]

I think it's one of those things that's iffy enough that you should never subject another person to it -- i.e., don't serve a glass of water your cat has slurped at to a houseguest -- but also iffy enough that if you're personally okay with it, godspeed.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:26 PM on November 3, 2015 [9 favorites]

I have a fairly robust immune system, and I don't particularly mind this when it's my own cat and I'm the only one drinking the water. I would not serve that water to anyone else, nor would I drink water that someone else's cat has drunk, nor would I drink the cat-drunk water if I had a compromised immune system, though those are all gut-level reactions and not ones for which I have any scientific evidence.
posted by jaguar at 1:31 PM on November 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

I personally would (and do) drink from that glass without a second thought but I would not knowingly serve someone else cat water. My cats are indoor only though, my opinion would probably be different if they went outside.
posted by crankylex at 1:33 PM on November 3, 2015 [3 favorites]

As for me: ew, gross. Get a new glass of water.

My wife, on the other hand, seems to have no issue drinking out of cups our dogs have licked out of, and even eating food that they have licked/bitten. I constantly express my disgust at her about this, to which I usually get "dogs' mouths are cleaner than our own." No. They're not.

Cats and dogs lick their own butts and genitalia. Dogs lick each other's butts and genitalia, and some of them eat poop. One of our dogs thinks the cat litter box is a delicious Tootsie Roll buffet. (We had to move the litter box off the floor to a high location that only the cat could access to stop that one.)

I'd say this is asking for trouble, especially if your immune system is compromised.
posted by tckma at 1:33 PM on November 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't even have a cat and I still dump out water that's been sitting around. Who knows what has wafted in there, or if there's a dead bug I don't see in the distortion from the glass, or whatever. I mean, it's water.
posted by easter queen at 1:38 PM on November 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

Yuck. I would never drink from unattended glasses of water when I had cats. Cats lick their butts, walk in their cat box and bury litter with their paws, and like to dip their paws in the glasses before drinking from them.
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:43 PM on November 3, 2015

I know I'm probably thoroughly contaminated by my cats already, but I specifically bought a glass with a lid to use by my bedside because of this issue. My last cat had hyperthyroidism, and if a glass was left unprotected even for a micro-second, you had better believe he'd had his fill. Our current cats are less likely to do so, but still suspicious characters who can't really be trusted not to inspect every open container. (In fact, see previous question on this subject mentioned above for their untrustworthiness).
posted by instead of three wishes at 1:44 PM on November 3, 2015

Bleah.

If you want to keep hydrated, keep a jug of water with a lid and a row of clean glasses on a nearby shelf, and if your cat drinks from your water glass, tip the water into a plant and get a clean glass.

That's for me. For an immunocompromised person, hell no you don't share a water glass with the cat. Never, ever.
posted by tel3path at 1:44 PM on November 3, 2015

I personally pour out the water and replace it in this scenario, because water is practically free and it's not like I'm wasting gallons and gallons this way.
posted by Sara C. at 1:48 PM on November 3, 2015

Is a cat's tongue the equivalent of a kitchen sponge?

No, because you can't microwave it or throw it in the washer.

As others said. 1a) We KNOW where that tongue has been.
posted by Namlit at 1:54 PM on November 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

Cats like fresh water; what can you do?

I started trying to give them a fresh bowl every day, which helped, but some cats just like drinking from the glass. Maybe they feel safer if you're nearby to watch for predators :)
posted by amtho at 1:57 PM on November 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

You know, most people love to have a cat's paws in their face and will give the paws kisses and make little baby kitty noises while the cat is pawing their lips. Ten minutes ago those paws were burying cat shit in a litter box.

I say drink the water.

Really though I can't leave a glass of water on a table without my stupid cats knocking it on the floor, usually on top of a power strip or something, so if you have cats you should probably be using spill proof bottles anyway.
posted by bondcliff at 1:58 PM on November 3, 2015 [6 favorites]

Cats spend a large part of their day relentlessly licking their buttholes. I would not drink cat butt water.
posted by poffin boffin at 2:02 PM on November 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

Disgust is a powerful thing, though in the immortal words (of the latest Wired article) "Your Body is Surrounded by a Cloud of Skin and Fart Bacteria", and while cats lick their privates, they then use the same tongue to clean other parts of their bodies, so I sometimes wonder what the fuss is about. I think if I caught her mid tongue hovering above I'd grab a new glass, unless double dog dared. Otoh, she recently licked my sandwich, and I continued to eat it.

(oddly, the idea of them drinking out of the toilet is a big no no ... eww)
posted by redindiaink at 2:03 PM on November 3, 2015

Both my cats liked to roll in dust and dirty. I timed my cat the other day, before going to sleep he spends ten minutes a time lickng his entire body. At other times he cleans his bum hole with his tongue. He is eating 2 sachets of whatever they put in cat food, but I have caught him with wild mice and I know he eats every morsel if he catches one. All of that is going across his tongue.

I also know when my FiL's cat but his non immuno-compromised leg the resulting infection nearly killed him, because cat's mouths are pretty grim.

So no, I wouldn't drink the water.
posted by biffa at 2:09 PM on November 3, 2015

To be perfectly honest, people who are immunocompromised aren't even supposed to have cats. This does not stop me, an immunocompromised person, from loving my own cat to bits, but my doctors really didn't want me to have a cat or a dog. Too bad. I have both and they are my world.

But I still don't drink their water.
posted by sockermom at 2:11 PM on November 3, 2015

I am entirely fine eating cat-licked food or drinks, and one of my cats likes to lick the apple as I eat it so we share it -- I bite, she licks the juice off, I take another bite, repeat. I share water or milk with any of the cats. Ice cream, yogurt, cream cheese, regular cheese, deli turkey, bread -- I pretty much let my cats eat any people food they want to eat.

(I don't let them lick food that is destined for company, though, because I know other people find it gross, which is entirely reasonable. I will share with a known housecat -- like a friend's cat or a family member's cat -- but would not do so if a stray cat was drinking out of my glass on my balcony.)

I'm not immunocompromised (a family member is, and she does the same sharing with her cats).
posted by jeather at 2:13 PM on November 3, 2015 [3 favorites]

Were I given the option, I think I'd just get another glass of water without cat saliva in it. It's easy enough and cheap enough to not warrant worrying over.
posted by Solomon at 2:18 PM on November 3, 2015

Google the life cycle of parasitic worms, then ask yourself if you really needed to ask this question.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:20 PM on November 3, 2015

Personally I do sometimes drink water my cat has licked (if it looks to have been a minimal/minor transgression), and sometimes I replace, especially if I am already getting up to do something else. But realistically, I smooch the cat and end up with his hair/body/paws all over my face on a regular basis and he loves to sleep on my pillow, so I don't think the water drinking is adding a whole lot of yucky stuff that I'm not already exposed to. To my knowledge, I've never ended up with ill effects from this practice either. That said, if this is a person with a compromised immune system, it probably does not hurt to double check with a doctor about his specific condition and potential greater risks.
posted by rainbowbrite at 2:28 PM on November 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

(2), though here it is "the important thing is to use the Water Pik regularly." Cat has been spotted drinking from it. I figure I pet Cat and don't wash my hands afterwards, and it's water I'm spitting out... If Cat eats from a plate I don't want the food, but for some reason the Water Pik sipping doesn't gross me out as much.
posted by kmennie at 2:38 PM on November 3, 2015

I'd say reaction should be about 1.5, between 1 and 2. Leaning in the direction of not-drinking.

personally one of mine is a dipper, so cat-drunk-water usually means there's dust and dirt and fur and crap in it, so I *really* want to avoid that junk. Sometimes I'll settle for a visual inspection. I'm sure she's "gotten" me though.
posted by ghostbikes at 2:44 PM on November 3, 2015

I eat stuff my cats have licked. Their buttholes have touched everything in our house, so it's not like contact with their spit is going to make that big a difference, you know?
posted by sarcasticah at 2:50 PM on November 3, 2015

I'm on the yucky end of this. My cat has a tumbler by the sink (one of several sources of water) which I refill / replace daily, but rather than pouring out the water, I drink it, which serves two purposes:
1. it forces me to drink more (like my cat, I am a "lazy drinker", as my vet would say)
2. I feel like I'm not wasting an almost full tumbler (tho I don't drink the water from his fountain, ha)
posted by ClarissaWAM at 3:04 PM on November 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

So, this is a bit of a contradiction, but I don't drink water I know a cat has partaken of before me. If I even suspect it, I will throw the water out and get more. For my night-time watering needs, I have a glass Starbucks tumbler with a lid and a straw to keep the kitties out.

(It is a contradiction because as previously noted, I ate the cat lick soup. However, it is important to note that in this example, the soup was both microwaved before consumption and a finite resource; in my household, water generally is neither of those things!)
posted by kythuen at 3:26 PM on November 3, 2015

I share a bed with my cats, and get licked/drooled on/wet nose kisses from my cats, and I'd still pour the water out and get a new glass. I also wash my hands before eating, especially if I have just pat the cat.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 4:54 PM on November 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm sure that, without realizing it, I've drunk water that a cat has sampled, and I'm pretty sure that after a month or two one has exchanged all the microbes with one's cat that one's going to exchange – but even then I'd pour the water out and get some fresh, if I watched a cat drinking from it.

I might not fuss about washing the cup, though.
posted by zadcat at 5:08 PM on November 3, 2015

I'm no germophobe, but bedside water/curious cat is precisely why I got a couple of these silicone cup lids. They also double as grippers for opening tough jar lids!
posted by Joseph Gurl at 5:17 PM on November 3, 2015

(that link doesn't go where it should?)

We're firmly in the "cat-taminated" camp: yes, I realize that I snorgle the kittens and the the kittens lick me; no, I still don't want to knowingly drink cat spittle.

I would keep a travel sippy thing mug for myself

We do this, as the kittens are (a) still very much full of "what's that? I must put my face in it right now!" curiosity, and (b) sneaky-quiet when they choose to be.

It doesn't work, because now they simply lick the sippy lid and ew, no, I'm no longer thirsty, thanks cat.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 5:45 PM on November 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

(that link doesn't go where it should?)

Haha oops! Here's the right link to the silicone cup lids.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 5:53 PM on November 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

I have a hand-drinker (cat wets his mitt and licks it dry) so no, I don't drink out of glasses he's been using any more than I would drink from a glass someone's finger has been in. The other one eats trash out of the garbage and I don't eat anything she's licked or bit.
posted by fiercekitten at 5:55 PM on November 3, 2015

If you use tall glasses for water and keep the water at a low enough level, the cat can't fit their face down far enough to drink. For our pint glasses this means water lower than about 5 inches then the water is cat proofed and I confidently drink it. Or you can fill it up to about 3 inches below the rim and make them do this.
posted by like_neon at 5:10 AM on November 4, 2015