In article , sw
writes
Kay Easton wrote:

The bones have been cooked, the babies are unlikely to be parasitised,
but easy for even well cared for cats to get parasites.

If the babies are at crawling stage and allowed outside they may well
have worms; we used to.

Really?! :-) The only time I ever got worms was when my boyfriend of the
time was teaching at a minor boys boarding school.


I hate to tell you this, but your own garden soil poses a similar hazard
if your neighbours have cats. In fact it's worse, as it may also give
you tetanus, leptospirosus, and other things that our cats *don't* have.

Well, yes, I know that of course. And as a caver I'm well aware of
leptospirosus. I wasn't intending to suggest it was a danger to the
dustmen, merely, given most people's reaction to poo, that it was a sort
of 'ugh' factor for them should a bag burst.

Actually, I've always felt the dangers of not being able to build up
your own antibodies by exposure to germs is a greater danger than the
things you may or may not come across in your garden soil - works for my
family, anyway :-)


Yes, OK, it may
be double bagged, but that doesn't stop foxes, stray dogs etc ripping
the bags open.

No, the manner and time in which I put them out ensures this *will not*
happen.

Oh, you're lucky! Our bags are in a wooden compound and safe, but one
set of dustmen hoick them out and take them round to the road at the
crack of dawn, and another set come around at midday and put them on the
dustcart. In that time the local stray dogs come and take their pick,
and if there's any wind, all the inedible stuff ends up in our front
garden!

To be fair, double bagging does seem to work - I make sure anything
meaty of fishy is double bagged to cut down the smell, and it's the
neighbour's rubbish that ends up in our garden , not ours.
I dunno. Shades of my mother, I think. She'd have been horrified at
putting any sort of turd in the dustbin. Difficult to shake off the
feelings you've been brought up with.

I know. But that one I regard as unreasonable -- I cannot see that cat
poo poses a significant risk, especially when compared to the bushels of
dog poo that end up in the same place.

As I said, I wasn't thinking of any risk. Merely the shudder factor.
You'd have though dustmen must develop strong stomachs - but then you'd
have thought the same about anyone who's brought up young children, and
that certainly isn't true.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm