Posted By Ian_P
Has anyone had any experience with health hazards of cats?

One of our sites currently resembles a feline hospice which Dr.Dolittle would be proud of. This is not helped by one of our employees regularly feeding and watering his new found friends.

Besides the obvious 'tarnishing of company image' I have been asked to look into the health effects of having wild cats on site. (Yes I know, unpopular decision, pass it over to H&S)

I'm thinking lepto (cats eat rats? do cats pass this on?) however biological hazards is not my area of expertise. I need some good pursuasive information before I go wading in with a spade and a hose pipe (only kidding......i think)

Posted By Ian Blenkharn
Cat scratch disease

Campylobacter infections (diarrhoeal disease)

Several fungal skin infections (typically ringworm)

Toxocariasis

Bacterial infections of bite wounds (Pasteurella spp and other pathogens)

Allergic reactions - I am acutely allergic to cats but strangely, once used to restring a tennis racket they cause no further problems)

Hygiene issues with food residues (enteric infection in those handling food & residues)

Masny other bizarre infections associatyed with cats, especially ferral cats, but these are the most common.

Ian

Posted By Philip Beale
If the company wants to stop the employee then why not ask them. Why use H&S as a reason to hide behind

"I'm sorry you can't feed the cats it's for health and safety reasons"

Phil

Posted By Lee Mac
There is an issue with Cat litter posing a health hazard to expectant mothers.
Risk: It will most likely be to be associated with the soil- so look at the possible routeways

If these cats enter your premises there is another health hazard presented by their hair/fur to asthmatic sufferers.

If they enter your premises they will also present safety hazard to anyone who attempts to remove them.
Likelihood of them entering your premises- depends on how hungry they are, how quiet the place is and housekeeping standards!

They also will scratch and bite if they are cornered, both of which will have their own associated hazards associated.

There is the bonus though- they will deter vermin.

If you want to get rid depends on how you classify the risk.

Lee

Posted By BB
I like cats. But I couldn't eat a whole one.

Posted By Rob T
Hi Ian,

Absolutely no offence taken - I thought it was quite amusing.

Yes all those things can be caught from cats it's just that it is so rare that they shouldn't even be on the radar. My RA - so low that it doesn't need to be written.

As far as cat allergy is concerned - I took it as the cats were outside the premises and in that case it also wouldn't be a problem.

The mice exterminator bit - cats are still the best, far better than mouse traps/poisons etc. Some railway stations (and indeed ships) still have the old cat on a retainer (but don't let anyone feed them - they tend not to chase rodents if they're too fat to move!!).

Seriously - there are no registerable RA reasons to remove cats. It would be good to get them neutered though - do contact the Cats Protection League - they are very good (this is NOT advertising by the way).

Cheers
Rob

Posted By Colin Reeves
Cats - mobile food for dogs ..... ;-)

Colin

Posted By Liesel
Also remember that if the cats are geninue ferals, they won't really want to come indoors, they will hide (bury) their feces where you won't find them, will accept food but generally not tolerate being touched by people and will do a good job of keeping rats/mice down. Strangely enough, an increase in cats often reflects an increased food source- so if the feeding hasn't increased the local population of vermin may have done. Certainly in my experience growing up in a farming area with distinct feral cat populations, the cat numbers always tended to reflect the level of food source..... be that bunnies, mice, or the new incomer who puts ten plates of cat food out of a night.

Neutering- yes, very good idea. For all concerned, especially the cats. Cats Protection League is prob the best first option as others have suggested- bear in mind they also run a prog specifically to re-home feral cats on farms and so forth for pest control, so may also be able to advise about any health risks/controls in a measured and proportionate way should you opt to retain a few cats on the premises for pest control. Unfortunately, with cats this type of decision is not always easy- as they tend to provoke love/hate response.

Also, if you get a recognised "cat body" in, they will be able to check any cats caught for microchips- it's entirely possible that if there is a decent food source you have picked up the mogs of those living nearby too, at least at feeding time. So they may not all be ferals......

Posted By MT
Karen, "Shoot them. We had lots of willing volunteers and their only request was that we ensure the site was empty and we leave them a bucket and mop...

Despite the popularity of option 3 with employees, we paid the professionals and went for option 2."

I'm afraid that your Option 3 is in no way amusing and I'm actually quite shocked and saddened that you considered that option.

Cats Protection are there to help and there's no reason why any employer can't call in their local branch to assist if they have a feral colony which they need help with. As someone else said, don't assume that they are all feral, as some of them might be lost cats which the CP branch may be able to match up with their owners.