Stressed about specifics of safety

[TayKiren]

So I know that mammal saliva is toxic to birds, but is that only through direct contact? If my cat or dog licks me, do I need to wash the spot off before allowing my bird to be there? If I let my cats on my bed or carpet, can my birds not be on the bed (obviously not at the same time)? Will they die if they ingest mammal hair?

Also, I usually put hemp lotion on my hands and arms right before bed. Would it be okay by morning to handle my birds?

I know it's a lot of specific, maybe silly questions, but any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Sent from my SM-T830 using Tapatalk

 

[chris-md]

It’s the inside of the mouth you have to worry about.

Don’t worry about it too much. The biggest threat is feeding your bird chewed up food from you mouth, which some people do, shockingly (including my grandmother with her amazon...).

Don’t let them probe around inside your mouth.

Giving a kiss on the beak is no threat.

 

[Jottlebot]

Don't worry too much. It's not like a contact poison or anything. As said above people will feed birds out of their mouths - which is a bit gross - but even with this the birds generally are fine. It's a risk though that I wouldn't take. I wouldn't worry about cat or dog saliva possibly being on things like bedding or flooring either.

I'd wash your hands before you handle your bird if you put creams on. The oil won't be good for their feathers over time.

 

[Laurasea]

My dogs lick me and haven't had problems. But I do wash off lotions before handing my birds.

 

[TayKiren]

Thanks guys. Getting ready to bring home some babies and have so many questions ahha

Sent from my SM-T830 using Tapatalk

 

[noodles123]

If your dog licks your arm, you should wash it before allowing your bird to have contact. If you sneeze in your hand, you should wash it before allowing your bird to have contact. I would hope that people would follow these same rules before touching/shaking hands with other people...

 

[TayKiren]

Of course I'll try to be as clean as possible, I was more worried about the fact that I feel like I'll never be able to get things perfectly clean (since I can't get rid of every trace of my other pets in the house) and the smallest things are going to hurt the birds

 

[noodles123]

Just don't share spit in food or between animals.

I think the bigger risk for a bird would be a scratch, cat bite or shared food/water from a cat (or contact with poop). If your cat is licking you etc, wash up before allowing the bird to come into contact with that area--- birds lick everything too, so you don't want them to lick where the cat was licking.

If you put lotion on, wash hands before touching the bird (I am guessing you probably wash your hands in the morning before touching the bird anyway, as you would likely use the bathroom etc). You don't want anything transferring to their feathers and you don't want them licking chemicals off of you, but in moderation and with common sense, you will be fine I'm sure. If you are worried about it on your arms etc, I would say that the risk would be fairly small the next day, as most of it would have absorbed. It going to have to be a judgement call on your part, depending on the type of lotion you are using, its contents and how heavily scented it is.

For instance, I unknowingly put on a scented hand sanitizer, and it left a watermelon smell on my hands, so even though they were "clean" in terms of bacteria, I still washed them thoroughly before touching the bird (due to the scent factor/chemicals etc). That is why I try to get most things as unscented as possible.

You want to be careful, but you also don't need to panic completely. My bird once grabbed a used dog toy. This was not healthy for her, but she survived it lol. You just have to do your best

Now- personal opinion:
I personally wouldn't make a habit of allowing by bird to walk around where my cat had been just because cats can transmit parasites and bacteria (via saliva and fecal matter) . If they use a litter box and then get all over counters and furniture, that is unsettling to me in general...but I am not sure how to avoid that with cats, unless yours are not allowed to walk all over everything. I know they try not to touch their own poop, but microbes are too small for a cat to avoid lol...so it makes me uneasy (even as a human). https://www.spalding-labs.com/commu...e-home-keeping-cats-off-kitchen-counters.aspx