Am I the only one getting an earful about Salmonella?

[TurboPiggy]

Frankly Im sick of it. Ever since that report last week, I have been made to feel like an irresponsible Mother by owning guinea pigs. People in my family, namely my brother and father, are making me feel horrible. I told my brother "when we get salmonella you can tell me "I told you so." He says things like "they are filthy animals, they have no choice but to walk around in their (poo and pee). You can't watch your kids all the time, they touch things and then touch their mouthes. I told him that there are risks with owning any pet. Doesn't matter...they are making me crazy!!!! Thanks for letting me vent

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I highly doubt you will get salmonella from your guinea pigs. Tell your father and brother to shove off and leave you alone. Guinea pigs clean themselves several times daily and if you have litter trained pigs, they mostly pee in one spot. Yes, there are risks with owning any pet. Does your father or brother own pets?

 

[TurboPiggy]

No they don't have any animals, "they aren't necessary." They are "worried" about my 4 y/o and my 20 m/o getting sick. The guilt trips are unreal!

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Still I would tell them to shove off and leave you alone. It is your decision whether you have guinea pigs and if your kids are that young, I assume your pigs are in a child safe cage with a lid on it. What report are you referring to? Is it online and do you have a link for it if it is?

 

[hydes_girl]

My dad saw that report on tv. He told me not to touch my hamster or guinea pig anymore. But the way I look at it you would think if the animal has salmonella they would show some kind of signs of being sick or something.

And if you've had your pigs for awhile I wouldn't be concerned either because they are healthy.

 

[Marlania]

I know that Yahoo reported it last week or so. I don't recall the details, but I remember thinking, "Boy, I hope no one I know hears about this," because I certainly didn't feel like hearing a disease lecture. However, my family knows how anal I am when it comes to caring for my animals so they don't think they would have given me too much grief.

I'm not concerned about accidentally contracting anything of my animals. I do a good enough job of getting sick or injuring myself on my own accord...like a couple of months ago when I got stitches in my foot after kicking one of my dogs in the mouth. (Total freak accident. We were at the park. I kicked the ball, and he ran in front of me with his mouth wide open as usual. My toe caught his teeth, and I didn't even know it because I was screaming for my husband to check the dog. Grey, the dog, was totally oblivious and fetched the ball lol).

 

[Slap Maxwell]

I get the same stuff. Not about the salmonilla, but other stupid stuff like ''your obsessed" and crap like that.

 

[VoodooJoint]

Do the family members you are speaking of eat meat and /or chicken?

If so tell them that you cannot touch/hug/kiss them or really even be around them as you could catch salmonella from them not to mention the other nasty diseases humans carry.

 

[TurboPiggy]

This is a very good article. It is not the exact one reported on the news, the one on the news did not include so much information. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5417a3.htm

I didnt see one mention of any guinea pig...did I miss it?

 

[stipma]

My doctor has a weekly radio show and yesterday he was talking about this issue. He said it basically comes down to common sense. After you clean their cage or handle your pet, wash your hands well. Any pet comes with germs. As long as your not a total moron, you should be ok.

 

[TurboPiggy]

They are just stubborn and paranoid. Im the baby of the family (at 27 years old) and they think they need to blab their unsolicited advice when ever they think they know best.

 

[TurboPiggy]

if your kids are that young, I assume your pigs are in a child safe cage with a lid on it.

My kids are NEVER left unattended with the pigs. They do get to pet them while we hold them, but are not allowed to handle them themselves.

 

[stipma]

Again, just make sure that you wash their hands well afterwards and they'll be fine.

 

[John4216]

I like to use a saying when to many people do this to me:

Warning:​

The Surgeon General has determined that living is hazardous to your health.


Common sense prevents these problems. Any animal (including humans) can pass diseases to a person and so handwashing and such is just a good practice to follow. Just wish they would worry as much about my piggies as they do people.

 

[citronsoul]

Jeez, how paranoid are they? I agree with Voodoo though. Remind them of the more common causes of salmonella.

Anyone have any good articles on how many germs there are on commonly used items? I think I remember the tv remote control & door knobs being really nasty objects.

 

[smileyface cavy]

You can listen to the show on NPR about it here: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4633748

 

[Eventrocker33]

They just reported about it this year right? Well they never reported about it before and nothing happened between anyone here and there guinea pigs. What is the difference from before and now if nothing ever happened?

 

[Denise]

As I was reading this thread this morning, I was kissing my girls. I also get crap like "you're obsessed", "they're rats without tails" yadda, yadda, yadda. BITE ME!!!! I love my girls, they have yet to make any of us sick and even if they did, I probably wouldn't even know it! With three kids in school full time, my husband and I at work, we would never know where it came from. I am mildly germ-o-phobic and the pigs and their possible germs don't bother me in the slightest!

 

[Slap Maxwell]

I think these were severe cases in which the animals were probably from discusting pet stores, living in their own feces, dirty water, etc. Then transfered to the kids. The way we keep our pigs probably almost prevents it.

 

[VoodooJoint]

BITE ME!!!!

LOL! That is one of my favorite replies!

my other favorite reply to people (especially my hubby) when he complaines about how many animals we have and how I spoil them all is...

"The reason I like them so much is because they don't nag at me about you!"

...I also use "At least I can legaly kill them if THEY start to irritate me as much as YOU do!"

(not that I really would, but it gets the point across nicely)