Real life MMD: Cat has licked our food, should we eat it?

A question about : Real life MMD: Cat has licked our food, should we eat it?

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Cat has licked our food, should we eat it?

I slow cooked a lovely joint of lamb for 3 hours as a Sunday treat. I left it on the side to cool but while I had my back turned, the cat licked it. The lamb cost me Ј20 and feel it would be a waste to throw it away, but my other half won't eat it.

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Best answers:

• If the cat licked it and then didn't eat it, the meat is off. Bin it and give the puss some fresh Kit-e-Kat
• The cat has only licked the exposed sides of the meat. If you trimmed away a thin slice all round, then the meat below would be absolutely uncontaminated. But if your cat is regularly treated for worms (as it should be for the animal's own wellbeing) then you should have little to worry about.
• Why does anyone ever let a cat in the kitchen. Have seen this on progs like Come Dine With Me. Minging!
• There's more germs in a humans mouth than a cats, so the cat should worry if you licked the meat and then offered it to him!!!! Don't know what the fuss is about, just eat the meat, cat germs are not that bad!
• No problem. Chuck the lamb, then cook the cat.
• In answer to the q, let OH go without and eat the lovely lamb yourself. Trim the edges off if the thought of the cat licking the meat makes you squeamish, though surely there can't be that much harm in cat saliva, I'd guess the problem is more in instinctive human aversions to animal saliva than an actual health danger.
• if cut round it and if there wasnt enough i cook the cat too
• Your first mistake was telling your other half! If you're so worried, why not just cut off the bit that the cat licked. Truth is, though, there are airborne germs all around us. It's not just what's been on a cat's tongue.
  Our double standards regarding hygiene always produce a wry smile from me. I mean, we have food inspectors visiting every eating establishment in the country, but none coming in to our kitchens at home. But it's in domestic kitchens where the vast majority of food poisoning occurs. And don't get me on to the old chestnut (true) about the shockingly high percentage of men who don't wash their hands after going to the toilet. Who wants to eat those peanuts in a dish at the bar, or even a buffet now?!
  In the end, it's all about a sense of balance, and common sense.
• Our micropig chomped his way through half of the tuna steak I had bought for my dinner and I still cooked and ate what was left of it and came to no harm at all! And I cannot be worrying about what might be lurking on peanuts at the bar - I have guzzled those all my life and again never come to any harm. I never get ill from anything I eat and I firmly believe being exposed to the odd bug just strengthens one's immune system. So enjoy that joint of lamb, and if the other half won't eat it then all the more for you!!
• I would eat it. If I was feeding it to someone else, I would cut the edge off. I am in agreement that you are more likely to give the cat something if you licked it food, than the cat giving you something (unless you have a phobia of cleaning your cat litter tray, then you deserve what you get!).
• Our cat licked my DD's birthday cake two hours before her party. (It was in a firmly shut cupboard but the cat got in anyway.) I shoved a few more decorations on that side and made sure none of the party guests ate that bit. When I came back to scrape the icing off that side I discovered my OH had eaten most of it. I never told him about the cat and he's still alive so....
  The cat was sick in the bedroom during the party btw. It wasn't a great day.
• One Christmas our two cats jumped onto the kitchen counter and ate a 3rd of the turkey Mum had cooked. She cut away part of where they ate and said, 'Well, they are members of the family and it would be wrong to not share the food'. So we ate it. Tasted good and everyone, including the cats, were happy. Go ahead and eat it!
• Like most dogs and cats, my cat frequently cleans his bum with a good licking, so I see no reason why he shouldn't be as capable of carrying and passing on cryptosporidium as any other mammals in my household that adopts similar behaviour (and I'm not pointing any fingers here!) Eating the licked and infected meat might lead to nothing worse than a mild case of diarrhea in healthy people with intact immune systems.
  However, immunocompromised people (HIV+/AIDS), as well as very young or very old people, can develop a severe form of cryptosporidiosis; which could prove fatal.
  Likewise toxoplasmosis (from cats) can give you not only severe diarrhea, but also brain infections, which can be fatal.
  Ordinarily I would not worry and I'd eat the meat but as I am currently on a course of medication which (temporarily) compromises my immune system, I'd have to avoid the bit he'd licked.
  If it happens again and you are certain your OH is in good health, keep quiet and enjoy!
  If it happens a third time, consider revenge https://www.pictures-of-cats.org/how-to-cook-a-cat.html!
• Just give it a rinse and pop it back in the oven to finish off anything lurking - after all it was more dangerous before you cooked it anyway.
  Gnasher
• kill the cat!!