My cat caught a bird. Are there health risks for my cat, me, or home?

Hello, as in any occasion, you should make sure that you're washing your baby's hands immediately after touching Saffie. Majority of the infectious diseases we worry about are transferred via fecal to oral route, hence why washing hands is so important. To further ensure that your kitten is safe to be around your baby, keep up on her physical exams and you can have your veterinarian test a stool sample for any parasites or giardia. Eating birds particularly may expose your cat to foreign bodies and parasites but does not directly expose your baby to these same infections. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would recommend that you monitor her for signs of a gastrointestinal obstruction such as vomiting, nausea and/or abdominal pain. If any of these are observed, have her evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Otherwise, she could be just fine. Have a great day!

Cats may contract salmonella or toxoplasmosis from eating birds (especially wild birds). Tapeworm infection is also a possibility if the bird has fleas. Quail chicks will likely not pose any hazards though. It would be recommended to keep them separated and secured in a cage to prevent the cat from getting at them.

If your cat didn't eat it, health risks would be minimal. The main secondary issues from hunting are tapeworms (if they eat the mouse) and issues from fleas (so I would apply a good prevention like Revolution of Advantage Multi). Another consideration would be to make sure you don't have rodenticide poisons anywhere because if they caused the mouse's death and then your cat ate it (or a future mouse!) then they would also be exposed to it!

Thanks for reaching out about your birds. There is the possibility that the first bird brought back something contagious. A veterinary visit is recommended as soon as possible. Good job isolating the birds, might slow spread of disease. Good luck.

There is no way to know for whether or not the bird Rocky licked was carrying any sort of pathogen, and whether or not that pathogen is transmissible to dogs. I would operate under the assumption that everything is going to be OK unless you begin to see any clinical signs of illness. You can certainly obtain a fecal sample and bring it into your vet to make sure he didn't pick up any intestinal parasites. Hope this helps.

There are a few diseases that a wild rabbit can carry, but fortunately they are not commonly ones that would affect people, or be easily transmitted from the cat to people. There are a few different parasites that they can get from rabbits, so it will be a good idea to have her dewormed sometime soon to prevent the worms from growing. Your vet can recommend the best dewormer to prevent the worms of concern with rabbits (roundworms and tapeworms are the more common ones). As long as Sunday is not showing any signs of illness, the chances of her transmitting a disease like tularemia (https://www.cdc.gov/tularemia/) is not likely. If she happens to appear ill (vomiting, decrease in activity, decrease in appetite, diarrhea, breathing heavily, etc.), then it would be best to keep her away from your children and have a vet evaluate her as soon as possible. It would be rare for her to have acquired a disease that she can transmit to you or your children, but you can always take some precautions just to be sure. You can keep her separate (contact is really the only concern) from the children for 7-10 days to be extra safe. If she does not have any signs of illness during this time, then it's very unlikely she will have a disease that can be transmitted. I hope that helps and all is well.