friend is growing a garden and cat relived it self on the plants -?

Question

a friend has a garden and is growing Tomatoes. strawberries
etc an now their cat relived it self on the plants
now are those plants still safe to eat? or should they been destroyed?
thank you

its feces (not urine)

Answer 1

Cats DO NOT poop ON PLANTS. You are mistaken.

Even IF something did poop on the plants, that would not affect the fruit, and it could/should be washed off, anyway.

Answer 2

The good news, I suppose, is that the cat can relive only eight more times.

Seriously, you're supposed to wash vegetables before you eat them.

If the cat isn't diseased, there should be no problem. In fact, most animal diseases won't transmit themselves to humans even if they're systemically introduced into fruits and vegetables.

Remember the Spinach scare? The botulinum or whatever was probably introduced through manure.

And that was a very rare instance. Manure has been an aid to gardeners since the beginning of time.

Answer 3

Should be fine . Strawberries aren't a worry 'til next year, & the tomatos are too high up (aren't they ? ) Wash off anything in question . (Salmonella is soil-borne , so you should wash off any dirt anyway) Getting rid of the plants is a bit (more than a bit!) of an overreaction . What about all the fruit that's yet to be produced , even if you won't use what's on there now?

Pine needles ? Might work, but wouldn't be good for the plants .

Answer 4

Depends on whether the contamination is urine or feces.
If it's urine, no problem, the next rain will wash it off. The only problem is, dog and cat urine is extremely acidic and will often kill plants.
If it's feces, you may have a problem with diseases that are spread by parasites that live in the cat's intestines. In that case I'd remove the feces, seal them up, and put them in the garbage, and the plants may still be ok, depending on how mature they were when they were contaminated.

Answer 5

If it went on the plant, it should be fine. If there is actual fresh feces on the fruit or vegetable, I wouldn't eat it. But all soil contains decomposed feces, bones, you name it. We are all standing on the shoulders of previous generations. Wash all vegetables just before you eat them.

I would also hose off any existing feces on the plant because it could burn the foliage.

Answer 6

I would wash the fruit off, just think about all the veggies you buy in the store. Manure and fish waste was probably used as fertilizer to help them grow. also most waste treatment plants turn our some of our waste into fertilizer.

But if your not to keen on it, throw out this batch of fruit, not the plant , it'll grow more fruit, just try to keep the cats out as they grow new fruit.

try making a dome out of chicken wire or metal mesh and place it over your plants

Answer 7

I was baby sitting a friends male dog and he lifted his leg on everything. All my veggie plants. I threw them away. Why take a chance. The best way to keep cats out of the garden is with Pinecones. I now plant my garden and throw alot of pinecones in the area and the cats will not come into the area. They would get their paws stuck with pine needles.

Answer 8

I wouldn't Fancy eating the stuff myself. I keep a jam jar, with lid on, by the sink and put used tea bags into it. When it has a few bags in it I pour on a little Jeyes Fluid (smells like tar, strong disinfectant} When jar full, add more fluid, shake well. Scatter tea bags around borders in garden. CATS HATE THE SMELL.

Answer 9

my neigbors cat did that in my lettuce patch, and I didnt eat one piece of lettuce.
especially when I saw that it was feces..
thanks for the tip about the pine cones.

Answer 10

So Adam and Eve come 2nd and 0.33 to cats did they... so because it is why the egyptians believed them to be gods... this is all so clean now... God, get a canines..this is spelt you backwards