An Animal Poo'd On My Front Stairs and Now I'm Worried About Disease!!!!!!?

Question

I just walked out my front door and on my stairs was a pile of poo... I have lived in this house for three years and this is the first time I have ever seen this happen. The poo sorta looked like cat poo, but much more of it. Now, I haven't seen any stray cats or stray dogs in the neighbor hood, so I don't know what it is and I am not sure what a raccoons poo looks like. I have three cats in my house, completely indoor cats, and my husband thinks that it could be a raccoon marking its territory, but would they do that? And now I am worried as to what if the animal was sick, since I scooped the poo with a shovel and deposited it into our 'outside' garbage bins, which happen to be in the garage, whcih the animals arne't allowed.... Should that be fine until the trash is picked up? Should I be worried? Or am I just making a moutain out of a mole hill??? Thanks, any advice or comments are welcomed...

As gross as this is.. I am going to try and describe the poo.. It was brown, duh, and it tight coils and about the size of what a cat would produce, but like I said twice as much..

I assume I am making more out of it that it really is.. I get paranoid easily, especially about my health and the health of my animals...And it doesn't help that my husband is on the phone telling me it is horrible and that the cats will get sick and so on.. And I didn't mean to sound like an idiot..but you never know what could happen now of days...and good point about the sidewalk...

First off people, some of you that is.. I am not an idiot...Second, yes I used a trash bag....Three, I know there are wild animals around and yes I know they are around my house, in fact for the longest time a opposiom was eating cat food out of my trash cans....

Answer 1

raccoon do not mark their territory by crapping..
the only way any animal is going to get sick ( if the animal that pooped was even sick)... is... if they eat the crap..
so.. you did the right thing by using a shovel and disposing of it in the trash...if the trash bin has a bag..?? go ahead and tie the bag so nothing gets in there...
I really dont see a coon pooping on your steps.. coons would rather poop on your roof! LOL ( somewhere high) and opossum poop looks like black tar. also wild animal poo is going to have lots of seeds in it... and other gross things.. from the diet they have in the wild. .. so its probably cat/dog poo...

Answer 2

Dont worry about it to much, you didnt handle the mess so you be ok.
Maybe some wild animal got in if you left door open and marked it.
Gets some bleach. 1 part of it and about 5 parts of hot water.
Get rubber gloves and just scrub down.
Some people just freak out about these things. So in a way i dont think you are paronoid. Next time just remember to shut the door, even if you out for a few mins.
Try not to worry about it, it happened and its got rid off.
hope this helps.

Answer 3

The best solution would be to get a small spoonfull of the poo from out of the bin, and a similar amount from your own three house trained cats. Now, blindfold your husband and get him to sniff each of the samples. If he cannot tell a difference then it is probably cat faeces (that's a grown up word for what you call 'poo' and other people call doo doo's.)

Dog faeces have a very different smell. If the cat poo smell test is conclusive - ie it is not cat poo, then replicate the experiment with three samples of known dog poo, plus the mystery sample. If your husband thinks there is stuill a significant difference then it could be raccoon poo.

Squirrel poo is smaller and in hard pellets.

Both the raccoon and the squirrel will be hard to get samples of.

Have you listened to the news and checked that no wild animals have escaped from a zoo or travelling circus?

Finally - do not overlook the possibility that this might be hiuman excrement, either from a child, or a small adult. Are you aware of having any neighbours who might wish to harrass you by taking a dump on your doorstep? If so - report it to the police. Not only is it not friendly, but it is also a definite health hazard.

Answer 4

I wouldn't get to worried about it. Like the saying goes "does a bear **** in the woods" Sounds like its another cat maybe marking his territory because he knows you have cats. I do hope when you disposed of it you placed it in a trash bag. The trash people would appreciate that. Just wash off the step and your hands, you should be fine since you didn't touch it directly.

Answer 5

Sound like it was a cat.
Look up scat identification or feces identification on line.
Spray some germicide on the area.
You would be amazed to know the number of wild animals that live around us. Critters probably cross your porch and hunt around your home alot.
Don't worry so much.

Answer 6

You know I have always wondered why poo and fart jokes were so funny with guys, even way older adult men. That was until my son. He started laughing at "toots" and "poops" as soon as he could say them. I'm telling you, it's an innate thing.

Answer 7

As long as your pets don't have access to the "poo" and you didn't play with it with your bare hands...you're okay. I'm a country girl and have had many experiences with "poo"...nothing to worry about. You did the right thing.

Answer 8

I think you're just being paranoid...

Think about this - You walk down the sidewalk right? Know how many dogs have walked through poo and then walked down the same sidewalk....

Answer 9

You're working yourself up over nothing.

Get some cardboard and scrape it up to put into the garbage outside, then take the hose and spray the residue off.

End of problem.

Answer 10

I think you should be fine. Wash your hands and you could spray 'No Go' on your steps to deter other animals/the same animal from coming there again.