# Health Hazard of Sleeping with a Corpse \[animal remains brought in by cat\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 22, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039 "2018-03-22T18:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/1 "2018-03-22T18:50:20Z")
It’s not really as bad as the title implies, but I was grossed out and took a really long shower after my incident. The sheets were in the washer with bleach immediately after showering. My fearless feline hunter caught and butchered a baby rabbit. This is all well and good, but he left the head on my bed, and when I woke up the first thing I saw was a dead rabbit head staring at me. This is weird, because he usually eats the head and leaves the body. I did find the body on the kitchen floor in some dried blood later. Anyway, I have no idea how long I slept next to the head of the rabbit, and was curious if this could cause potential health hazards? All I know is, I told my baby that if he EVER does it again, the cat door will be closed and he will become an indoor cat. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/2 "2018-03-22T18:56:33Z")
Not related to the animal being a corpse but keep an eye out for fleas. My dog got fleas twice after killing a rabbit in the winter. Turns out fleas need a place to live in the winter, and nice cozy rabbits are perfect! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/3 "2018-03-22T19:01:30Z")
If being within a few feet of fresh raw meat was particularly dangerous, I think that humanity would have been extinct a very long time ago. Do you wear a hasmat suit while near the meat counter in your grocery store? Then again, doesn’t rabbit give you lupis? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/4 "2018-03-22T19:01:55Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > My fearless feline hunter caught and butchered a baby rabbit. This is all well and good, but he left the head on my bed, and when I woke up the first thing I saw was a dead rabbit head staring at me. ”Thank you for the meal and a very pleasant evening. Maybe your car could take me to the airport. [Mr. Kitteone is a cat who insists on hearing bad news immediately.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nSjBiYLVwKU)” To answer your question, unless you’ve injested blood, the worst likely outcome is fleas or lice, and even then only if you’ve rested on the corpse for an extended period of time. I wouldn’t worry about it. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/5 "2018-03-22T19:05:06Z")
**Moderator Action** Is this the kitty version of making you an offer you can’t refuse? Anyway, I edited the thread title to more clearly indicate the actual topic. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/6 "2018-03-22T19:06:22Z")
The SDMB is a very broad church indeed. No topic is too… … too… yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/7 "2018-03-22T19:11:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Then again, doesn’t rabbit give you lupis? It gives you lepus. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/8 "2018-03-22T19:19:36Z")
My murderous feline charges would do this to me if allowed outdoors. That ain’t happening. The worse thing they ever did was puke on my pillow. They cornered a centipede in the laundry room once. That skeeved me out. Do rabbits carry rabies? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/9 "2018-03-22T20:07:25Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Do rabbits carry rabies? No. They are rarely if ever to be found infected with rabies and have never been known as carriers, and you won’t contract rabies unless through broken skin and even then it is pretty unlikely. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/10 "2018-03-22T20:13:03Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Then again, doesn’t rabbit give you lupis? > [@Folly](#): > > It gives you lepus. It’s never lupis/lepus/lupus. It is sometimes lapis lazuli. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/11 "2018-03-22T20:17:55Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > It gives you lepus. Whoosh … ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/12 "2018-03-22T20:23:11Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Whoosh … No, I understood the House reference. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/13 "2018-03-22T20:36:33Z")
Night of the Lupus. Call St. Patrick. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/14 "2018-03-22T20:54:16Z")
According to Google you can get Tularemia from wild rabbits flesh or blood. Easily treated with antibiotics. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/15 "2018-03-22T21:58:42Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > According to Google you can get Tularemia from wild rabbits flesh or blood. Easily treated with antibiotics. Skin contact with/handling dead rabbits is one way to contract tularemia, which causes flu-like symptoms and skin ulceration at the point of bacterial entry. If the OP doesn’t develop symptoms within a few days (a couple weeks at most), she should be in the clear. I’m not sure I’d term the disease “easily treated by antibiotics”, since a couple of the main-line agents (streptomycin and gentamicin) carry a significant risk of side effects, some serious (even Cipro which is sometimes used, is not well tolerated by certain people). I have been in occasional contact with wild rabbits\* via gardening activities and survived without incident. \*not dismembered ones though. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/16 "2018-03-22T23:45:22Z")
Thanks for the title update 🙂 And thank you for the answers. I didn’t touch the carcass directly, I used a couple plastic garbage bags from the stores to clean up the body parts. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/17 "2018-03-22T23:52:33Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > No, I understood the House reference. Maybe I whooshed too soon … I don’t know any House reference … _Lepus_ is the genus name for jackrabbits and hares … _Lepus californicus_ is pest in the Central Valley … ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/18 "2018-03-23T00:08:11Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > … > > I have been in occasional contact with wild rabbits\* via gardening activities and survived without incident. > > \*not dismembered ones though. Lucky you never met one with [a mean streak](https://youtu.be/Nvs5pqf-DMA). ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/19 "2018-03-23T00:27:58Z")
I’ll add to the above - fleas. Any animal a cat brings in is a flea danger. Not just if they drop it on your bed. Once the animal dies the fleas will leave, and go looking for a feed. Fleas are picky to a point. They tend to prefer their host animal, but once hungry they will take anything. They are very mobile, so anywhere in your bedroom is as good as in your bed. The worst is when your cats bring in a rat or mouse live, and then lose it. Usually the thing dies under your bed or behind a cupboard. You deal with a rotting animal and the likely hungry fleas. Hard won experience here. Funny, my cats start at the head of rabbits too. They don’t like the ears or the wobbly bits. Often leave just a single paw. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039/20 "2018-03-23T00:41:54Z")
Rabbits can’t vomit, either, if that’s any consolation. _C’est jamais lapin._ - Maison [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-hazard-of-sleeping-with-a-corpse-animal-remains-brought-in-by-cat/811039.md?page=2)