Cat Urine Smell

We recently bought a house and we had to tear up all of the carpets in the house because there was cat feces and urine everywhere. I was just wondering what kinds of viruses/infections/diseases you could get from even breathing in the air/ tearing and moving the carpet..etc….

The disease toxoplasmosis, caused by a single-celled parasite called Toxoplasma gondi. The only way you can get toxoplasmosis from a cat is through direct contact with its feces, but indoor cats in rodent-free homes may never be exposed to toxoplasma. However, if you've been around cats for a majority of your lifetime, the chances are you've built up a good immunity to it. It also would be helpful if you wore gloves whilst moving the carpet, and washed your hands. Breathing in the air in a urinated/defecated area would be offensive to your olfactory glands, but probably not put you at a risk for some infection.

If you're worried, some symptoms of toxoplasmosis are:

- "Flu"-like symptoms, with swollen lymph glands or muscle aches and pains that last for a month or more.
- Symptoms of ocular toxoplasmosis can include reduced vision, blurred vision, pain (often with bright light), redness of the eye, and sometimes tearing.