Need your views on dead cat buried in potential veg bed....

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candyknitter	Need your views on dead cat buried in potential veg bed.... We've moved into my late father in laws house and want to get more self sufficient and plant veg, fruit bushes etc. There are currently only two established (but overgrown) beds in the garden, one of which their pet cat is buried in.... I can't remember how long ago the cat died, probably 10/15 years? My husband says it's fine to plant edibles there as there's probably nothing left of it, but I don't fancy it. Is that daft of me? I'd rather dig it up and re bury it somewhere else, but I haven't mentioned it yet to him because I'm not sure how it would go down - the cat was their family pet for about 20 years. What do you think? Would you eat food from the dead cat bed?
vegplot	Someone with a better understanding than I have will confirm or otherwise but I'm pretty sure pathogens aren't absorbed by plants. After all this time it shouldn't be a problem anyway and I doubt there'd be much left of the cat unless it was in anaerobic soil.
Hairyloon	Perhaps grow fruit bushes on that patch?
NorthernMonkeyGirl	Yeah, I'd grow something permanent there, more for the ick factor than a real danger I think.
crofter	I would not dig up the bones. The ghost of the poor creature might return to haunt you forever.
Slim	Someone with a better understanding than I have will confirm or otherwise but I'm pretty sure pathogens aren't absorbed by plants. After all this time it shouldn't be a problem anyway and I doubt there'd be much left of the cat unless it was in anaerobic soil.

Pathogenic bacteria actually can make it inside plants from their root systems (somewhat recent knowledge, look up food poisoning from spinach in the U.S.).

But what pathogenic bacteria would you expect to get from a cat's corpse? Probably not much after a year or so.

As for moving the remains, I'm not sure you'll find any after 10 years. In a damp clay you may still find something, but in a good garden soil there's a good chance that there's not much left. Maybe the thicker bones.

I'd leave the bones as a good source of calcium and phosphorous, but can understand the need to get rid of the mental association. Probably won't find much to move however

dpack

a fruit bush seems a good way to avoid any chance of meeting puss every time you cultivate.

my border is a charnel house of ex guinea pigs and im ok about the odd bone showing up now and again .nice soil though.

as to risk unless it popped of from anthrax or similar it seems unlikely there would be any issues and as mentioned tis probable puss is now soil.

candyknitter

a fruit bush seems a good way to avoid any chance of meeting puss every time you cultivate.

OMG! You had me laughing and horrified at the same time!

I know that they stuck a paving slab on top of him because a fox tried to dig him up the first night, so if I can dig deep enough for fruit bushes without hitting the slab then I will do that.

Thanks for the replies Smile

vegplot

Pathogenic bacteria actually can make it inside plants from their root systems (somewhat recent knowledge, look up food poisoning from spinach in the U.S.).

Worth noting, thanks. Slim

Pathogenic bacteria actually can make it inside plants from their root systems (somewhat recent knowledge, look up food poisoning from spinach in the U.S.).

Worth noting, thanks.

I should point out that it's still debated, and that just because it can happen under certain experimental conditions doesn't mean that it's likely to happen in gardens and farms vegplot

Putting a fruit bush in the place would be a nice memorial to the cat, and it would be less off putting than finding bones every year.

Some veg are better at bringing things out of the soil than others. Lettuce is particularly good at bringing out trace elements, which is why some areas of Devon no longer sell them as they were rather high in arsenic. vegplot

Next time you bury a cat add some quick lime.

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