Please help me to decide something minor but which is keeping me awake at 1.30am

[emet-ana]

Hello,

One of my therapy tasks for this week is to keep the sheets on my bed for a week. I've managed 5 days.


My contamination OCD worries stem from severe emetophobia and an intense fear of norovirus (as you guys all know when someone v* with norovirus the puke contains millions of viral particles and you need to swallow just 10-15 particles to get ill with the virus). There is a big pile of puke at the end of our road and my cat who wanders around has been out during the day and then has been lying on my bed. I have a cover on my bed but part of my pillow is exposed.


My fear is that she could have at least 10 of millions of viral particles on her paws and transferred them to my bed covers (provided it is viral puke- which I think is likely as it looked relatively new at about 5ish so it's more likely to be a kid's production than an alcohol induced puke! Also because we live on a street with three schools so loads of kids walk along it).

Is it sensible to change my sheets? Even if she didn't walk through it then people will have trailed it down the pavement with them.
I really want to manage to complete my ERP tasks but even more than that I want not to catch norovirus!!


Also I'm worried about everything my cat stood on.

If I shower and change my sheets I'm worried i'll not get to bed until 3am or 4am again but equally I don't want to put my health at risk!


Please help!!!


xxxx

[mamacat]

What if you just changed the pillowcase? Since it was the only part exposed that the cat could have walked on, it seems like only thw pillow could be contaminated.

I doubt your cat walked through the v though. Cats hate to get dirty. And as for her stepping on the pavement, I am sure if your catis lik mine she grooms herslf like crazy so she is probably very clean and any particles are long since cleared away.

Plus even if the v is not drunken v, it could be from any number of other sources- a pregnant woman, someone who gets motion sick, even a kid who ate too much candy or sometjing.

I hope you get som rest tonight