From Stephanie Brown,
Your Guide to Babies & Toddlers.
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A reader asks:

If a kitten has cat scratch disease, do they out grow it when they become adults? I have a male kitten that gave me cat scratch disease through a scratch on my hand. I'm wondering if I should get rid of my cat.

A.

There's really nothing you can do to treat your cat, and many cats are carriers of the bacteria that causes cat scratch fever. Even so, human cases are comparatively rare -- only about 20 cases per million people in the United States. Most of those cases resolve on their own and do not lead to serious illness.

Since you've already had the illness, the chances that you will contract the disease more than once are very slim. In addition, according to this article from Veterinarian Susan Little, it's also pretty unlikely that your children or other members of your household will contract it.

So, I would say keep your cat. The benefits of pet ownership outweigh the very slight risk that anyone could become ill with cat scratch disease in the future. Just be sure to follow precautions like teaching your baby or toddler to avoid vigorous play with cats and immediately washing any scratches or bites they may get from the cat.

Do you have a question you'd like to see answered? You can send your questions to me at babyparenting.guide@about.com and I will answer them here on the site.