Scat

Tags: gonorrhea hiv

When I first heard about it, I thought it was the grossest thing. Playing with shit? Then I met my boyfriend, who's a little more liberal than I am, and he said I should be open to new things. Fair is fair. I have to admit, there is something about scat -- its kinkiness -- that keeps me coming back for more.

Hygiene

Feces is loaded with germs that can make you ill. After scat, thoroughly wash your hands (and other body parts that came in contact with feces) with soap and hot water. If you eat feces, rinse your mouth afterwards with a strong antiseptic mouthwash. Unfortunately, this may not help to decrease your risks of infection, though it's likely to give you minty-fresh breath.

Complications

Your risk of infection from scat depends on exactly what you do with the feces. Activities that put you at risk include:

Putting your partner's feces into your mouth, which can happen even if you don't eat his feces. For example, if you handle feces with your hands and don't thoroughly wash afterwards, the feces may enter your mouth the next time you eat (food), bite your nails or pick at your teeth.
Exposing an open cut or sore to a partner's feces.


Simply watching your partner defecate or play with his own feces (without handling it yourself) does not put your health at risk. Feces carries parasites, bacteria and viruses. Common infections from exposure to feces include:

Giardia, a parasitic infection of the small intestine, which may cause vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, fever, headache and appetite loss;
E. coli, a bacterium which can be life threatening;
Hepatitis A and B, viruses that attack your liver; and
Shigella, salmonella and amebiasis, infectious diarrhea caused by bacteria. Even if your partner doesn't have diarrhea, he could carry these bacteria.


Scat also may expose you to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). For example, feces can transmit gonorrhea to your mouth. Feces with blood in it may transmit HIV, especially if you put bloody feces in contact with an open sore or cut, or into your mouth. Incidentally, eating your own feces puts you at risk of infecting yourself with E. coli (a potentially life threatening bacterium) and other bacteria that may upset your stomach and digestive system. You may also transmit gonorrhea from your anus to your mouth.

HIV Risk

Exposing feces with visible blood in it to an open cut or sore may put you at risk for HIV. Eating feces with blood in it also increases your risk for HIV. To be safe, just say no to bloody feces.