How do I clean up a children's sandbox?

Question

We left our children's sandbox uncovered overnight by accident. Of course a neighborhood animal got in it and left f***s for us to find in the morning. My question is does the sand need to be completely thrown out, washed and allowed to dry in the sun, quarantined for a period of time??? How do we make sure it is safe for our toddlers to play again.

It looked like f***s from a single cat, but I can't guarantee that. We don't have many strays in our neighborhood, but a number of cats that roam at night. We actually have our own cats, but they stay inside. I am posting in the pet area because I figure you will have a better handle on pet diseases and pet sanitation.

Answer 1

If you've picked all the f***s out, just stir the sand around and sunshine will take care of any stray germs.  No need to throw all the sand out.  

Answer 2

I am one that is all for recycling and being cost effective but in this case with a toddler's health at risk - I would recycle the sand in another part of the yard, disinfect the playbox and refill with new play sand available at  places like Walmart, Home Depot, etc.

Answer 3

play sand is not an expensive item. throw it all out and put in new. Get a big board or something to cover it at nite. The cats may be peeing in it too.

Answer 4

I've found dog and cat f***s in our sandbox-it's quite large, surrounding our swingset.  I usually scoop it out and call it good, but my kids are older and don't try to eat the sand.  They always wash their hands when they are done playing in it, too.  If you have toddlers, I would suggest replacing the sand and disinfecting the sandbox, especially if it's not a very large sandbox.  I know there are several diseases that can be transferred from cat f***s to children.  I was warned when I was pregnant to stay away from cat litter boxes and make sure my baby stayed far away from them.