[mausmish]

Great response - thanks. We already decided our house isn't ideal for the first 100 days. Besides the cats, we live in the woods in an a-frame (hard to clean the dust out of the peak) and our family room and bedroom in the damp cool basement. Thus our decision to get an apartment for the first few months and letting friends and family take care of our house and pets. But we're still nervous about the long term.

The pets ARE a part of the family. We don't have any young children to carry home germs from school, so that's a plus. ;-) Seriously, though, does anyone have pointers for minimizing the pet risk, especially during that first year? Is there some kind of petsafe antiseptic to wipe them down or brush them with? We keep up with all their vaccinations and flea and tick preventatives. We plan on moving our bedroom upstairs and shutting the cats out of it.