I’ve been reading up on cryptococcosis and it is not zoonotic nor does it transmit from cat to cat or to other animals too.
If a Cryptococcus species penetrates a cat’s central nervous system or affects multiple organs, then cryptococcosis can be fatal. Is cryptococcosis in cats contagious? No, cats cannot transmit cryptococcosis to other cats. The spores of the fungus must be inhaled from the environment.
Here is another source of information: https://www.abcdcatsvets.org/guideline-for-cryptococcosis-in-cats/
The incubation period varies from months to years, and the source of infection often remains unknown.
A few websites I’ve read says a cat inhales the spores from the environment, particularly from pigeon droppings or decaying vegetation.
I also found this:
So there can be an average of 6-7 months after exposure before it manifests. That would be even before I even knew Samantha. She grew up on the street, so she would have foraged for food. I don’t know if there are pigeons on our road, though. I don’t think so. And the source above says the incubation might even be YEARS.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3713837/:
Incubation periods are not well described for animals but are generally reported as 2–11 months (R. Wohrle, pers. comm.)
All reliable sites say the same thing. The incubation period is very long. If that is the case, at least I know she did not get it from the bedroom. Everything is washed and cleaned in the bedroom. Even the kittens cloths are changed very frequently.
In any case, I let the kittens visit Samantha just now. It proved to be not a very good idea, which goes to show that we must never anthromorphosize animals. We should not assume they think like us.
Samantha did not notice the kittens in the box until I took them out one by one.
This made her mew and mew for them, and it was quite heartbreaking. So I just told her quickly that her kittens are okay and that I will feed them, and she does not have to worry (as though she would understand, but well, why not?). I just wanted her to know that her kittens still exist. They are just downstairs.
We came back downstairs.
I reflected on all that I’ve read up and again, it reminds me that we are at the mercy of the tiniest organisms on earth. We are victims of bacteria, fungus and viruses (which aren’t even organisms) and yet we have the cheek to say we are the most powerful beings on the planet? What arrogance!