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Cat poo
So I think im just stressing. Im 24Weeks. But we just moved into a brand new home and decided our cat would now be an outside cat. I just got home and he was at the door so thought id let him in for a min. About 3mins later I saw him come out of a bedroom so I went down to close the door. Dinner plate size diarrhea on the carpet! I could have killed him. I dont know why he would of done this! We live 20 mins to the nearest shop and i dont have any stain remover or rubber gloves! I couldnt leave it so I picked what I could up with paper towel and used a wet cloth to get most of it before it dried. I had a shirt tied around my face so I wasnt breathing it in, and I washed my hands 10 times. I dont know much about this toxo thing cats can have but I believe not all cats have it? Hes not diseased or anythinh. Lol. But now im wondering if he is sick cause he doesnt normally have diarrhea. How worried should i be and wat are the signs etc? Im never letting him back in after that!
Thing to remember is, your kitty has to have Toxoplasmosis or have recently had it, to be problematic in relation to the litter box. Also, be careful to avoid the other ways a person can get infected. One of the sources I read cautioned against eating unwashed fruit or vegetables as a potential way for soil-to-mouth contamination, with the implication that the soil would possibly have Toxoplasma cysts in it. (Cats get kind of the lion's share of the blame, but there are other ways to get soil into your mouth.) If you are really worried, get the blood test and see if that helps.
Here is from Wikipedia.
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Transmission may occur through:
* Ingestion of raw or partly cooked meat, especially pork, lamb, or venison containing Toxoplasma cysts. Infection prevalence in countries where undercooked meat is traditionally eaten has been related to this transmission method. Tissue cysts may also be ingested during hand-to-mouth contact after handling undercooked meat, or from using knives, utensils, or cutting boards contaminated by raw meat.
* Ingestion of contaminated cat feces. This can occur through hand-to-mouth contact following gardening, cleaning a cat's litter box, or contact with children's sandpits.
Cats excrete the pathogen in their feces for a number of weeks after contracting the disease, generally by eating an infected rodent. Even then, cat feces are not generally contagious for the first day or two after excretion, after which the cyst 'ripens' and becomes potentially pathogenic.
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Here is from Wikipedia.
______________________________
Transmission may occur through:
* Ingestion of raw or partly cooked meat, especially pork, lamb, or venison containing Toxoplasma cysts. Infection prevalence in countries where undercooked meat is traditionally eaten has been related to this transmission method. Tissue cysts may also be ingested during hand-to-mouth contact after handling undercooked meat, or from using knives, utensils, or cutting boards contaminated by raw meat.
* Ingestion of contaminated cat feces. This can occur through hand-to-mouth contact following gardening, cleaning a cat's litter box, or contact with children's sandpits.
Cats excrete the pathogen in their feces for a number of weeks after contracting the disease, generally by eating an infected rodent. Even then, cat feces are not generally contagious for the first day or two after excretion, after which the cyst 'ripens' and becomes potentially pathogenic.
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lol...to funny before my wife got preg. we use to take turns cleaning the litter box. Since my wife has been preg. I am the only one that cleans it every other day and I has the litter box once a week with soup and water. I'm so nervous about Toxo that I tell my wife....STAY AWAY FROM THE LTTER!!!
hi, this is mostly for AnnieBrooke as you seem to know a lot about the subject. Is it true that its only old poo that can infect? Because i have 3 cats and they are all inside cats that use the litter tray so if i clean it every day (which i do now anyway) i should be safe from toxoplasmosis? (im not pregnant now but planning on it very soon so just wanted to check lol) Since i found out about toxoplasmosis i have been worried about my kitties because i would never get rid of them and my partner refuses to go anywhere near the litter tray! lol
1. Take kitty to the vet, to assess why he has the runs. Mine just had to go through a 5-day run of antibiotics and a huge change of diet, due to an intestinal infection. This was a cat that NEVER missed the cat box, and suddenly he was making several messy poops a day on the rug. Unless we had treated him, it would have continued.
2. Don't worry about toxoplasmosis exposure, given the situation the way you described it. The stool was too fresh. You can't pick up toxo even from a cat that has it (and most cats don't) until the stools have sat two days or more in the cat box (or in the ground). Also, you don't get it from inhaling, it's from ingesting. Toxoplasmosis has a little life cycle it has to go through before it is contagious, and when kitty's stool is fresh that is too early for microorganism to be in the contagious stage. So, gross though it was, you did not expose yourself via kitty's fresh diarrhea.
3. You can get a titer run by your doctor to see if you ever have been exposed to toxoplasmosis. If you have, you're not in any danger now even if kitty's got it and his stools are older. I have cats, and figured I had been exposed, but still got the test run when I was pregnant. Not exposed. It was worth knowing. I kept those catboxes policed up perfectly. No old poops here! lol
4. Toxoplasmosis exposure is also quite often from gardening. A person works the soil with their hands, then wipes their nose or scratches their mouth, etc. Also from rare meat. It's not only about kitties and their poops.
Good luck, you did great, take kitty in for analysis on what the heck is wrong with their body.
2. Don't worry about toxoplasmosis exposure, given the situation the way you described it. The stool was too fresh. You can't pick up toxo even from a cat that has it (and most cats don't) until the stools have sat two days or more in the cat box (or in the ground). Also, you don't get it from inhaling, it's from ingesting. Toxoplasmosis has a little life cycle it has to go through before it is contagious, and when kitty's stool is fresh that is too early for microorganism to be in the contagious stage. So, gross though it was, you did not expose yourself via kitty's fresh diarrhea.
3. You can get a titer run by your doctor to see if you ever have been exposed to toxoplasmosis. If you have, you're not in any danger now even if kitty's got it and his stools are older. I have cats, and figured I had been exposed, but still got the test run when I was pregnant. Not exposed. It was worth knowing. I kept those catboxes policed up perfectly. No old poops here! lol
4. Toxoplasmosis exposure is also quite often from gardening. A person works the soil with their hands, then wipes their nose or scratches their mouth, etc. Also from rare meat. It's not only about kitties and their poops.
Good luck, you did great, take kitty in for analysis on what the heck is wrong with their body.
I think because you were being cautious about it and washed your hands that you should be okay... in most cases you have already came into contact with it prior to getting pregnant and are most likely immune... but i agree its better to be safe then sorry and im not even sure if its the dust that you need to worry about (in the litter box) but im sure your prob ok... I know my sister had to change hers and i think she did the same kinda thing as you... but when possible avoid it, in this case i understand...
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