Toxoplasma and Cats

[I1981]

Hello,

I am 6 weeks pregnant and unfortunately i am not immune to the Toxoplasma virus, since i was found negative to it, both now and in the past.

I raise 3 lovely cats and know that this means that my Husband needs to be in charge of cleaning their litter box (which they don't have now since we have a back yard).

I would like to know if other then not cleaning their litter box, should a pregnant woman be careful of kissing or hugging her cats? my logic tells me that there is no reason to avoid touching them, as long as i stay away of their toilet business...  After all, Cats are very very clean.  

Thank you.

[AnnieBrooke]

Oh, I wasn't telling you to let your husband off catbox duty.  lol  My husband cleaned catboxes all through my pregnancy, and I knew all this stuff, and since he was in the habit it was a couple of years before he realized he really didn't have to be in charge of the cats (feeding or boxes) any more.  I certainly didn't enlighten him.

[I1981]

I am going to tell my Hubby that, that's the fun part :-)

I am so happy to see that I'm not being reckless like some people may think. Beside, my cats are so cute, that it is impossible not to hug and kiss them all the time...

[CML2014]

Hey Annie,

Also thanks from me . I learned more about this after reading your informative post. I just though it was safer to stay away from the poop...well at least she can tell her husband that, right?

[I1981]

Thanks Annie,

That is exactly what I told my best friend when she was yelling at me ******** like "you can get it when they scratch you or bite you", and other stuff like that. I advised her strongly to go and read the facts before she talks about something she doesn't understand!

[AnnieBrooke]

ps -- If you have been exposed to your cats a lot (not just now but all through your life) and have no compunction about kissing them, if toxoplasmosis was easy to get [for you or the cat] you would have gotten it by now.  The fact that your titer was negative suggests it's not out there in the vector much and that the way you behave is unlikely to give it to you or it would have done so already.

[AnnieBrooke]

Anything on their mouth would not be the problem.  The oocytes are not mature enough to be infectious for three days after coming out in the feces.  In other words, if I were pregnant and cleaning cat boxes, as long as I did it every day the feces would be too fresh to be dangerous even if my cat *did* have toxoplasmosis.  Which they are unlikely to, since either they are already immune or getting it right at the very time when I'm pregnant is statistically unlikely anyway.

Wash your hands a lot, don't eat rare meat, and don't dig in the garden without wearing gloves or scratch your mouth with your finger if you're wearing muddy gardening gloves.  It's easier to pick up toxoplasmosis from the soil than from the catbox.

[CML2014]

GOOD Decision!

[I1981]

Thank you :)

I don't know if my cats had toxo, but since they do go out to the back yard, my guess is that they may had it, but they do wear bells on their necks, to keep them from hunting poor birds and mice.

From what i read, once a cat had it, it can only be infected in his stool for no longer than 2 weeks.

I don't think i want to test them, poor babies, it's not their fault that doctors scare women for no reason...
Unfortunately I know many women who stop letting their cats in the house while pregnant because of that foolish fear.  

I think that since we don't have a litter box and they take their business to the back yard, the only think i am going to change is kissing them on their mouth, just in case they just cleaned their toosh.. other than that we will keep on letting them in our bed, hug and kiss them.

[CML2014]

Hi,
Since I am not a Vet I did consult a feline health manual, and it says there is a "Serologic tests (including an ELISA) that will show whether a cat has been exposed. So if you really want to be sure have your cat's tested. You will feel much better knowing that.....but caution is the word when pregnant, and IMOO I would Let Hubby do the dirty work while you are pregnant.

Cats are likely to acquire this infection from eating infected rodents, birds, and ingesting oocysts in contaminated soil. Eating under cooked meat by cats and human also can cause Toxo.

So seems to me the 100% way of knowing would be testing. The 80% way might be knowing they are never outside to eat raw critters, and the safe ide for both would be let someone else clean boxes. Other than stools as the transmitting agent---love on your little kits all you want--just stay away from the rear.

Congratulations on becoming a Human Mommy!!
CML

[opus88]

congrats....on being pregnant on on Lola coming home, awesome news!!

first of all a cat has to have toxo before he can spread it and this is through his feces only, you are just as likely to get this parasite from the handling of raw meat and infected soil.

During pregnancy you need to be extra cautious and wash your hands repeatedly before and after cooking....also as an extra precaution to not clean up feces in a litter box or in your yard...let hubby take care of that.

I will send you a site that will explain this all to you more in depth....

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/health_resources/toxoplasmosis.cfm