Pregnant with toxo, should I get rid of the cats

[apachepony]

that's it really. Told this morning testing positive for toxoplasmosis. It's not the cats fault & upset to get rid o them but will we be able to look at them if we have a disabled child? In tears and feel so guilty especially as my family went on and on about the cats

OP - feelings are not logical, I appreciate all the posters who have said this wouldn't affect how they feel about a cat, but if it does affect how you feel, then you have every right to rehome your cats and take the space you need to process your feelings. Feelings are so personal, so uncontrollable and you mustn't feel bad whichever way you choose to go so long as the cats are not subject to cruelty.

I really hope you get a good outcome x

Keeping fingers crossed for you an your baby today x

Hope you get some good news today op x

Have you read this:

www.tommys.org/toxo?gclid=CI2lg8T_orECFcgntAodU2rgsQ

I had toxo when I was pregnant but did not realise at the time. When I found out, I called Tommys for advice and, if I remember, correctly, they said 99% of cases are not due to domestic cats but due to food contamination and their link above reflects that I think.

I too had a cat but she did not have a cat litter so I was not handling cat faeces and we had a patioed garden so I was not infected because of gardening. I suspect I contracted it on holiday when I stayed at my Mums finca in Spain from food that wa not cooked through properly.

Anyway, perhaps investigate for yourself the likely causes to put your own mind at rest with regards to keeping the cats or not. Whatever you decide to do, you are just making the best decision you can, there is no right or wrong.

More importantly, I am so sorry this has happened to you and your baby. I really do empathise with your situation as I have had a baby with an abnormality, a premature baby and then my daughter from the pregnancy affected by toxo so I feel for you on all levels. I would imagine the worst thing is the not knowing. Tommys do have a leaflet about toxo in pregnancy (causes, symptoms, treatment, explanation of fetal monitoring etc) which I can post here or email you if you want?

Be kind to yourself and if you want to 'talk' then PM me xx

It's a very stressful time for you OP and I can't blame you! I hope it's good news from the specialist today and you can relax a bit.

It is possible to test the cats directly for toxo. If they are negative it would confirm the toxo did not come from them. Would that be of any help in deciding whether to keep them or not?

It's a decision only you can make but to be honest to me the problem seems to be your family and their unhelpful attitude (which I would imagine extends well beyond the cats) than the specific issue with the cats. When I was pregnant one of my horses had suspected leptospirosis and I had various extra tests as well as being advised not to touch any of the horses until the results came back. Luckily it was a false alarm but I didn't breathe a word of any of this to my family as they are unhelpfully hysterical and recriminating. If they can't respond in a decent manner they just don't get told anything.

something abour horses and bolts and doors comes to mind

Katherine, you are right, the kitchen was dirty. The cats shit in the garden, and were walking their dirty paws round the kitchen, also on 3 occasions brought in dead animals, which was v stressful

OMFG!!! Is that normal with cats? That is really yukky! OP, hope you and your baby are fine, I'm sure you will be, but the above is a bit ewwww!

avon normal for some cats, not for others. I'm lucky in that my cats don't go on the work surfaces in the kitchen. OP if you can't train them to stay off the work tops, just make sure you use an anti-bac spray on them religiously. But yes, most cats bring animals back, big deal.

Boney tactful and helpful. If you read the thread, OP isn't trying to avoid catching it again, she is struggling to see how she can cope with the cats if her baby is disabled and the toxo came from the cats.

I hope all goes ok today op, my toxo test only showed positive or negative for antibodies so I'm not sure how the mw deduced you had active toxo but I assume there are different types of test?

Cats will bring presents for their owners, a dead bird/rat/frog will not give you toxo, or any other disease if you dispose of said "gift" wearing gloves and then thoroughly disinfect the area where it was found (kitchen floor etc).

We're tested for toxo over here (Spain) as standard, I came back as having no immunity despite having owned a cat all my life. My Ob told me to avoid raw meat, he didn't mention cats at all. Keeping food prep areas clean and washing hands frequently with antibacterial soap would mean the risk of catching toxo from the family cats was very slim. You've admitted the kitchen was dirty, hardly the cats' fault!

The kitchen was dirty because of the cats. We cleaned all surfaces when we came home from work and in the morning with anti bac spray, and you could see dirt on the cloth. A local cat broke the cat flap before we went on holiday, found out I was pregnant at end of holiday and when we came back from holiday found dead rodent. I was panicking about the dirt, and when the second animal was brought in a couple of weeks later we taped up the flap and put them out during the day. Things much better now, we even wipe their feet before they come in if it's wet outside although still haven't solved where to put them at night.
Anyway visited consultant, definitely active infection. Caught any time in last 6 months. It's pretty rare, have to import the antibiotics from France. His manner was brusque, but he tried to reassure, saying he was the man who deals with any cases, and usually it us all fine especially catching it early for treatment. The good scan last week is good sign. We are booked in for a more detailed scan this Friday and will be monitored closely throughout pregnancy and after birth. We'll need to make a decision as to whether to push the hospital for an amnio to see if infection has passed - he said it doesn't make any difference to treatment but we can discuss with obstetrician on Friday.
Doctor confirmed no medical reason to remove cats.
I am just not going to tell my family at all. Actually - unusually cos they live far away - I'm spending next 3 weekends with various members of immediate family but will just stay quiet. This weekend will be the worst not only because of dad but because my siblings I only told last week will be all full of joyous congratulations, especially after the mc, as may extended family, and I'll be sitting thinking, oh no, congrats are so premature if you only knew...

I'm sorry to hear this and hope all goes well.

Re. Your Dad you do know you can catch toxo from Ewes?? Have you been to the farm? How careful are they to clean themselves and not touch you/the house after being with the sheep?

Sorry to hear you need the antibiotics. If it's any consollation I am in France where they test for toxo every month (if the mum is not immune) and they seem quite confident that the main thing is to catch it early and treat with antibiotics.

Not sure dad really connects toxo with sheep. This year I was out with the sheep less at Easter than some years cos I was knackered and the weather is shit - escaping city life by playing at being shepherdess not so fun in the cold and wet. I grew up playing in the hay and making mud pies on a sheep farm with farm cats, I've handled newborn lambs every year, I've even lambed a few sheep myself in my day. How am I not immune?

Wow apachepony, sorry you're having such a scary time right now. I'm surprised its considered rare in Ireland, I've known quite a few mums test positive. Even more surprised about importing the medication from France, they are usually ordered in from the UK and in your pharmacy in 2 days.

I hope you will be able to get through the next few weekends with your various family members. Families often seem to think they have a licence to be brutally blunt, no matter how hurtful/frightening/irritating their opinions are.

Try to focus on the positives, the infection has been caught early, antibiotics are extremely effective, its more likely that the baby is not infected than infected - I feel hypocritical saying all that because I am a world champion worrier but you will not change anything by worrying, and you will make yourself pure miserable.

apachepony good to hear you're getting AB's straight away and the consultant seems to know what he's talking about. If you cleaned the kitchen then it's very unfortunate you still managed to pick up the infection, unless it's not from the cats but from somewhere else.

You can still discourage cats from going on worktops if you're not there to supervise all the time - just religiously put them down on the floor every time you see them go up there. Perhaps at night it might be worth putting stuff on the worktops too like pans etc just for a few nights until they get more used to not going up there.

There's definitely quite a big risk with sheep, any petting zoo/open farm type place or a lambing weekend a local agricultural college puts on near here, they all have big signs saying "If you are pregnant or think you might be pregnant do not go near the sheep", basically. And lots of hand washing facilities available with big signs instructing people to wash their hands after touching the animals.

It's a no brainer to me. The cats would go.

According to this:
www.mayoclinic.com/health/toxoplasmosis/ds00510/dsection=risk-factors
chealth.canoe.ca/channel_condition_info_details.asp?disease_id=130&channel_id=2062&relation_id=74737
if you caught toxo before getting pregnant, transmission to the baby is more difficult.

Toxo can also be caught from contaminated earth (and lots of other cats are likely to go on your garden) and undercooked meat. So it could even have been at your parent's I suppose.

I'm lucky that my cats don't go on the worktopsbut but I have heard that putting silver foil on them can discourage them.

Best of luck op xxx

A friend of mine got this just before a pregnancy, she doesn't have cats and the baby was fine.
My cat caught it during my 1st pregnancy but I didn't. It was a hideously stressful time though.

Sorry if I've missed it but how do you know if you caught it from the cat(s)? Do they have it? I did a lot of gardening but always with gloves (and gloves for housework too), and my friend assumed she caught it from something she ate.

I'm just assuming I got it from the cat, given the circumstances, and how if they were walking it in from the garden (which is tiny and we know used as their toilet in one spot, I didn't feel it fair to dissuade them and export problem to neighbours), how easy it would be to miss a speck of dirt, even on the sofa where I place down a biscuit watching the tv. Would so love it not to be the cat that thinking should test him just in case, as it is we almost feel too ashamed to tell anyone. Cat was looking at me reproachfully this morning as don't feel ready to touch him much yet. Prob might end up telling friend, as if asked how I'm getting on with the midwife led scheme, will either have to lie or admit I've been bumped onto the two consultants every few weeks scheme instead. Friend was pretty much insinuating that not going private was putting my baby at risk, but so far can't fault thespeed of the care I'm getting, and the antibiotics are to arrive by lunch tomorrow. Scouring the Internet for medical papers on this, they freak me out less than the general information on pregnancy sites, as they have statistics and best practice in other countries for treatment so I feel a little more in control. Had horrible nightmares last night though

Op what a terrifying time for you. Of course it's not the cats fault but I don't blame you for having mixed feelings towards them at the moment. It's good that you're starting antibiotics. Take care of yourself.

I tested positive for toxo in my second pregnancy but they shrugged and said it was an old infection. In my first pregnancy I had a midwife who thought I was insane for having a cat at all. Some people are very anti cats and babies. My cat isn't allowed upstairs at all and I had a 'cat-net' to put over the Moses basket if it was ever to be in the same room as the baby, but being as DS1 was a velcro baby it wasn't a problem.

I have great sympathy for you being so anxious about the baby. I ruined the second half of my second pregnancy with anxiety. I had been told at the 20 week scan that there was a possible problem with her brain and spent the next 19 weeks being shoved from clinic to clinic while they repeatedly scanned me. I would lie in bed at night feeling her move and I knew deep down that there was nothing wrong (nothing that I couldn't handle anyway) but all these medical people kept shaking heads and making predictions and I was a ball of anxiety. I really wish I'd trusted my instincts and just got on with it.
I'm sure your baby is fine and you will be fine.

BTW, I thought my cat was 'trained' to stay off the worktops, but I have sometimes discovered paw-prints on them. I keep all food off them and wipe them down before I use them everytime.
I was under the impression that all cats kill and bring in mice/rats, but that is probably because I grew up with farm cats and mine is descended from one.My MIL thinks it's downright weird and if we fed the poor animal wet food then she wouldn't. She doesn't bring in rats or birds, but she sometimes brings us a mouse or a frog.

I'm really sorry you are having all this stress just now. If it helps I can tell you that I got active toxo in the very first week of pregnancy, when I ate a lot of the local cured ham on holiday in Spain (so not cats in this case). A few weeks later I went to the dr with swollen neck glands and was diagnosed with toxo. I took Spyramicin (antibiotic licenced in France but not here) for the rest of the pregnancy. My dd was totally fine when she was born and is fine now, 9 years later. I recall how disorientating it was during the pregnancy, especially to begin with, not knowing whether or how much to worry. Hope it all goes well.