Toxoplasmosis worry

[BumblingBee89]

Hi all,
I am 24+6 pregnant and so far having a lovely pregnancy.
I am a bit of a worrier.
Yesterday morning, my cat accidentally scratched my nose, the bit between my nostrils, and it bled a fair bit.
I mentioned it to my midwife because I had my 25 week appointment yesterday and she said if she was honest, she wasn't sure if that would put me as risk but she wanted to err on the side of caution and referred me for some blood tests.
I had one test yesterday and will have the other in 3 weeks because it can take 3 weeks to show.
I tried not to worry but then yesterday afternoon/evening I started to feel unwell -really sore throat that really hurt when I swallowed and just a general feeling of coming down with a cold. Feel unwell today but throat is a little bit better.

I know toxoplasmosis is usually symptomless, and I know the risk is low, but I'm putting 2 and 2 together and getting myself quite worried.

Also, my cat managed to put his paw right on my lip this morning too, which really worried me because when I got up he'd had a poo in his little tray and I'm worried it was on his paws.

He does go outside and has brought a bird in twice, so he does try hunting (although I don't think he's the most successful hunter if I'm honest 😂) I just mention that because I know it can increase the risk.

Does anyone have any experience or know more about this? I don't clean his little tray (my husband does that) and I try to be so careful, but I'm just really worried now.

Baby has been kicking away this morning which is lovely and reassuring

Litter tray* . Little tray sounds like I'm being a bit twee!

This has been the source of almost all of my pregnancy paranoia and anxiety so I totally sympathise, but try not to worry as I understand the risks are very very low (this is something I'm still trying to tell myself, so I know it is tricky!)

I have been tested twice(!) for Toxo in this pregnancy, the first time was after I ate a delicious rare steak before I found out I was pregnant. Despite a lifetime of eating rare meat and owning two outdoor cats, the test came back showing I'd never been exposed, and that set me off worrying terribly about living with the cats after the doctor casually remarked - "oh that's a shame that you're not immune, you'll have to be careful with your cats now". Not a helpful comment for someone already very anxious!

After HOURS of internet research it seems that the likelihood of catching it from cats is incredibly low, studies show that owning cats is NOT an increased risk factor for pregnant women catching toxo, vets who handle sick cats on a daily basis are not more likely to have been exposed, they don't carry it on their fur and you are much more likely to get it from undercooked meat (although even that is unlikely, I never have been exposed this way!). Please ignore all the comments online that say "if you own a cat you've probably already had it" - not true, and you are very unlikely to contract it from your cat unless you are very fond of regularly poking around in their poo and not washing your hands!

Your cat is very unlikely to have an active infection (even if they have been exposed, they only shed the parasites for a very short period of time during their entire lives) and even if it is present in the poo, it only becomes infectious after 24 hours or so, so fresh poo is not a problem. I too have worried about them somehow having it on their paws etc..., but I am slowly starting to understand that this is so unlikely and the risk is so low that I'm more likely to win the lottery than to catch it this way!

A few weeks ago I woke up feeling a bit fevery and the next morning had a very sore throat - cue me instantly jumping to the conclusion that it must be Toxo accidentally caught from the cats!!! I rang the midwife who rightly thought this was very unlikely but sent me to the GP to be sure. They categorically told me that a sore throat is NOT a symptom, despite it being listed as one on the NHS website, but they agreed to test me again to put my mind at ease. Surprise surprise, the test came back negative...

I am sure there are many many far more common and likely causes of you feeling unwell so please try not to worry about the test results, it is good that you have had the test so that you will be able to put your mind at ease, but I would try not to give it any more thought in the mean time as I really don't think what you have described is in any way a likely source of infection, and believe me I've worried about all sorts of weird and wonderful ways of catching it!

Sorry for the long reply, I think it has been good therapy for me to reassure someone else in this position as I know exactly how you feel and I'm only just learning to rationalise this myself!

Just to reassure you I have three cats and did get the occasional scratch during my pregnancy and didn't have any issues with toxoplasmosis. My LO is now 8 weeks old xx

Your cat only sheds toxoplasmosis oocytes in their poo for two weeks after they've eaten an infected bird / mouse. Furthermore, not all birds / mice are infected. Your cat would have to ingest the meat which has infected tissue cysts. So that sounds unlikely based on your cars hunting behaviour. Furthermore, the cat poo doesn't become infectious until 24 hours after it's been pooped out as that is how long the eggs take to sporulate. The chance that your cat has an infected, sporulated oocyte on the end of their claw which went into your blood steam is highly unlikely. I'm not even sure you can catch it like that. As someone who has three cats and has been scratched 1000 times, eaten raw meat all life and cleaned 100s litter trays I really thought I'd have it but I've never had it. I suffered with a lot of health anxiety about toxoplasmosis so read a lot of scientific papers on it (I have a science background).
I don't think there's any risk of you catching it from a scratch line what you've described.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much everyone. I have just woken up from a power nap and can't tell you how much your replies have reassured me! I really needed to hear it from people who have been there and mrsbumblebees you seem so similar to me which is actually really helpful, so thank you! We must think similarly because we also have very similar user names 😂

Thank you SO much everyone

Haha I know, that's a bit spooky isn't it!! So glad you are feeling better about it, I know how much worry and misery it has caused me so hate to think of other people worrying (unnecessarily!) about the same thing!!

I discussed this with my cats vet when I was pregnant. In all her 20 years practicing as a vet she has never come into contact with it and was tested with all of her children.

She explained that it takes a minimum 24 hours for the the cycsts in the faces to become infective so as long as the litter tray is cleaned regularly there really is minimal risk of exposure. This link explains it in more detail:
www.cdc.gov/parasites/toxoplasmosis/biology.html

Oooh I just wanted to add another fact that made me feel better, three GPs I have spoke to about this (including my own GP and a couple who are family friends I spoke to when feeling worried) said that in all their numerous years GP experience they had never come across a case!

Ahh I didn't know it was only infective after 24 hours! We clean it every day so that's really good! My midwife didn't seem to know much about it which did reassure me a bit that they must never come across it

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to reassure me! I feel so much better now and will read this again if I start worrying!