Cat keeps bringing in mice .. I'm 15 weeks pregnant

[fizzyblush]

Hi ladies
I'm 15 weeks pregnant with my 3 rd and my cat who we've had for a year and half keeps bringing in mice . He hides them half dead in random places and I feel sorry for them . Me or my oh get rid of them which is sad but they are already half dead . Poor things ... it's becoming very regular now at least 3 times a week . I'm very anxious as I've had a still birth before and panic about anything possibly becoming a risk for the baby .... he sometimes play bites and pierced my skin last night straight after bringing a mouse in as a present for me .. he meows at me for ages until
I recognise that he's bought me a mouse
Yuck
I know!!! Is this a serious threat ? I'm really panicking ladies
Anybody else been in this position before ?

He knows you are pregnant and he's providing food for you.
Bless him.
On a practical note, can you lock the cat flap
And let him in and out yourself to monitor his gifts?

If it is causing you to worry I would do as PP has suggested and shut up the cat flap and let him in an out yourself so you can see if he's got any "presents" for you. This is what we did

Maybe you can call the GP for a tetanus shot if it's possible? And ask them what risks there are? Maybe it would be enough to just wear gloves or something when getting rid of mice.

Your cat sounds very friendly, bringing you food all the time.

I don’t have a cat flap. I open the door for the cat. She can’t bring in gifts.

Mine brought in a dead rat the other night 😂

Usually it’s just the odd mouse which doesn’t bother me, I just remove the body! I am around mice a lot as I have horses, and they are everywhere, just make sure you wash hands after touching mouse/anything they might have been in contact with.

It will be fine if you wash your hands well straight after killing/cleaning up the mice, even safer if you wear gloves. I would wash any bites or scratches well with soap and water too. I am not immune to toxoplasmosis (I had a test to check) and I volunteered on a wildlife hospital in my first pregnancy. The doctor told me to ideally wear gloves but if that wasn't practical then just to wash my hands well before eating or drinking there.

Agree with the above, just regularly washing hands and keeping any bites scrupulously clean and you should be fine.

Aw he's trying to look after you OP. In a gross kind of way.

I agree with lock up the flap and let him in and out on your own terms. You can check then. Keep the interior door to that room closed though before he clicks on and just pelts it past you.

Thanks ladies
Such good advice here
I’m
Going to start letting him in on my terms ... I have been thinking this for a while Z I’ve just been to the local garden centre and got him a bell
Collar too much to his annoyance !!! He’s very grumpy now - hates collars ! At least the mice will have a pre warning !!

Collars are a real hazard. I wouldn’t use one.

Ditto wolfiefan, I had a rescue cat that had horrific injuries from a collar, I will never use one after seeing that poor cat.

Oh dear I had no idea it could be dangerous ! I’ll take it off when he comes back in

I assume it's toxo you're most concerned about. Ask your midwife to check your immunity status - they don't do it as standard but will if you push. I think due to your history your midwife will check, mine did. I wasn't immune so was then checked at regular intervals.

Yes mainly and also this other disease I’ve freaked myself out about to do with mice Lsv I think it’s called? X

My cat used to do this a lot.. but also bought in birds.. mice.. all sorts.. it stopped after he bought in a pigeon (dead). I took it off him (absolutely disgusting), shouted like a mad woman and sent him out the house.
It didn’t happen again... I found half the pigeon in my tumble dryer full of clean clothes, so my cat got the last laugh.. but thank god I don’t have to deal with the cast of “animals of farthing wood” in my kitchen anymore.

@fizzyblush I know this is an old post but I am experiencing the same, next doors cat left a dead rat by my door that I had to dispose of. I suffer with anxiety too due to years of infertility. I pressume everything was OK with you and your baby?

@Lozzak21 My cat did this. He totally knew I was pregnant as he hardly did it before. Once he brought in an injured pigeon just before the midwife came to assess the home to see if it was suitable for a home birth. The poor bird was flapping and couldn't fly. I shut it in the downstairs bathroom, prayed the midwife wouldn't need the toilet and quickly hoovered up feathers. It was so stressful. When she went I managed to catch it in a box but I was so worried the whole time she was here.

He would also guard my tummy if I sat or lay down so he definitely knew I was pregnant. In fact, the way he was acting made me think I was expecting dc2 before we had done a test. (He was right). Animals can be so intuitive.

Another time he brought a live mouse in and I couldn't catch it. (Heavily pregnant now). I got a little tray, locked the cat flap and told him he wouldn't be let out until he had caught it. When I got back from work he presented me with the corpse.

I also wore washing up gloves to dispose of dead things (and then threw gloves out) if my husband wasn't around to deal with it. If they were alive I would catch them in a big box or similar without touching them and always washed hands thoroughly. Everything was fine with my babies.

Litter tray not little

Just make sure you worm him with a prescription wormer from your vets every 3 months if he's hunting. And of course good hand hygiene.

@fizzyblush If he does continue to bring you 'presents', another alternative, is only handle the mice using reptile tongs? They're basically large metal tongs - we have a pet snake and use these to feed him mice 1. so we don't have to touch the mouse, and 2. so we don't get our fingers bitten by a hungry danger noodle . They're quite cheap to buy and you can get them from most reptile/pet shops or Amazon. They can be easily disinfected too - means you don't have to physically handle the 'presents' he brings in. I have continued to feed our snake throughout the pregnancy and feel safe doing so with these tongs & washing my hands / disinfecting after.

Collars are safer if they have an elastic on them. That way if the cat gets it caught on something, the cat can get its head free.

If it's toxoplasmosis you're worried about, the risk from cats is pretty low apparently from when I looked into this. They're normally only shedding infectious oocytes for two weeks after their first infection, which is normally when they 1st start hunting.

The biggest cause of toxo is eating meat and farming practices www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC27431/ up to 63%. And one I hadn't really thought about before - soil in fruit and veg.

With the dead mice etc I wouldn't be worried, would disinfect the area well and use tongs to take them out, as someone else said. I think the other infection from mice (LCMV) is from droppings and urine contaminating your food.