Cat Scratch Pregnancy

[MamDraig3]

Hi,
I'm 25 weeks pregnant.
I took in a kitten from a farm to stop it from being hurt. I was anxious about it because I'd read conflicting things about cats. My partner takes care of the cat so I don't have to do anything, he does everything. We've had the cat for about a month and she doesn't go outside, only eats shop brought food and isn't allowed upstairs. I have hand sanitizer, anti bacterial soap and anti bacterial spray all over my house. If the cat touches me even the tiniest bit I wash my hands. I've been really really really careful.
But last night the kitten scratched me on my hand and it bled. I freaked out but I went straight to the sink and used anti bacterial soap and water to clean it, and then used hand sanitizer. I then washed it about 100 times more because I was freaking out! I rang my mum, a nurse, who said as long as I have cleaned it not to worry, she said just to keep an eye on it and if it started to go very red and hot then call my gp but other than that it will be okay.
I am still panicking and freaking out though.
Can anyone tell me if they've had a similar experience?

I think you need to calm down a lot. Your cat is not carrying ebola! If you have a cat you will get the odd scratch and I have had plenty in the 5 years I've had my 2 cats

You sound overly anxious; have you spoken to your gp/midwife about it?

I hope you have a big house though as the poor thing has half a house to live in with someone who sounds like they actively stay away from them.

This sounds like a GP issue for an anxiety referral. This doesn't seem a proportional response to the risk or situation.

I’m not sure you should have the cat if you’re going to be so worried about having one. The only risk from cats in pregnancy is toxoplasmosis which comes from their poo, so as long as you don’t clean out their litter tray you’ll be fine. Scratches happen with all cats and kittens and are part and parcel of cat ownership. What are you going to be like with the poor cat when the baby is here if you are this worried now?

I don’t think the risk from the cat itself is the real issue here. In fact, the cat poses little in the way of risk, to either yourself or your baby. You need to look into getting help for your anxiety, before it spirals further out of control, this is no way to carry on.

Definitely OTT. Plenty of people have cats, dogs, all sorts of animals while pregnant! What are you actually worried will happen?

The only thing to avoid is changing the litter if you can, although I've always carried on doing so and just used gloves. But with an inside cat the risk is minuscule anyway.

I agree that a midwife/GP visit around anxiety would be a good idea. Not just because of the scratch, but your entire reaction to the cat really - it's very extreme. Avoid litter trays, absolutely! But the cat itself is not something I've known anyone avoid due to pregnancy.

If the anxiety doesn't clear up with help, consider rehoming the kitty before she settled in more. Your behaviour will be causing her stress and a stressed, angry cat and a new baby is a poor mix ime. You will worry far more about the cat and baby once it's born, than you are now, will resent her and it will be horrid for both you and cat.

Regarding the scratch, it should be completely fine! I would keep it clean and covered. I have found hydrogen peroxide excellent with heading off minor infections.

Pre and postnatal poor mental health is shit. I thought my son was possessed, while post partum with my daughter; awful experience. Do anything you can to look after yourself and inprove mental health now.

I have cats - the occasional small scratch is part of life and nothing to worry about. All you need to do is wash the scratch and keep it clean. Like any minor injury, if it starts to look infected, it's best to get it checked over by a GP or nurse, but I can honestly say that in almost 2 decades of being owned by cats I've never had any serious issues from a scratch.

The main thing to avoid in pregnancy is changing the litter, as cats' waste can be a source of exposure to toxoplasmosis (this is rare though!). But, it's still ok to change it if you wear gloves and have good hand hygiene.

If you haven't already, you should take the kitten to the vet for a health check, deworming and vaccinations. And you should start trying to bond with the kitten - play with her, feed her, cuddle her, spend time with her... She needs to know that she's safe with you and to build a relationship with you. Once your baby is here, she'll need to build a relationship with the baby (cats and babies can be great friends!) and that will be much easier if she has a good relationship with you.

I have a really big downstairs so she has plenty of space to run around and is still too young to go outside and is well taken care of, gets lots of cuddles, fresh food, water, milk and lots of toys and taken to vets.
I took extreme measures because was told by professionals to.
I do have anxiety and it is being worked on.
Just wanted some friendly reassurance from fellow people.

Which professionals told you to take extreme measures and how extreme do they mean?
All you need to do is avoid cat litter
You dont need to be using antibacterial products every 5 minutes.

Who told you? I've been pregnant twice and no one has even asked if I have pets!

Was told by midwife to wash hands after handling the cat and then to leave the cat littler to my partner which he is happy doing.
It I stroke her for a long time or cuddle her just to give my hands a quick wash before eating or touching face etc.

That's not extreme measures, that's normal. What you described above with your reaction to the scratch was OTT.

Thank you for all your advice, I appreciate it. I think I definitely over reacted! Had a long day at work so was probably tired and a bit worked up but thank you for advising me and I am going to take all the advice on board and calm down and stop being so worried. Thank you all again x