Toxoplasmosis and cats - advice

[earlgreyismynectar]

Hi, I'm in the very early stages of pregnancy but I have concerns with regards to being the owner of a Maine Coon kitten and the litter tray which I am having to change daily (DP works away for 3 weeks at a time) so no option. The risk of Toxoplasmosis and the risks to the unborn child are frightening but I have no idea how real that risk is. I am trying to be as careful as I can, wearing gloves, using anti bac spray etc, keeping the whole area clean and scrubbing my hands in near boiling water afterwards (I'm a bit of a manic hand washer anyway). Does anyone know, is this enough of a precaution or do I need to find a new home for the cat? He has only just started going outside for 1-2 hours at a time (I would hope to eventually get rid of the litter tray altogether ultimately when he's out all day) and he doesn't catch birds or mice, I think it's only if they're killing prey that there is a risk? I know that a lot of cat owners already carry it and are therefore immune to future exposure to the infection, I'm thinking of requesting a blood test from the doc. I also know this can be picked up from gardening and raw meat. I'm thoroughly confused and I'd be grateful for any advice or thoughts from fellow cat owners or otherwise!

Hi there

Please don't get rid of your cat! I also have a cat but am lucky that DH is around to change the litter at the mo.

If he is a kitten and has only just started going out, it's unlikely that he has toxoplasmosis. You can get a blood test at the dr to check if you yourself are immune, and talk to the dr about the risks. The other thing you can do is talk to the vet - I think they can actually test the cat - if you know he doesn't have it then that would obviously put your mind at rest for a while.

The advice for cleaning the litter is to clean it daily (because it takes time for the toxo spores to grow) and to soak the tray in boiling water for 5 mins. I have to admit DH does not manage to do ours daily, but if you have to do it yourself and are worried, that might help to minimise the risk.

And congrats on your pregnancy.

Hi
I have two kittens (well, 9 mth olds), and am avoiding the tray, but not them. I've had cats all my life and grew up in the countryside, so I'm pretty sure I'm immune to TP. These kittens only go outside in the day and never eat birds or other wildlife, so I think the risk is low. Great excuse to get the boyfriend on tray-cleaning duties though : )

Hi I've three kids and two cats and never had any trouble

As long as you wear rubber gloves and wash your hands after doing it you'll be fine

when I was pregnant with DS2 the cat was sick and we took it to the vets and the vets said that you're more at risk of contracting TP through handling old poo than new poo apparently so it was best to do the litter tray while it's fresh

I had a test every month in my 1st pg for toxoplasmosis- every one showed up antibodies but no infection, which suggested I contracted it just before I fell pg. DD is fine, but my gyno said that it is more commonly picked up from badly washed (home grown) salad (guilty!) and actually cat-ownership is pretty low risk. So I wouldn't worry. Just wash your salad....

I wouldn't get rid of your cat TBH. If you wear gloves and wash your hands well, you shouldn't come into contact with it. Remember to also wash your hands after touching the cat - and wash salad well!

Anyone pregnant who doesn't know for sure that they are immune to toxoplasmosis already needs to wear gloves when gardening because of cats in the garden even you don't own them. We own a dog but the neighbours cats all still seem to use our garden as a litter box!

earlgreyismynectar, 2 cats here so as I am a champion worrier I did a lot of research

First thought -don't get rid of the kitten. There is no need and the stress / sadness afterwards would marinate your baby in nasty cortisol - not good.

Second, do you live in the UK? The incidence of toxo is much over here (6% of adult carriers) than in France (over 40%)

Third, if you are super paranoid test your cat for antibodies. My vet said that only it's first infection produces the things. After that their immunity keeps the parasite in check so hey are not shedding it in faeces. But blood test is expensive and not nice for kitten so you may want to pass (or wait until spaying / neutering time)

A blood test for you is much easier.

2ndDestiny and AliceWonderland are right - the parasite needs 24 hours in poo outside the host body to reach a stage where it can be picked up by humans. So a daily clean (or immediate after they do a No 2) is your best weapon.

Others are also right that you are more likely to pick it up from gardening or eating unwashed salads - I was told not to eat salad in restaurants (doctor once found mud in hers...)

As the girls say - wear gloves, wash your hands with soap and water (please don't burn yourself though!) after changing the litter, and as last resort consider if the kitten really needs to go outside (minus - small risk of toxo for him, plus - he may do the No 2s outside)

Enjoy pregnancy and cat!

Keep your furry baby. You sound like you're doing all the right things. Just keep up the good practice and I'm sure with the good weather the cat will be using outside inpreference to the tray in no time.

tommy's have a great leaflet that I gave to mil when she told us to have our cats rehomed when I was pregnant.

it is dangerous, BUT the risks aren't just from cats, it is about good hygeine, cooking things properly and staying away from pregnant/lambing sheep.

soap is really good enough, don't panic and use scorching hot water!

I would agree with all the posts. I have always had cats and have had three dc, all fine. Don't panic about the litter tray, washing your hands after cleaning out the litter tray is enough. It is not airborne, so really no need to worry. Cuddle your little kitten, and enjoy his/her company whilst you put your feet up.

Thanks everyone so much! All of your posts have really helped to clarify things for me and put my mind at ease! I love my kitten and DD now almost 4 does too so I'd be very sad to have to re-home him! When I say kitten, he's no tiny fluff ball and is already about the size of my last moggy so you can imagine the size of the parcels I'm left in the litter tray! Interesting fact about it being old poo that is at risk of producing these spores. Reassuring as it doesn't have a chance to get old in this house!! I will keep on with the gloves and daily clean and handwashing (I'll ease off on the temperature of the water!). He is demanding out daily now so hopefully it won't be too long before I can get rid of the litter tray. I'll remain aware of the home grown veggies I get given from my neighbour too! Fascinating that this is the higher risk... Thanks again all of you for your posts X

Getting toxoplasmosis from your own cat is very very small. I work as a vet nurse and I am now 32wks preg, still handling cats same as before (wear gloves when doing anything near their bottoms, emptying litter trays) but other than that no change.

Toxoplasmosis only present in faeces after 24hrs outside body hence why doing gardening, kids sandboxes and playgrounds with bark more of a risk because poo probably been there a while.

Would advise if kitten ever has diarrhoea then wear gloves when handling kitten and wash hands afterwards because could have infection. No risk though if cat indoors and not mixing with other cats/dead mice/birds.
This is benefit to cat using litter tray as you can keep an eye on their poo habits.

Hope this helps. I spend hours on these chats to newly pregnant ladies due to lack of information and people expressing their WRONG opinion.

Keep your kitten your new baby will probbaly adore him too.

Thanks Mumtoblaire that does help, thanks very much for passing your expert opnion on! I feel there is a lack of reliable info out there on this, when I googled it I scared myself silly! Keep on with the good work passing on the reality of this to us mums to be! Really reassuring to have a professional opinion, thanks x

Omega Paw do a very good litter tray where you don't touch the litter at all - perhaps that would reassure you too? You just roll the tray over, then back, then it's all caught in a little drawer

I use litter-tray liners. Makes emptying out much easier - hoik the whole thing out and chuck in a bin bag. Usually still have to give the tray a bit of a clean out as some of the urine usually manages to seep/eat it's way through the plastic liner (nice). But still one hell of a lot less messy!

Longtalljosie, thanks for that! I will check it out, sounds brilliant!
Cardomomginger (great name!) I used liners in the early days and wish I still could but he shreds them up when he scrapes, his claws are unbelievable (he's an avid tree climber so that would explain it!). Too bad as I agree, hoiking the whe lot out in a bag is preferable! Thanks :-)

You have already had some good advice but I just wanted to add when I had my first my midwife told me not to touch my cats at all and consider getting rid of them but she was obviously not an animal person. This time around my midwife said how lovely for your baby that you have animals and didn't mention a risk from my cats at all, she has cats of her own.

My mum doesn't like cats at all and was always worried about my cats when DS was small, he loves them and I really believe that it provides a useful life lesson to have animals around when they are small so please keep your cat.

When I got my first cat the lady at the CPL was considering not letting us adopt one as we were at 'reproductive age' and she'd had so many cats returned because they were 'replaced' by babies, her words not mine!

My understanding of Toxoplasmosis is that most people are immune as it lives in soil and most kids have played in the dirt and put fingers in their mouths when they were little. As someone else mentioned they worry about it more in France and an old collegue of mine was tested monthly when she had her first in France but not at all when she had her second in America.

Just one question, if he's going out for periods of time could you not get rid of the tray? My first kitten was a girl and as soon as she went out she never used the litter tray again, my second is now 7 months and he only stopped using the litter tray when I took it away from him! Once it was gone he never did anything in the house so was just being lazy I think, I cleaned out the tray when he was using it while pregnant too and all ok here

I found out recently that I'm immune, so back to litter cleaning duties... was nice to have a break for a while!

I just asked when I was having a blood test for something else, if they could check for toxoplasmosis as well, and they did.

Now I can stop worrying about washing the salad so carefully too - quite a relief!

So if you think you might have had it before and therefore be immune, why not ask for the test?

Cinnamongreyhound thanks for replying. I agree, I think it's a valuable life lesson for little ones to be around animals and learn about the care of them and just how much they give back. DD loves having him and constantly tells me so! Re getting rid of the littertray, I would hope so but he is only going out for short burst at the moment, whilst I'm around & tonight when he came in after being out for 2 hours headed straight for the tray and left a huge parcel! Lovely!! The penny hadn't dropped yet... Main problem is I'm in a flat 2 floors up so just not straight forward him going out. I have cat flaps but I'm not using them as the neighbours cat comes in. We are moving to a house hopefully around Autumn & I'd hoped to keep him indoors till then but there was no containing him! I'll manage it best I can and leave him out for longer periods, getting rid of the tray altogether is definately what I'm striving for! Thanks again! x

Hi Meita, I was going to ask at my midwives booking n appt whether I could request to have the test, would be a relief to hear I was immune! Too bad you're back on litter duty though! Thanks! x

You've had good advice here, but just to say I'm a cat breeder and my cat is due in 2 weeks. I've only just found I'm pregnant, and I'm 40, and this will be my first, after 2 failed IVFs, so very much a child I won't be taking any risks with.

When the kittens come, and start to use a litter tray, I have disposable latex lab gloves and I bin them after every litter tray clean. I clean twice a day, which doesn't give any time for the tx to develop, and I use an antibacterial spray on my hands.

Enjoy your lovely Main Coon - I was brought up with cats as a baby and my mum dsays they were a great help! Her Siamese used to pull her hair if I cried, to say, get on with it and look after that baby!