My DH and I will be starting to Try to concieve in the next few months for Baby # 2... Our daughter Ella will be 2 nov 13. The only thing I am concerned about is whole cat thing and human pregnancy. What do or did you all do differently when you became pregnant? How did you handle your furry felines?
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Is anyone Trying to get pregnant?
- Thread starter jaclyn4238
- Start Date
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2004
- Messages
- 3,663
- Purraise
- 2
The only thing I did differently was that I didn't clean the litter boxes. The cats still slept with me and everything, that is, when I actually could sleep
With the litter box thing, you could get a good supply of those rubber gloves and use them when you clean the boxes and then just throw them away.
I only changed one thing and that was using gloves to change the litter box. Otherwise nothing changed!
not trying, already am (and hadn't planned on being, but that's a whole 'nother thread). And since I live alone I was very concerned about the litter box thing too.
Two things my OB told me that put me at ease:
1) if you lived w/cats for any length of time, esp indoor/outdoor ones, you've probably already contracted toxoplasmosis and developed an immunity to it.
2) as long as you glove up (and I go a step farther by wearing a dust mask) and wash up really well after, there's minimal risk of getting it while pregnant (but don't tell hubby that, just get him to do it for you hehe!)
and most good meowmies already know to scoop daily, but my OB also said not to let poops sit for longer than 24-48 hrs, since it takes that long for the toxo cysts to develop. All in all I'm no longer worried about it, and I don't think that you should either -- being pregnant comes with enough worries!!!
Good luck to you and your soon-to-be growing family!!!
Two things my OB told me that put me at ease:
1) if you lived w/cats for any length of time, esp indoor/outdoor ones, you've probably already contracted toxoplasmosis and developed an immunity to it.
2) as long as you glove up (and I go a step farther by wearing a dust mask) and wash up really well after, there's minimal risk of getting it while pregnant (but don't tell hubby that, just get him to do it for you hehe!)
and most good meowmies already know to scoop daily, but my OB also said not to let poops sit for longer than 24-48 hrs, since it takes that long for the toxo cysts to develop. All in all I'm no longer worried about it, and I don't think that you should either -- being pregnant comes with enough worries!!!
Good luck to you and your soon-to-be growing family!!!
First of all, good luck on getting pregnant.
Second of all, I've done research on taxoplasmosis and here's info on it...you really don't have to worry about it at all:
Women who are planning on starting a family need to be aware of a parasite called toxoplasma gondii, which can cause an infection call Toxoplasmosis in humans. Cats are one of the animals that can carry and spread this parasite to humans through infectious cysts shed in their stool. Toxoplasmosis will generally cause mild flu-like symptoms in humans that goes away after a few days, but it can be very harmful to fetuses in teh first trimester of pregnancy.
Although this scares many people, Toxoplasmosis is only infectious under extremely particular circumstances that almost never coexist. A cat has to have had a recent infection, it has to be shedding the cysts which have to exist in stool in the litter box for more than 24 hours, a woman needs to get the stool in their mouth or eye, and she has to be in her first trimester. Cats shed toxoplasma cysts in their feces three to ten days after eating infected tissues from another animal; so your cat would have had to hunt and eat an infected mouse or other creature in order to be infected himself. The only way an indoor cat woudl be infected is if you have rodents in your house that it hunts, or if he is on a raw food diet (the parasite is transmissible to both cats and humans who consume raw meat). Statistics show you are more likely to contract Toxoplasmosis from handling raw meat or gardening in infected soil.
Doctors suggest letting someone else scoop the litter for you during your first trimester. If that's not possible, they advise wearing gloves, using litter box liners, and changing the entire box every 24 hours. Still, you'd have to get the cyst that got onto your hand into your mouth or eyes, and that can be avoided by washing your hands when you're done cleaning the litter box.
Since many people do not even realize that they have had Toxoplasmosis, you should have your doctor or midwife do a blood test for evidence of past infection before you get pregnant or as early in pregnancy as possible. If the test is positive, you have already had the infection and do not need to worry about passing a new infection to your baby. If the test is negative, you should take the precautions above, wear latex gloves when you handle raw meat, wear gardening gloves while doing yardwork, and wash your hands thoroughly after these activities.
Women who are planning on starting a family need to be aware of a parasite called toxoplasma gondii, which can cause an infection call Toxoplasmosis in humans. Cats are one of the animals that can carry and spread this parasite to humans through infectious cysts shed in their stool. Toxoplasmosis will generally cause mild flu-like symptoms in humans that goes away after a few days, but it can be very harmful to fetuses in teh first trimester of pregnancy.
Although this scares many people, Toxoplasmosis is only infectious under extremely particular circumstances that almost never coexist. A cat has to have had a recent infection, it has to be shedding the cysts which have to exist in stool in the litter box for more than 24 hours, a woman needs to get the stool in their mouth or eye, and she has to be in her first trimester. Cats shed toxoplasma cysts in their feces three to ten days after eating infected tissues from another animal; so your cat would have had to hunt and eat an infected mouse or other creature in order to be infected himself. The only way an indoor cat woudl be infected is if you have rodents in your house that it hunts, or if he is on a raw food diet (the parasite is transmissible to both cats and humans who consume raw meat). Statistics show you are more likely to contract Toxoplasmosis from handling raw meat or gardening in infected soil.
Doctors suggest letting someone else scoop the litter for you during your first trimester. If that's not possible, they advise wearing gloves, using litter box liners, and changing the entire box every 24 hours. Still, you'd have to get the cyst that got onto your hand into your mouth or eyes, and that can be avoided by washing your hands when you're done cleaning the litter box.
Since many people do not even realize that they have had Toxoplasmosis, you should have your doctor or midwife do a blood test for evidence of past infection before you get pregnant or as early in pregnancy as possible. If the test is positive, you have already had the infection and do not need to worry about passing a new infection to your baby. If the test is negative, you should take the precautions above, wear latex gloves when you handle raw meat, wear gardening gloves while doing yardwork, and wash your hands thoroughly after these activities.
My husband cleaned the litter box when I was pregnant. When he was out of town, I'd use gloves and a mask, and wash up, like others have said. The kitties still slept with me, too, and they were indoor cats at the time.
Cheers, from
SwampWitch
Cheers, from
SwampWitch
