Can my cat affect my fertility?

A nurse mentioned to my husband that allowing our cat to sleep in our bed can affect my chances of falling pregnant, or even cause a miscarriage.

He didn't pursue this, but it has me worried. Does anyone know if this is true?

Angela

Hi Angela and welcome!

I have never heard about this cat in the bed theory . I'm trying to get pregnant myself and I have two cats in my bed

My guess would be that the nurse is thinking about toxoplasmosis (can you get back to her and ask her?). Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by a microscopic parasite. If a pregnant woman becomes sick it can harm the embryo/fetus and may cause a miscarrige.

Now, cats can also get infected with toxo and if they are, they shed the parasite in their feces. Therefore, most doctors would advise pregnant women to a let someone else take care of the litter box or at least use protective gloves.

Unfortunately, some doctors will still tell a couple to get rid of the cat. This is totally unnecessary! The only way for a woman to become infected is by direct contact with contaminated feces!

Now some more facts:

1. Most people get infected with toxo at some stage of their life. Once you've got it you develop an immunity and can't have it again (this is true to almost everyone, though I guess there may be rare exceptions). You can have a blood test done to check whether or not you're immune to toxo - highly recommended before a pregnancy.
2. The most common way of getting toxo is by being in contact with raw meat (either eating or preparing it). The second most common is working in the garden (it's in the soil). I still haven't heard of a doctor telling a pregnant woman not eat a medium-rare steak
   
3. Cats are not constantly infected with this parasite
   
   . They become infected by eating raw meat (possibly prey). This is one reason why we shouldn't feed our cats with uncooked meat.

Here's a good link for information about toxoplasmosis:

http://www.toxo.org.uk/

I hope my post is not too overwhelming for a first reply

Enjoy your cat!

Thank you so much Anne! Huckleberry will be so pleased to hear that he can still sleep in our room. Thanks for the prompt response (no, it wasn't too overwhelming at all) and good luck.

Angela

Angela,

I don't know where that nurse heard of a cat suppressing your fertility but I would recommend talking to your doctor if you're that concerned.

I would actually say a cat may help if trying to get pregnant. Cats tend to be a stress releiver. I know I tried for a year to get pregnant and the only thing stopping me was stress and the worry I may not get prgnant. Mind you, I didnt have a cat. Maybe if I had, it wouldnt have taken a year. Several articles say cats can add many years to your life.

Well with all respect I think the seriosness of all this is that the cat is a little cute but animal that is not a human and "if" in the case that the cat has the parasite (that we can't not really know). My oldest cousin was married 7 years and had 5 cats and 6 dogs... Loved animals and the dogs were outside the house... Cats inside... Now her house was very big and actually like a cabin... So I remember u saw 2 cats at much at one time. Anyway if you are allowing ur cat in ur bed, guess what the feet can carry the parasites... Your car diggs into the sand or covers it ... It depends if u clean or not... But the main thing is that you can't control what is microscopic. You need to give ur self chance to plan and check that option. My cousin was in treatment after finally a doctor narrowed it to this parasite, and finally she got pregnant. Things happens in the best time, but don't be blind to obvious. If she didn't had this maybe she had already 3 kids. Now her daughter is 17 and no brothers because the times for the marriage were different.