Toxoplasma...wha? So can I change the litter box while pregnant?
Okay, I think this one was made up by a pregnant woman to get out of cleaning the kitty litter.
I can't say I blame her, between morning sickness and an extra 30lbs, scooping out cat poo is about the last thing you want to do. But what if you're the only one around and your cat is standing on a mountain of crap?
The big scare on this one is something called toxoplasmosis. It's a parasite that is transmitted between warm blooded animals. You can get it from ingesting the raw or uncooked meat from something infected with it or from ingesting the feces of an infected cat. It can cause all kinds of nasty problems in an unborn child like brain damage and blindness, just to name a few.
The cat most likely got it from eating an infected rodent so if Mittens is an indoor cat, you're probably okay. Even if he does have it, from what I can find, it isn't that easy to get. You literally have to ingest the parasite (well technically a cyst called an oocyst) in his poop.
This one also sounds like a bit of a run away train because if you worry about the poop in the litter box, then you need to worry about the poop that maybe in garden soil and if you don't garden well what about the person who was gardening and shook your hand and then you touched your mouth?! You see where this one is going.
It looks like this is a relatively rare thing and to it sounds like becoming infected when you're pregnant is a bit of a perfect storm but with the effects being so scary, it gets a lot of attention.
Hey, if you can get out of it, go for it. If you can't, a little hand washing or glove wearing will go along way, that, and maybe cutting down on your cat shit consumption – at least during your pregnancy anyway.
search: toxoplasmosis, cat litter during pregnancy, oocyst
28 Comments
Reader Comments (28)
There is no downside to this, ladies. Often times, dads will completely forget WHY they had to start changing cat litter in the first place and emptying it becomes their job indefinitely. My kids are 10 and 12. I haven't changed the litter since 1998. Enjoy.
Erin, I think you're my new hero.
My husband thought that the litter changing ban extended through breastfeeding. I told my OBGYN about my husband's diligence for our child's safety through BFing, and he laughed and gave me a Hi-five.
Unfortunately, my husband remembers why he began changing the litter and has just handed back off to me now that our 2 y/o daughter has been weaned. It's totally worth BFing for 2 years not to clean the litter boxes. I wonder if it's too late to become a wetnurse.
We have 8 cats and when I was pregnant there sure as hell wasn't anybody who was going to do the cat litter for me. I wore gloves and a mask most of the time, but my mother works at our local SPCA so I did litter there too and I'm fine and my daughter isn't blind and doesn't have brain damage. I think they freak out and tell you all the dangers of cat shit just to cover their asses in case you would happen to possibly ingest infected cat feces.
Toliet train the cat! My friend told me how she did hers.
We're 2-3 years out from having kids and I may or may not already been thinking of how I can pull an Erin...
My relatively new neighbour asked us to feed their dogs while they were away for a week. No probs there. Then just before they left, included in the 'favour' that of course the cats would need looking after too. Right-o. What would this entail, my cat-less self asked? Well, feeding at night and locking away, letting out in the morning, oh, and cleaning up their poop. That they did all over the floor, apparently. Sweet, I replied, before inquiring about the issues of me being 4 mths pregnant and cleaning up after their grotty little kitties. "Well, you should probably just be careful" was the reply from our caring neighbour. Now, my main beef here was that aside from being pregnant, I have two little ones, two furry little ones, and I therefore already have a tonne of poop to dispose of daily. Plus they were very Hey sure, what's a little more?? All I can say is god bless my wonderful husband, who decided that it was best not to pose any risk to the unborn little one, and he took over the poop duties for the week. Awesome. So please don't uncover this cat poop precaution as a myth, cause its helping out mumma's everywhere!! Oh, and we did score a box of chocolate as a thankyou... and I did manage to scarf it before my husband even knew it existed. How unreal.
I'm hoping to milk this no cat litter thing for a while. Can you take this part down? Please??? If he finds out I can empty the litter box, all is lost!
I've managed not to change the litter for years - all of my "childbearing years" to be exact. Score!
The cat litter issue really got my dander up when I first read about it. The crazies will have you believe that not only should you relinquish all cat litter cleaning duties for fear of 'accidentally' ingesting the pooped-out cysts in the cat's poop (as in: woops! I just swallowed another cat turd by accident... my bad!), but that you should probably rid your house of your cats altogether, since their little furry paws tend to pick up a few particles of cat litter now and then, and track it elsewhere the house. Hogwash! And did you know - by the by - that toxoplasmosis is one of things like chicken pox, which if you've ever contracted it, you'll never get it again? Another interesting fact: most healthy people who actually get toxoplasma-whatsit don't even know it because their immune system is strong enough to fight it off.
This 'myth' is obviously a ploy from the doggy set out there to put canines ahead of felines. I say let the cats be, and for goodness' sake if you're worried about it, wear gloves or wash your hands after a litter clean-out! I mean, who cleans out the box without considering washing their hands afterward, anyway?
So I agree and disagree... My mom worked at a vet and had no idea she was pregnat so she was changing the little boxes for boarded kitties and wild kitties that were at the vet for some reason. She got toxoplasmosis and miscarried at 16 weeks and the condition of the baby was terrible. She even stopped handling the litter as soon as she found out she was pregnant which was at 8wks, but apparently the damage had been done.
So, I would say that as long as the kitty you are cleaning up after is up to date on shots, and is an indoor kitty only, im sure it is ok to fondle the poop as long as you either wear gloves or scrub your hands after :)
I've owned cats since we took in our first stray when I was 10yrs old. So for the last 21 yrs I have never been without at least one (usually 2 or 3) cats in the house and cleaned all those litter boxes. Yet when they did the routine blood screening in my first trimester (for vaccine titers and the like) I turned up negative for toxoplasmosis antibodies. So in all these years of caring for, hugging/kissing and cleaning the litter boxes of cats who were all strays/rescues and some of whom were indoor/outdoor cats, I never once came into contact with toxoplasmosis. Of course the doc tells me it is especially dangerous for me now b/c if I contract it now it will be harmful for the baby (whereas if I had the antibodies it would be ok since, like Beatrice said, once you contract it and have the antibodies you can't ever get it again). But I'm with you ladies - despite how unlikely I think it would be to suddenly contract it now from my 2 indoor kitties I've owned for the last 6yrs, I'm not going to argue. Why say "no" to a 9 month (or longer heh heh) break from litter duty?! :-)
Love this part of pregnancy!! I have not changed the kitty litter in 6 years because my hubby was another who forgot why it became his job. I'm sure as he'll not going to remind him :)
I lied and told my husband that it includes picking up dog poop too. Boy did I enjoy not picking up dog crap for a 14 months. It should have only lasted for 10 months, but for some reason he kept doing it after our baby was born...like somehow I still shouldn't pick up the poo cause I'm breastfeeding!?! I think my favorite part of my white lie was the sigh he made as he mumbled that he had to go pick up the poo. Enjoy honey...you're doing it for our child ;)
Julie, you are brilliant. Simply brilliant.
I actually had this discussion with my Parasitology professor. He said most people in the U.S have been exposed to Toxoplasmosis and have the antibodies, even if they haven't ever owned cats. The danger to pregnant women comes in when they are exposed to the parasite for the first time during pregnancy. So if you had outdoor cats pre-prego you are probably okay. But a lot of doctors don't check for the antibodies in pregnant women so you might not know for sure. This is one thing that would be better safe than sorry, especially if it gets you out of poopy chores :)
Shoot, as soon as we return from the Hospital after giving birth my Husband hands me the litter scoop...
Gadget Guy still cleans the cat box and The Boy is 8 month old. I can't breast feed (due to a breast reduction), but he still does it. He also does the dog poo too! I love kitties but hate the poo. Also, I clean the majority of the baby poo and cloth diaper management so it's a fair trade I think.
I have to say I am taking full advantage of this, but doubt I will bother through breastfeeding (i plan to breastfeed, just not force my husband to clean the box). Its like arguing with an 8yr old to do his homework instead of watching cartoons... I don't actually mind cleaning the litterbox and i do a much better job than my lazy husband who thinks once every 3 days is enough.
But honestly (don't be too grossed out) I used to actually lick my cat's head, mostly her ears. I was tested before and while I'm pregnant and i have no toxoplasmosis immunity so i guess in the 30 years of owning and loving cats, I have never caught it. My cats are indoor and don't eat raw anything so I think they are ok. I even had to tear open (with gloves) a piece of my cat's poop a couple weeks ago, while 3 months pregnant, to make sure the foreign object she had swallowed had fully passed through. Tested negative for toxo yesterday.
Cats rule.
Hey everyone- I'm a CVT (certified veterinary technician), and I'm with Emily. This was something we had to study in school because people ask ALL THE TIME. If you've been exposed before pregnancy to Toxoplasmosis, you're probably fine. But if you haven't and are exposed during pregnancy, the traveling little "bugs" will head for the fetus instead of becoming dormant in your adult muscle (Yeah, gross, but really, nobody notices). If you're truly worried, you can pay through the nose for a check of your blood for Toxo "titres"- basically antibodies against it- which would indicate previous exposure. However, I completely support the "Get out of the Litter Box Cleaning" group, so you didn't hear the facts from me! :-P
like julie, i've owned cats who have been primarily outdoor/indoor since i was born. since college i've taken in countless strays and have had 2 die of FIP (super sad). and i've cleaned ALL those litter boxes (hey, even if they are outdoor most of the time, if they are ever locked indoors you need a litter box). i used to stimulate tiny baby kittens' butts so they could poo, and i had to clean my really obese cat's butt as well because she couldn't reach it (yes, i know, and i loved her anyway). i've basically rolled around in cat shit from the cradle (though i've never licked their heads;an intriguing idea). so i thought for sure i must have been exposed before... if ANYONE should have been exposed, it should have been me.
imagine my surprise when, at 35 years of age, they drew my titers and found i had not been exposed! or at least if i had, i had never developed detectably antibodies, and i don't think that could be. it certainly wasn't from lack of my exposure to the feces of outdoor cats. those cats just must not have been exposed to toxoplasmosis for whatever reason, maybe the climate of where i've lived (northern california and brooklyn)?
anyway, i use myself as a case study to illustrate that:
a) actually, it's not that common to be previously exposed (although maybe i was just exposed at low enough levels that i developed no antibodies)
b) it's really, really, really hard to contract toxoplasmosis from wild cat poo.
but if you can get the menfolk to do it, please disregard all of this :)
I love your blog, and I USUALLY pass post on to him.... but this one Ms. Chicken ain't going nowhere. He got me preggo - he can scoop cat crap!
Cat shit was the hardest thing for me to give up during my pregnancies. It is scrum-dilly-umptious!!! DELISH ON CRACKERS!!
Thankyou! Thankyou for spreading THE TRUTH! I am a vet and it annoys the hell out of me when I have women say they had their husband put the cat in the car and they can't touch the cat box to bring it into the clinic, or be present in the same room as the cat for fear of toxoplasma. I've also had people say their doctor told them to lose the cat. (although I wonder if they never liked the cat in the first place and wanted an excuse).
I was tested pre pregnancy and I had not been exposed. You know what? No surprise there - I DON'T EAT CAT POO! I wash my hands before eating, after touching patients, after cleaning cat litter trays. So I had to be careful during pregnancy - you know, I had to keep washing my hands, or wear gloves. Easy!
My husband refuses to touch the cat litter unless I am away (and even then it's a struggle, I usually have to get my stepson to do it) - so I knew that this wasn't even an option for me when I became pregnant. But I also read up on it and realized that my chances of getting exposed to anything were pretty small, considering my cat is an indoor cat, and I don't make a habit out of feeding her raw meat anyway. Everything has been fine, and this way, I don't have to listen to my husband complain for 9 months that I'm making him do something he hates after convincing him to allow me to have cats in the first place. I'd much rather keep the peace! :)