It is Safe to Have a Cat While You are Pregnant?
If you have a cat, but now you wonder if it’s safe to keep her if you’re pregnant, you can relax. You do not have to give up your cat.
Precautions?
You can keep your cat, but if you are pregnant, you should make some precautions. One of the precautions you should make is to stop cleaning the litter box. You should not clean the litter box because many cats have toxoplasmosis, and you can catch it from your cat.
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease that cats can carry and pass along when they eliminate in the litter box or garden. The parasite that causes toxoplasmosis is very common.
How is Toxoplasmosis Transmitted?
Toxoplasmosis can be transmitted from a cat to a human via the cat's waste products. Toxoplasmosis can also come from eating or even just mishandling raw or undercooked meat.
How to Protect Yourself
The list below contains simple ways to protect yourself
- Have someone else clean the litter box while you are pregnant.
- Wear gloves when cleaning the litter box.
- Do not touch any part of your body when cleaning the litter box.
- Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.
- Remove bowel movements from the litter box within a 24-hour period of their being deposited.
- Rinse the litter box with scalding water once weekly.
- Do not take in or touch stray cats or unfamiliar cats.
