The Truth behind the Notion: Pregnant Women should not be around Cats

Pregnancy is that time of your life when people advise you lot of things. Since it is your first time, even you research a lot to find out the precautions to be taken. Lot of fact finding, opinions, and pure fiction is added to the entire pregnancy thing and then you hear from someone: pregnant women should not be around cats.

Now imagine a scenario:

You are sitting in a kitty party enjoying with your friends and they get to learn about your pregnancy. In their excitement lot of questions are bombarded on you like: the change in your exercise regimen, medical history of your family, and even thoughts of whether you are going to keep your feline during the pregnancy phase or not. Although you seem surprised by the question, if your answer is positive, it leads to a panic situation and one of your friends warns you about the precautions to be kept during pregnancy if you decide to keep your cat along.

One friend shares her personal experience and says that changing the litter box during pregnancy is a big NO!! She furthers says vehemently “Don’t even think about going close to the cat litter box”. This makes you have after thoughts of whether you should keep your furry friend with you during pregnancy or not. On one hand, you love your kitty a lot, but you also do not want your unborn child to face any complications. A difficult proposition to deal...

A lot of research has been conducted on cats and their effect on pregnant women. These researchers conclude that with a few basic safety precautions pregnant women do not have to give up on their feline friend during pregnancy….A sigh of relief, isn’t it?

The only health concern with having a cat during pregnancy is that they can carry a deadly parasite called Toxoplasma gondii which can affect the life of the unborn baby. Normally, this parasite is found in the cat’s poo, but it can even be contracted through uncooked meat, unwashed produce and ingestion of oocytes while gardening...This is usually from other animal.

How Does Toxoplasma Gondii Affect The Unborn Child Of Pregnant Women?

A cat sheds the organism in her feces, which takes 1 to 5 days before the organism to develop into an infectious state. After that period there is no threat of infection. Women that are exposed to this organism for the very first time during pregnancy can pass it to the unborn child that can cause miscarriage, severe deformity, and health defects like vision loss in the baby. 

Precautions to Prevent Toxoplasma Gondii From Affecting Your Unborn Baby

• Wear gloves while gardening or working on soil or sand due to the risk of infection from neighborhood cat feces exposure to your unborn child. If possible, leave the gardening duties to someone else during pregnancy.
• Ask someone else to change the litter box on a daily basis during the pregnancy so that you are protected from cat feces exposure. If you do not have any option, perform the litter duty by wearing gloves and then wash your hands completely after the process is completed. Remember, it takes toxoplasmosis cysts 48 hours of exposure to become infected in the litter box.
• Before ingesting fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc. from your garden wash them completely.
• Giving raw meat to your feline during your pregnancy is a big NO!! While cooking meat, wear gloves and wash your hands completely once the cooking process is over.
• Never handle or eat raw meat during pregnancy.

Take these sensible precautions during pregnancy and save your kitty from getting homeless during your pregnancy period. Remember the great camaraderie that you share with your cat and accept the fact that she will be there with you during and after the birth of your child.