Pregnancy and Cats: Cleaning the Litter Box and Avoiding Toxoplasmosis

Who would think there was a link between a cat's litter box and a pregnant woman's growing fetus? Well, there could be. There is a parasite that lives in mammals and birds called toxoplasma gondi and it can be potentially fatal to a pregnant woman's fetus. Toxoplasmosis is a disease that is in the muscles of the infected animal. It's spread when another animal eats the infected animal. Humans can get toxoplasmosis from eating raw or under cooked meat that contains toxoplasma gondi or drinking milk that hasn't been pasteurized. The parasite can live in the milk of animals.

Since house cats can also be carriers of the disease, their feces can shed the parasite. For this reason, litter boxes should be handled with care. While anyone is susceptible to the parasite, pregnant women should be extra careful when handling their pet's feces. As anyone knows, pregnant women are able to pass many things to the fetus through the blood stream, including parasites. In addition to the parasite being in an infected cat's feces, it can also be in soil. Therefore, pregnant women especially should be careful to always wear gardening gloves and wash their hands thoroughly after gardening. If cleaning a cat box isn't avoidable, then the same basic care must be taken. Wear disposable gloves, wash hands and don't inhale any of the dust from the litter box, since it can carry the parasite. Keeping the litter box very clean will also help to prevent the parasite from spreading.

Once a person is infected with toxoplasma gondi, the symptoms can be mild or even non existent. When a person does exhibit symptoms, they could be fever, blurred vision, swollen neck glands, fatigue or sore throat. A lot of these symptoms could easily be dismissed as simply being a cold or the flu. If a pregnant woman was either infected before pregnancy or during, the fetus could suffer by miscarrying, being premature or not growing properly. If the woman is able to carry the fetus to term, it could be born with brain defects, water on the brain or have problems with its eyes. Treatment is available, but the pregnant woman would have to see her doctor quickly before the parasite could have the chance to cause the problems above. It's important for any pregnant women to keep in contact with her doctor about any symptoms and seek treatment fast.

Since the easiest way to avoid toxoplasmosis is to avoid contact with the parasite, whether it be from the litter box, meat or soil, pregnant women should always wear gloves and wash their hands frequently when dealing with any of these things. The growing fetus is very vulnerable to anything its mother consumes or catches. Therefore, it might be easier to have someone else change the cat box until the delivery of the baby.