Should I keep my cat??? Please advise!

I just talked to another female doctor today about my plan to become pregnant. She suggested I stay away from the cat until the baby is bron. She said not only the cat stool may contain toxo, but also the scratches onto my skin by the cat may cause miscarriage or other infections. She also said if I really want to keep the cat, I'd need to be very very careful so that I won't get a single scratch from the cat.

My cat is just over 1 year's old. She's a lovely lovely Birman. She's pretty close to me; always wants to play with me. When I wake up in the morning, I call her name and she then walks near my bed and waits for me to pat her. She's a indoor cat and has never left the house before. I would think she's pretty "clean" in terms of toxo.

Now after hearing what the doctor has told me, i'm upset and worried. I really don't want to leave my cat. The fact is it is impossible to find some one who can take care of my cat for 9 months. I know I could find a commercial place but I can't afford it for 9 months or more.

What should I do??? Any one can share the experience? Please advise me what I can do. Thanks heaps in advance.

Off the top of my head....Toxo is spread by contact with the faeces of the cat. If you cat has toxo then you probably have immunity to it already. Enlist someone else to do the kitty litter or wear gloves while doing it. Wash your hands well afterwards and before eating.
Cat scratch fever is not that common and as far as I am aware no more of a risk during pregnancy. It is also usually quite benign and goes away by itself.

I vet nursed throughout my pregnancy including cleaning litter trays (with gloves) as I was likely to have been exposed and I did what I could to reduce my risk. My guess is she has never owned a cat. Getting rid of your cat is quite extreme unless you are also immunocompromised or the like.

I would get another opinion if you are worried. Perhaps your cats vet can give you another opinion, especially if they are a female with children.
Hope this helps.

Double post

:o
Okay.... I will try to explain my shock.

Toxoplamosis is a viral infection, so the actual method of transmission is faeces to mouth, so you have to ingest faeces from your cat to catch it. That saying, its not unheard of for a cat to groom and get some faecal matter on its fur. A good idea is for your partner to clean the litter tray daily, or if you are left to do it, use gloves. When you pat and cuddle your cat, wash your hands afterwards. I am a vet nurse, and have handled cats with toxoplasmosis and I don't have any antibodies to it, meaning I haven't come in contact with it. I have been changing litter trays for over 10 years of mulitple cats. As long as you use safe handling you will be fine.

If you have an indoor cat, the only worry then would be if you have mice or lizards, they are what would spread toxo to your cat.
If you garden, you would actually have more of a chance of catching toxo.

Now the scratches one... I've never heard that one? Yes you can get infections from cat scratches, BUT the scratch would have to be very deep, and if you clean it out quickly and with iodine or something the likelihood of causing that degree of infection is quite low.

I guess there is always a risk, but I would think it was a very low risk. I was never told not to handle cats at work, I still did and I got scratched... I never heard anythink like that, or to that ummmmm extreme?

ETA: snap krys

Asking you to get rid of your cat seems a bit extreme to me!

The only precaution I was told to take was not to handle (clean out) the cat poo from the litter.

I friend of mine said that her doctor did some sort of a blood test to see if she had been exposed to that toxic thing that's in cat's poo - she hadn't and she didn't need to worry about it for her pregnancy.

I've never heard of cat scratches causing problems for an unborn baby... Have you tried googling it?

I'd be thinking about a different doctor maybe....

I reckon millions of women have contact with cats when pregnant. If yours is an indoors cat (as oppossed to one that is catching rats at the local tip) I reckon you'll be fine.

Well as everyone else has said, your doctors reaction sounds very extreme. I've had a couple of scratches from my cat this pregnancy (accidently when she's climbing on me!) and I've never been told it could cause any harm to my baby, and we're both fine! I make sure I wash my hands thoroughly after petting her and that's it. My Mother has had cats throughout all 4 pregnancies and we've lived with cats ever since and my siblings and I are pretty normal, I think :rofl:

I can't believe she'd even suggest rehoming your cat! Seriously, I think her suggestion is a very large overreaction. I hope you keep your kitty :( Just be more thorough with washing your hands and get your partner to change the litter or wear gloves if you have to do it.

i have two cats and a dog and i followed the whole 'no cleaning of litter tray' (not that hard to pass up! :D). it was never suggested that my furbabies had to exit the premises during my pregnancy.
like with many things in pregnancy just have extra attention to the details and avoid the poo...

i also used a bit of caution when in the garden as my fav garden bed was also their fav toilet...ewww.

The GP went OTT i think. maybe she doesnt like cats! my kitties also hang out in the house most of the time and share the bed. absolutely no dramas there.

please keep the kitty! :)

Another Vet nurse here that has no antibodies to toxo meaning over the 12 years working with cats I have never contracted it. I don't need to repeat what the others have already said.
The first thing that came to my head was this Dr is full of **** LOL. Cats cop the blame for a lot of things. She is obviously way behind in the area of cats/pets in pregnancy. Her advise is extremely over the top & I would either not discuss it with her any further or find someone else who isn't so extream.

My second thought after reading this GP's advise was to PMSL!

I couldn't sleep well last night and my husband and I didn't talk much to each other either. I know we both were upset about what the doctor told us.

After reading your response I feel better now. I'll talk to another doctor about this. I'll make sure I wash my hands thoroughly after I play with her and try stay away from the litter tray.

Thank you all once again!:)

Another thing, you could always request to have a blood test to check for antibodies, if you have always had or been aorund cats, there is a chance you may have had it already. I think its like having a cold.
But thats said, The chances are pretty slim given you have myself & other vet nurses working with cats & their poo everyday who haven't had it.

Personally It really isn't something that needs to be discussed with your GP. Maintain a healthy & hygenic partenership with your cat & you should have no need for concern.

GCD, I can't believe you were given such misinformed advice (hmmm, correction, I CAN believe it but YKWIM lol). I was also told that my cats (we have two) would, without hesitation, try to kill my baby (by sitting on her and suffocating her, or by trying to scratch her - territory thing I think they were trying to get at...).

Anyway, during the pregnancy I just stayed clear of the cat litter (got Shel to change it hehehe!), and always washed my hands after patting her... no harm done. As for now, well my cats have never so much as tried to sit on her! They pretty much steer clear of her as she makes too much noise for them PMSL. If you take safe precautions you'll be right (best not to let the cats in the room while you are sleeping at night, thats pretty much all we do, I am always nearby when Jazz is sleeping during the day, and no cats in at night means I don't have to worry that they'll try to snuggle her lol).

I would keep the cat - just be really careful to wash your hands thoroughly after you touch her and take extra precaution if you change her tray (or better still have someone else do that for you).

I can understand why you were upset about what your doctor said. Some people don't understand that pets are part of the family not just 'animals'.

Good luck with ttc.

I would keep the cat, Ours is an outside cat and is more likely exposed, i didnt have a litter tray to clean, but stopped digging in the garden... From what i can understand digging can actually be worse as other cats in the area may poo and you then are unwittingly exposed.

I think that the doctor was going a bit over the top and doing some scaremongering...
I would never have considered getting rid of our cat.

goodluck :)

Ditto to what every one else has already said. No need to repeat it all. ;)
I kept my kitty throughout my pg and had no problems. Get a second opinion before ditching the cat. :lol: All it takes is common sense on your part in regards to washing hands etc as well as keeping an eye on pets around babies.

Good luck and please keep kitty :pray:

I just had a quick chat with another doctor nearby. She rekons it's ok as long as I stay away from the cat's litter tray and garden bed. She also suggested if I'm really concerned I can take my cat to the vet for a blood test to see if she's already toxo infected. I think I may do that just to reassure she's good.

think I should take a blood test myself for antibodies. :doh:

What a useful thread! I was just thinking these things myself.

We have two cats and I couldn't imagine getting rid of them. They are my children also!

You poor darling. I can't imagine what you thought when the doctor said those things to you.

Everyone's suggestions seem very common sense, and certainly what I've been doing. I clean the litter as husband claims he will vomit and have been using gloves. No accidental faeces in my mouth so far!

During my pregnancy my DH did the kitty litter. I still let the cats sit on my lap but as I got bigger they wouldn't do it as much. Sometimes they would pounce on my belly if they saw it move. As the others have said, as long as someone else does the kitty litter you should be fine.

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I clean the litter as husband claims he will vomit and

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How will he go with changing nappies then? :lol:

I bred cats when I was pg to DS2. I cleaned litter trays (with gloves) and handled cats and kittens throughout. I spoke to my Dr at length about it at the time, and he reckoned that if I took proper pre-cautions, such as wearing gloves and washing my hands often, the chances of catching toxo was slim.

I think sometimes Drs go overboard with medical advice, not realising the family pet is as much a part of the family as the husband. :)

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How will he go with changing nappies then? :lol:

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Who can say really! I think he has this idea that his mum will come and do it for him!!!!

We've got plenty of time to work on these 'issues'.

We have 5 cats and 4 kids .... need I say more? ;)

If anyone told me to get rid of my cats I'd tell them to go jump!!

Im pretty sure you have more chance of getting toxo from raw meat (like offal) then your pet cat.

I seriously wouldn't let it bother you. I wouldn't be getting the cat tested either. Unnecessary expense if you ask me.

mmm I would more likely get yourself tested than your cat. Its HEAPS cheaper ;) and it will let you know, if you've had your cat this far, you would know if your cat had toxo... its like gastro in a cat, and in normal adults.

Thanks every one for your suggestion and kind words. I will keep my cat and get myself tested. :D

what a whole lot of crap! keep ur cat, i would never give mine away. just get ur partner to change the kitty litter and if it makes u feel better wash ur hands after contact with ur cat. Dont stress!!

Like Christy and FionaJill, I am another Vet Nurse who has recently been tested for toxo antibodies and my test came back negative too. So in all the years I've been nursing and cleaning cat litter trays, I've not once contracted toxo.

Also, toxo takes more than 24 hours to become infectious after it is shed in faeces, so as long as the litter is being cleaned daily then it shouldn't be a risk. I use gloves just in case though. And like the other girls have said, just wash your hands regularly after playing/cuddling with the cat (which health-wise we should be doing anyway :) ).