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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / January 2005Advice - Crazy Cat Lady and pg
I am 5 1/2 weeks pregnant and as you may know from my posts, a certified Crazy Cat Lady. I have 6 cats and one permanent foster and do a lot of fostering: kittens, momma and kittens, semi-feral, cat needs a break from the shelter, etc. And I also volunteer nearly 40 hrs a week at the shelter. I have limited some of my shelter activities, I am not cleaning cages or lifting heavy bags of litter or food. I still handle cats, do meds, dishes, and my admin stuff. I haven't had a foster (besides Ana the permanent one) in a while. DH vetoed my request to bring home a foster, a little 8 month old kitten with diarrhea, didn't think it would be a good idea. I'm wondering if I should still foster while I'm pg? The fosters are mostly my responsibility as far as care and clean-up. DH plays with them. What about my own cats' litterboxes? I've still been scooping them. My cats don't go outside or eat mice or raw meat. Is toxoplasmosis even a real concern or just something they bring up to scare pg women? Any advice on how to get the cats adjusted to a baby? Of course that's a long ways off, but it doesn't hurt to start early.  Signature-Kelly kelly at farringtons dot net "Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG >I am 5 1/2 weeks pregnant and as you may know from my posts, a certified >Crazy Cat Lady. ... Is toxoplasmosis even a real concern or just >something they bring up to scare pg women? > -Kelly Congratulations on your pregnancy. It sounds like you are doing really well and not too much morning sickness, etc. As for the toxoplasmosis, ask you doctor about a blood test that can tell if you are already immune. Annie > Congratulations on your pregnancy. It sounds like you are doing really > well and not too much morning sickness, etc. Thanks! No not yet, but I'm supposed to be taking it easy due to some other issues. > As for the toxoplasmosis, ask you doctor about a blood test that can tell > if you are already immune. That's a good idea. With the amount of cats I've come in contact with, I may have already had it. Signature-Kelly kelly at farringtons dot net "Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG >That's a good idea. With the amount of cats I've come in contact with, I >may have already had it. Congratulations Kelly! You probably already know more about this than I do, but in addition to using gloves and taking extra care when changing the litterbox, I've heard that tox. can be airborne. I wonder if the risk is high enough to warrant wearing a mask when you're changing litter? Wouldn't be that much trouble (although you might scare the cats!! :-) Sherry > What about > my own cats' litterboxes? I've still been scooping them. My > cats don't go outside or eat mice or raw meat. Is toxoplasmosis > even a real concern or just something they bring up to scare pg > women? Congratulations Kelly! I think the concerns over toxo are worth taking precautions against. While it might or might not be common, the health of your unborn barekid is worth the precautions. If you do have to scoop at all, wear rubber gloves and wash your hands well when you finish. SignatureCheryl > Congratulations Kelly! I think the concerns over toxo are worth > taking precautions against. While it might or might not be common, > the health of your unborn barekid is worth the precautions. If you do > have to scoop at all, wear rubber gloves and wash your hands well > when you finish. Thanks :-) I know DH will do the litterboxes if I ask. I'm weird in that I would rather do them myself, as DH has not done a thorough job in the past when I've needed him to do them. Maybe I'll have to teach him Litterbox Scooping 101. Signature-Kelly kelly at farringtons dot net "Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG > > Congratulations Kelly! I think the concerns over toxo are worth > > taking precautions against. While it might or might not be common, [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > I've needed him to do them. Maybe I'll have to teach him Litterbox Scooping > 101. Pfft. Good luck. Testosterone's against you. My husband will NOT scoop often enough when I am out of town. It disgusts me and I can't even guilt him into it. >> What about >> my own cats' litterboxes? I've still been scooping them. My [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > have to scoop at all, wear rubber gloves and wash your hands well > when you finish. It's a very good idea to wear gloves when handling veggies and meat as well as those seem to be a larger source of toxo than litterboxes (or so I have read). Avoid cleaning litter boxes, also touching/preparing raw meat as it too poses the risk of toxo.. >> What about >> my own cats' litterboxes? I've still been scooping them. My [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > have to scoop at all, wear rubber gloves and wash your hands well > when you finish. > I am 5 1/2 weeks pregnant and as you may know from my posts, a certified > Crazy Cat Lady. I have 6 cats and one permanent foster and do a lot of > fostering: kittens, momma and kittens, semi-feral, cat needs a break from > the shelter, etc. And I also volunteer nearly 40 hrs a week at the shelter. Congrats on the pregnancy, and wow on your commitment to animals =) > I have limited some of my shelter activities, I am not cleaning cages or > lifting heavy bags of litter or food. I've also heard that pregant ladies should avoid litter box contents, even of their own cats. You probably know this, but I thought I'd mention it. > I still handle cats, do meds, dishes, and my admin stuff. I haven't > had a foster (besides Ana the permanent one) in a while. DH vetoed my [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > cats don't go outside or eat mice or raw meat. Is toxoplasmosis even > a real concern or just something they bring up to scare pg women? I'm gonna be obnoxious and ask if you've talked to your doctor about this. Also, I've found recently that a lot of doctors are pretty clueless about cats (one sneered at me when I pointed out that dander, not fur, was the major contributor to allergies; I guess a mere layperson couldn't possibly know more than he). Make sure you have a doctor who does know about cats, and who understands how much you care about yours. > Any advice on how to get the cats adjusted to a baby? Of course > that's a long ways off, but it doesn't hurt to start early. Can't help you there =/ Signaturemonique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!* Happy to hear that Eros got a better home that where he wasn't wanted! > Happy to hear that Eros got a better home that where he wasn't wanted! Not sure how to parse the second half of that sentence, but I'm happy that he found some humans who can care for him, too. Signaturemonique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!* > Congrats on the pregnancy, and wow on your commitment to animals =) Thank you! I'm addicted to the shelter. I can't go a few days without visiting :-) > I've also heard that pregant ladies should avoid litter box contents, > even of their own cats. You probably know this, but I thought I'd > mention it. I know.. I stopped doing the shelter litterboxes. I should probably bite the bullet and ask DH to do our cats' boxes. > I'm gonna be obnoxious and ask if you've talked to your doctor about this. > Also, I've found recently that a lot of doctors are pretty clueless about [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > than he). Make sure you have a doctor who does know about cats, and who > understands how much you care about yours. That is so true. My doctor is really nice and I'm sure she will understand that my cats are staying, period. We get calls all the time from people who's doctors told them to give up the cats for various reasons. Signature-Kelly kelly at farringtons dot net "Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG Kelly, here's a start on the intro question: www.metrokc.gov/lars/animal/educate/ cassidy/cat/cat14.htm I have a recent article in the Cat Watch publication re: toxoplasma, but I have neither a scanner nor computer. IIRC, it says (referring to your own cats) that if you scoop the litterbox daily, you have no worry of infection, that there is more dang er in food handling. Paulette Kelly, here's a link that gives essntially the same info as Cornell re toxo: www.nbc4.tv/pettalk/1940683/detail.html > Kelly, here's a link that gives essntially the same info as Cornell re > toxo: > > www.nbc4.tv/pettalk/1940683/detail.html Thanks! Very informative. Signature-Kelly kelly at farringtons dot net "Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG Tox is a real concern - wear a particle mask (to avoid dust) and gloves when you scoop. I wouldn't foster - just too many unknowns. -L. > Tox is a real concern - wear a particle mask (to avoid dust) and gloves > when you scoop. I wouldn't foster - just too many unknowns. > > -L. I finally did ask DH to scoop and he has been the past couple days. I haven't gone down to the basement to check up on him either, I'm just trusting that all will be OK. I'm so paranoid about everything , I really don't need one more worry. Fostering will be hard to give up... I just love it. But, it is the smart thing to do :-( Signature-Kelly kelly at farringtons dot net "Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG
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