Can pregnant women be around cat poop or the cat litter?

Answer 1

It is best NOT to change the litterbox while pregnant. If you do, wear gloves and a mask for extra safety.

It is not toxemia...it is toxoplasmosis.

Answer 2

Come on, cats are too high and mighty, of course they get to poop inside. Hahaha kidding! Really though, if you properly clean a litter box, it should NOT smell. This includes scooping daily (or more often if you have more then 1 cat), regularly completely changing (dumping) out the litter, and washing the actual box. You're also not supposed to keep a litter box longer then a year as the urine can seep into the plastic. Your friend may need a better lesson in kitty hygiene. But you can train a cat to go outside or use the toilet. Not kidding at all. My grandparents have owned dozens of cats and not once in 20 years have I seen them own a litter box. Their cats are trained to go outside. But that's not so easy when you have strictly indoor cats. As for the toilet, I've only ever seen one cat in my life do this but I know many others do and it is definitely possible. It just has to be litter box trained first. Oh and yes, scented or odor eliminating litter types do help. Perhaps your friend should switch to a multi-cat household litter? That's what I use... Purina Max Multi-Cat. But you can't soley rely on them, you need proper littler box hygiene! :) Oh and the pregnant woman disease is called Toxoplasmosis. This is a bigge because it deforms the fetus. Google a picture of it... it is not pretty! It's a very serious but RARE to catch from a little box. If a cat is infected it only sheds it ONCE! Then after that its no risk at all. But for a woman to get it she'd have to scoop the litter box, get it on her hands, not wash her hands then ingest it somehow by putting her fingers in her mouth or getting it on some food then eating that food.

Answer 3

Yes, you'd have to touch the poo to get anything (provided your cat is even a carrier). The stuff they warn about is more likely to be gotten from working in a garden or handling raw meat than in the litter box.

A cat that's been exposed and is a carrier (about 2%) can only shed the bacteria for a two week period, then they don't shed it any more, even if exposed to the same thing again. It's a very small window.

Actually, you can use the litter box as an excuse to have someone else clean it, when you're pregnant, but the chance of catching anything is pretty nil. Washing hands afterwards or using rubber gloves are the two approved methods of keeping sterile.

Answer 4

typically yes because the risk is soooo small - the risk is a parasite called toxioplasmosis.. a cat has to get it from a mouse who is shedding it..the mouse can only shed it once in a lifetime.. it would have to be the cats first encounter as the cats will only shed it once in a lifetime as well (so any cat who has encountered it already will not be shedding it) and even then you would have to touch the poop then your mouth at precisely the right time of pregnacy to be effected..

if you have had cats for a while you have probably been exposed and are at NO RISK..
if you are concerned simply wear gloves...or have somebody else change it..

Answer 5

best resources for zoonotic diseases are vets -who knows animal diseases & parasites better than they? check with your vet with q's like these - they can answer more q's along these lines than many human docs.

cat feces can potentially carry a microscopic parasite called toxoplasmosis, that could put an unborn baby at risk of birth defects if the mother is exposed to it for the first time while pregnant. (being exposed to it means it has to be ingested orally.) cats can shed the eggs in their poo for 2 weeks right after they were infected (by eating another critter or its poo that had it too), after that it is not shed any more. if it IS in the cat poo, it MUST be there for 3 days in order to break open and infect someone. the majority of humans have been exposed to it already (75% of us is the estimate), and if the mom-to-be was exposed to it before ever being pregnant, it causes no problems at all to the unborn baby. (kind of like chicken pox - baby's okay if mom had it before, but it will damage the fetus if she catches it during pregnancy.)

because cats only shed the eggs for 2 wks in their lifetime, and it then has to be in the open for 3 days, it is not likely to cause a problem for someone who's pregnant as long as they use precautions: make sure cat poo is scooped every day, wear rubber gloves & a face mask, wash well afterwards. if in doubt, use a self-cleaning litter box or have it done by someone else. (it's a pretty good excuse to get out of litter box duty for 9 months!)

and as for the person who feels cats are bad to have with babies, i had 6 cats at the time my daughter was born. not one cat tried to smother her, steal her breath, lie on her face for warmth, etc. - don't fall for the old wives tales. my cats (even the cranky one) were curious but kept their distance and were well behaved. they weren't that interested in cuddling with a noisy, smelly little creature that kicked. (their opinion of the baby, not mine, lol)

Answer 6

Nope! Stay away from the kitty litter I believe it's called toxemia that you can get from being around kitty litter. Well having it in the same room with you shouldn't be a problem but changing the litter box is strictly off limits. I'm not sure about cat poop--but I'd say stay away from it. Hope it helps :)

Answer 7

no there is some bacteria or something inside cat poop which can severly disable your unborn baby. Keep away! Cats are a bad pet to have if you are pregnant or have a baby as they can often sleep on the babys face for warmth

Answer 8

No. As far as the other answers that say it is ok, why risk it? It is best to turn scooping duty over to comeone else for the duration of the pregnancy.