Do OBGYN's still routinely tell pregnant women to get rid of their cats?

Question

When I worked in a shelter I heard this all the time when people left their cats. When I told them it was unnecessary I usually was met with hostility, like"omg, I can't believe you would ask me to take ANY risk with my fetus" kind of thing. I always doubted the claim this was why they wanted to get rid of the cat, as so many people lie at shelters, but do Doc's still tell pregnant women to lose the cats often? I mean ones that are younger too? And if you were pregnant would /did you listen to them?

Yep, I would tell them the only danger was the litter box, and they could do it themselves in a pinch with gloves and hand washing and caution. I heard it EVERY WEEK at least once though, but suspected it was an excuse most of the time. I never believe anything the public says on face value in a shelter, people suck at times:(

Answer 1

no. they might suggest that someone else empty the litter box for you.

Answer 2

The only thing that a pregnant woman needs to worry about is the litterbox. Some kind of chemical reaction between the cat's waste and the litter can cause toxoplasmosis, which is indeed harmful to a fetus. However, like other people here have said, that can be easily routed by using gloves and washing hands before and after handling the litterbox. If I were pregnant, I'd probably ask my boyfriend (although he'd be my husband by then) to clean the box until the baby was born.

Other than the toxoplasmosis risk from the litter, there's no way that a cat can cause harm to a fetus.

Answer 3

I've never heard of that! The only thing I've heard about is not touching or changing the cat litter. And as far as cats sucking the breath out of babies,rubbish!There should be no reason you can't have a cat and a baby at the same time. I had four cats when I had my baby,and didn't have any problems at all. I did not change the litter when I was pregnant though.

Answer 4

I have never met any OB/Gyns who would tell a pregnant woman to get rid of her cats for that reason. The risk of toxoplasmosis is small, especially if you have indoor cats. But it is still a risk, so it IS recommended that someone else clean the litter box (that's how you get toxoplasmosis--from the poop, not the cat itself).

The only reason I can think of for a doctor to recommend getting rid of a cat is if your cat is nutso and doesn't behave around strangers/children/etc. You wouldn't want kitty taking out baby's eye with her claws.

Those people at the shelter were full of crap and just making excuses to make themselves feel better about it.

Answer 5

I never had an OB say this. I have 3 kids and at the time of all births we had 6 cats!! They did advise against changing the litter. My husband did that for me. I think those people are just using that as an excuse to unload their pets.

Answer 6

I have heard that some doctors will advise it due to the time spent with the new child and the litter box. Make sure that you have someone else clean the litter box and spend time with the animal so they do not get jealous.

Answer 7

I have never heard of anyone being told to "get rid" of their cat. In my experience, the only thing pregnant women cannot do is change the litter. I guess if you were single and didn't have anyone to help you change the cat's litter, that would be one reason to feel that you had to give your cat away.

Answer 8

Any sensible doc would advise the woman to take care around the litter. if possible get someone else to clean it out.

Ridiculous to have to get the cat out of your life!!!

And I do agree that people will sometimes say anything to make themselves out to be better than they are - eg I wqould never do this but I was told i had to kind of stuff!!!

Answer 9

I would tell my OBGYN to shut her trap. I wouldn't give up my cat for ANYTHING. I know that a dirty litterbox is the only 'risk', and that's easily taken care of, by wearing a dust mask, gloves, and washing hands after cleaning the box.

Answer 10

NO. They just say not to clean the litter pan themselves, or if they had to, wear disposable gloves. The risk is so tiny anyway, and almost none if the cat doesn't go outdoors. I remember this from when my sister was having her kids. They just told her no cleaning the litter pan.

Answer 11

I was never told that, however I was told that I should not be cleaning out the litter pan, or comming in contact with that kind of thing while pregnant, and to always keep my hands clean after contact with the cat.
That's all I heard.