Is it true that keeping a cat makes it difficult for you to get pregnant? & bull; hello healthy

If you are planning to get pregnant, you may often hear people say that having a cat makes you sterile. Or if you are pregnant, it may not be the first time you hear people say that having a cat hanging around the house will affect your pregnancy and future babies.

A healthy and smooth pregnancy is certainly the dream of every woman, including you. But on the other hand, you also don't have the heart to kick your sweetheart out of the house. After all, your pet cat is part of the family. Pets give you so much love and happiness like your own children.

Don't worry, you can now sit quietly while holding your pet cat. It's okay to keep a cat hanging around the house as long as you are planning a pregnancy or are pregnant. But you have to be extra careful when cleaning the kitten's cage and litter box. It's not because your cat is dangerous, it's a single-celled parasite called toxoplasma that cats can carry.

What is the effect if pregnant women contract Toxoplasma?

Cat litter can contain an infection-causing parasite called toxoplasma. Toxoplasmosis is usually not a problem for most people. Symptoms are similar to the common cold. Individuals infected with toxo may experience low-grade fever, cough, headache, fatigue, and swollen neck glands. If you contract Toxoplasma while you are pregnant, or even months before you become pregnant, this parasite can cause serious birth defects such as eye and brain damage to the fetus. About half of babies infected with toxo are born prematurely.

Other damage can occur weeks, months or years after birth, including damage to the liver and spleen, deafness or hearing loss, jaundice, eye damage and vision problems, diarrhea, vomiting, eating problems, and skin rashes. There is also a possible link between toxo infection and infertility, as well as miscarriage, in women who are planning a pregnancy.

You may become infected with toxo while handling cat litter and not wash your hands immediately and then ingest traces of the virus when you touch food, but this is very unlikely. The risk of contracting Toxoplasma during pregnancy is low. If you have had a cat at home for a long time, it is very likely that you have had toxo before - this is a good sign! Once infected, the body will automatically build antibodies to protect itself from repeated infections. So once you've got toxo (which you may not have realized before), you can't get reinfected. If laboratory tests prove that you already have toxo antibodies, it is almost unlikely that exposure during and near the time of pregnancy will cause adverse health effects for your future baby.

Why is it less likely to get toxo from your pet cat?

Cats, like humans, can only catch toxo once. Therefore, your sweetheart only spreads parasites once while in your care. Cats get the toxoplasma parasite from eating mice or birds infected with toxo, or if they eat raw meat for their daily diet. After approximately 3-10 days, the cat will be susceptible to spreading parasites that are implanted in its feces for two weeks. However, parasites are not transmitted immediately after your cat has pooped. It takes one to five days for cat feces to become highly contagious. Of course this is assuming that your cat is contracting toxo for the first time when you are planning / are pregnant.

Relax. You cannot get toxo directly from your cat. The risk of direct transmission from this cat will increase if coupled with the assumption that you have never contracted toxo before, for example if you have only kept a cat very close to your pregnancy planning, or you have left your cat's kennel or house strewn with cat litter for more than a day.. It also assumes that you are cleaning your cat's litter box directly with your tongue or scooping the poo with your bare hands. After that, I make sandwiches for lunch without washing my hands.

But still, according to the Center for Disease Control toxo is the leading cause of death from food poisoning. This parasite is transmitted through the mouth, so touching the mouth with contaminated hands can lead to infection. Even if you don't have a cat, you can still come into contact with toxo from handling or eating raw meat, or not washing your hands before eating after touching soil infected with toxo. These organisms are mainly found in pork, beef, and mutton. Toxo is also found in birds and mice.

How to prevent Toxoplasma transmission from raising cats

The likelihood of contracting Toxoplasma during pregnancy is low. And if you have a cat, there is an even higher chance that you have contracted the disease, and this will build up immunity against the parasite. Your prospective baby will likely not be at any risk.

But if you've never had toxo or if you're not sure, it's very important to protect yourself from now on. If the parasite crosses the placenta in the first trimester of pregnancy (especially in the second month), toxo can seriously damage the fetus. Problems can range from preterm birth or low birth weight, serious central nervous system defects, and even stillbirths. Don't let this information haunt you. Use this as a way to protect both of you.

Be a wise mother-to-be and follow these steps:

• If your cat is not infected, it's okay to keep them at home: Don't let them eat raw meat and keep them indoors as often as possible (where they can't eat rats or birds that may be infected and don't socialize with stray cats that may be infected).
• Get away from your cat's poo box! Cages and poop boxes should be cleaned every day, but ask someone else to do it.
• Stay away from stray cats and don't handle a cat you are unfamiliar with
• Avoid gardening on the ground which may be contaminated with cat litter. Always wear special gardening gloves.
• Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly (soil where vegetables and fruit fell during harvest may be contaminated).
• Don't eat raw or undercooked meat. Cook all meat thoroughly. Raw, undercooked, or preserved meat is a major risk factor for Toxoplasma infection.
• Practice good personal hygiene. Always wash your hands after handling animal or human feces, before and after preparing food, and before and after gardening

These precautions are powerful enough to prevent you from contracting Toxoplasma, even if you have an infected cat. However, if you are still worried you may have toxoplasmosis, consult your doctor for a blood test to find out if you are immune to this disease. In addition, you should also take your cat to the veterinarian for tests for toxoplasmosis.

If your cat tests positive for the toxoplasmosis parasite, you may decide to place him in animal care or leave them to live temporarily with someone else for up to six weeks until he is no longer contagious.