Cat owners and pregnancy- give me the scoop!

[Celticqueen]

Pun very much intended. We have a cat for the first time in our life. The kitty litter stays in our living room, where I am constantly smelling it. I want to know where you personally keep your kitty litter, and if it affects your life like it does mine. I am reading conflicting information on cat poop on the internet in terms of pregnancy.

Some say it's fine to have it just "there". Others say you can smell it but just don't touch it. Who to believe? Should our litter be completely out of sight out of mind? A space in the garage or something with a little door?

Completely new to the whole "cat thing", let alone pregnancy and cats together.

Thanks in advance!!!

[starrlamia]

from my understanding just dont handle the poop, and if you do, wash your hands well before doing anything else!

[katelove]

We keep our litter tray in the bathroom at the moment. In a couple of weeks we'll be moving and the litter tray will then live in the laundry.

Toxaplasmosis is transmitted by the oro-faecal method. So you won't get it from smelling the litter. I would suggest wearing disposable gloves if you need to change the the tray while you're pregnant. And, as the PP said, wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. 

Also make sure the cat stays off any food preparation surfaces and wash any scratches immediately with warm, soapy water as cats may have faecal particles on their claws.

[MN BabyDust]

Is the smell bothering you? I found just the odor of the whole thing to bother me more during pregnancy. Health risks aside, having it in your living space can be really irritating.  I have 3 cats and tried just about every litter I could when I lived in a small apartment. We dedicated a closet just to the litter boxes and didn't store anything in it that we cared too much about since after years it will smell gross. I settled on Scoop Away complete performance, although the very best seems to be the Fresh Step crystals, but they are expensive. Now I sometimes just mix some crystals in to the clay stuff help with odor.

[cparkly]

Our cats' litter boxes are in the basement laundry room. The litter is scooped every day (by my patient, sweet DP) and changed once a week, but during pregnancy I am especialy sensitive to smells, so I do not want their boxes anywhere near my living area. The cats do not mind using the boxes in the basement, they seem to enjoy having that area as their own refuge from our sometimes overwhelming toddler and corgi combination.

[amaayeh]

Our boxes are in a closet and we keep the door ajar with one of those foam things from Babies R Us that keeps kids from slamming doors and then a door stop to keep it from opening too much.  I do occasionally smell it right after they poop, but it's no big deal.  I've always scooped the poop myself (dh seems incapable of remembering) and I've never had a problem.  I use a metal scoop and never touch anything.  Like pp said, I wash my hands with extremely hot water and for a long period of time afterwards every single time.  Never had a problem.

My cats don't go outside so I'm at much less of a risk than an outdoor kitty.  If your kitties are indoors, you are more likely to get toxoplasmosis from the dirt outside (transferred by mice, rats, and cat poop of cats that have eaten said mice and rats). 

[CrazyCatLady]

I have had multiple cats during all of my pregnancies and I am always the one to scoop the litter daily.  I am good about washing my hands but my midwife told me in 2006, that it was airborne and that I should also wear a mask when scooping.  My mom was told that during her pregnancy too.  I have never used a mask, but I am now wondering why our midwifes thought that?

I've also been told that toxaplasmosis can only be in cats that have been outside.  My current cat has never been outside in all his five years, so I am even less worried this pregnancy than I was during the others.  Now I wonder if that is more misinformation or what?

[stellabluz]

I scoop pregnant. The risk from tox. from cats is mainly with outdoor cats, but the dust from most commercial cat litter's is major yuck with bad chemicals for us and cats. We use a bio-degradable, safer brand from Costco. It's a clumper and really fine which I find does make a more of a "tracking" mess though~ I would add to the washing of hands, just an over all more eco-animal-people friendly kind of litter.

[SubliminalDarkness]

We kept the litter box in the closet. And I scooped pregnant. I grew up around cats. I figure I've probably been exposed and have immunity. Besides, the risk is low as long as you practice basic hygiene. Wash hands right after, don't touch your face. Simple as that. 

[vtechmom]

The airborne part is true, sorta.  The thing is that most cat litter tends to be dusty, so you can inhale the dust/fecal matter while scooping the litter box.  So it's not airborne in the way that just going into the same room as the litter box and smelling it can cause you to get it, but inhaling some dust that gets into the air while cleaning the box can cause infection.

As a tech I spend way to much of my time working with cat poop, lol.  That said I'll handle it (with gloves) for things like a fecal exam or when doing an enema but I won't change a litter box.  With a fecal exam or enema I'm dealing with JUST the fecal matter, no real risk of it being airborne and I just wear gloves and wash my hands after.  With a litter box it can become airborne in the dust and that isn't as easy to protect against.  If I absolutely needed to change the box I would wear a mask when doing so, but since I have other techs at work and the kids and DH at home I just avoid it.

As to how it is acquired a cat gets it from eating live prey OR other cats, only cats produce the "eggs" of toxoplasmosis but other animals can be carriers and pass it on if eaten.  So I'll use my guys as an example.  Two out of my three cats were to young to have eaten actual prey before they were found and I adopted them.  My third cat on the other hand was older and had definitely eaten wild prey before she was trapped.  My third cat likely has toxo from the prey.  This first two might or might not.  It's possible that if their mother had an active infection or another cat in the colony they were in that they could have acquired it at that time or it could have been transferred from my third cat if they were around while she had an active infection.  That said, it's VERY unlikely that a cat that has not had wild prey has toxo but it is possible.  Cats only actually shed toxo while an active infection is going on and that's really only a few days out of their entire life, so getting it directly from a cat that you have owned for awhile and is only indoors would be really very rare.

The bigger issue is that all of the above goes for other things beyond just a litter box.  All the same precautions should go into any sort of gardening or soil work because it's fairly likely a stray/feral cat could have used that area for a bathroom and now the soil is infected.  Infected soil and meat/veggies are actually more likely how most people acquire toxo.

[vtechmom]

Originally Posted by SubliminalDarkness 

I grew up around cats. I figure I've probably been exposed and have immunity.

Definitely not a guarantee.  A fellow tech at work was tested when she was pregnant and despite having multiple cats her whole life, doing cat rescue, and being a vet tech for 7 years she was still negative.  I had felt the same way as you and that woke me up a bit and I'm no longer assuming immunity. 

[CrazyCatLady]

Thank you vetechmom!  That's probably the most helpful post I've read on MDC in years. :)

[Baby_Cakes]

vtech - wow, that was really informative, thanks!

AFUs - we keep our cats litter box in our mudroom, out of sight and out of smell zone, LOL.  I do scoop while pg, but really only b/c DH neglects it and I'm not about to deal with cat poop elsewhere. I tend to hold my breath when doing it, I can't stand how it smells.  But yeah, wash hands and whatnot after.  It should make a difference, too, if your cat is indoor or outdoor.  If they're outdoor they're more likely to interact with other cats and eat small animals.  Ours are indoor only.

[Abraisme]

I'm not sure if this is an option for you or not..  Both of my cats go outside.  We have a cat door, so they can come and go as they please.  When I got my new cat that wasn't used to going outside I slowly moved her litter box outside near the cat door.  It only took a day or two and she started going outside with no issues.  Yay, no more litter!