Mums-to-be don’t need to dump cats due to toxoplasmosis fears

Mums and mums-to-be are being reassured that catching toxoplasmosis during pregnancy is actually a low risk.

According to UK cat welfare charity Cats Protection, 7 out of 10 mums-to-be worried they would catch it from their pet.

After having the baby, 60 per cent then worried their baby was as risk of infection.

Toxoplasmosis can be found in undercooked or raw meat, unpasteurised goat’s milk, cat faeces and soil or cat litter contaminated with infected cat faeces.

Cats Protection receives hundreds of calls from pregnant women to their phone line every year, trying to find out if they should give up their cat.

The charity decided to conducted a study using 1,586 mums and mums-to-be through a parenting forum to find out what attitudes the women had towards cats and germs.

The charity found that more than 35 per cent of pregnant women are being given the wrong advice.

More than a quarter of women were advised by family members to get rid of their cat.

A further 16 per cent were advised by people – through parenting forums or blogs – and holding  no animal care qualifications to dump the animals.

Cats Protection’s Director of Veterinary Services, Maggie Roberts said: “Our research shows that women are worrying about diseases such as toxoplasmosis but they aren’t being presented with accurate information. Studies show that cat owners are statistically no more likely to get toxoplasmosis than non-cat owners. The chance of contracting the disease from your cat is very small indeed – in fact you are more likely to get it from handling raw meat. Of course all cat owners should practise good hygiene routines, especially hand washing after dealing with a litter tray and before handling food, but that’s just common sense”.

Cats Protection have issued the following guidelines for mums-to-be worried about toxoplasmosis.

Get someone else to change your cat’s litter tray if you can, and if you can’t, wear gloves and wash your hands carefully after changing the box.

Change cat litter daily as T. gondii is infectious between one and five days after the cat defecates.

Do not feed your cat raw meat.

Wash your hands after contact with stray cats and kittens.

Keep outdoor sandboxes covered.

Wear gloves when gardening in case a cat has toileted there.

Cats Protection has produced a leaflet on toxoplasmosis which can be downloaded from www.cats.org.uk/toxo

Anyone worried about owning a cat during pregnancy can call the charity’s national Helpline on 03000 12 12 12 for advice.