Pregnant
Women Don’t Need to Give Up Their Cats
By
Steve Dale
ABC-TV
news medical contributor Dr. Tim Johnson said, “Pregnant women,
women who are about to become pregnant and people with weakened
immune systems, including those who are undergoing chemo or have
AIDS, should avoid cats and cat litter.”
Johnson,
who made the statement on November 10, is concerned that women
could contract a parasitic protozoa from cat feces called toxoplasmosis.
However, his statement – which was made to millions of viewers
- is in contradiction to recommendations made by medical experts
on infectious diseases.
“The
public can easily access the medical community’s guidelines on
the subject by doing a search on the Internet,” says Dr. Michael
Lappin, professor of small animal internal medicine at the College
of Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University, Ft. Collins.
Lappin,
who was attending American Association of Feline Practitioners
Fall Conference in Chicago on November 14, is considered one of
the world’s experts on toxoplasmosis; he’s researched the organism
and its effects for 20 years.
As
often happens in the media, if a statement is made in one place,
it’s reiterated elsewhere. As a result, veterinarians are now
hearing from concerned clients, including some who are pregnant
and considering giving up their cat.
“Absolutely,
positively, you do not have to give up your cat because you are
pregnant; please don’t even consider that,” urges Dr. Margie Scherk,
a boarded certified feline veterinarian from Vancouver, BC Canada,
also attending the conference. “But do consider the facts.”
Toxoplasmosis
(Toxoplasma gondi) occurs commonly in the environment.
Cats most frequently get the infection by scarfing down an infected
animal, but also by eating undercooked meat. Following a meal
of infected prey or undercooked meat, an intra-intestinal infection
cycle unique to cats begins. The organism multiplies in the walls
of the small intestine, and ultimately what comes out the back
end in the feces. Cats are the only animals to pass on the infectious
stage in their feces. And while some cats with toxoplasmosis do
become ill, and therefore their people at least are aware that
kitty’s been infected, many have no symptoms whatsoever.
Having
said that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), in Atlanta, GA, a majority of healthy people are unlikely
to become very ill from toxoplasmosis. Many people are don’t have
no symptoms; although some may have mild flu-like effects which
generally persist for 48 hours at the most. However, toxoplasmosis
is a danger for those about to become pregnant or women in their
first trimester because the disease can cause serious birth defects,
or even death in a baby as the organism travels through the placenta.
(The disease is not a particular danger to the baby later in the
pregnancy). Toxoplasmosis can also become a serious illness in
people who are immune compromised.
Lappin
explains the specific series of concurrent events which must occur
for a person to get toxoplasmosis. Obviously, for starters, a
person must come in contact with an infected cat, and not all
cats are infected (according to Lappin’s research, about 30 per
cent of cats are positive for toxo). Cats only pass on the disease
seven to ten days of their entire lives (when there is an acute
infection) which must coincide with the first trimester of the
pregnancy.
What’s
more, the feces eliminated by a cat carrying toxoplasmosis requires
anywhere from one day to five days to become actively infectious;
which is why simply changing the litter box and scooping the feces
within 24 hours is an effective prevention.
Lappin
says he encourages women to wear gloves while changing the box,
offering further protection. Scherk prefers this idea, “It’s a
perfect job for your partner; you’re going to have the baby, at
least he can scoop the box.”
Dr.
Drew Weigner, a feline only veterinarian in Atlanta, GA, also
at the feline conference, points out an increasingly common problem
are single mom households with no one else available to scoop.
“I just tell them to use gloves and take the entire liner out
and throw it all out, so there’s even less contact with the feces.”
Scherk
adds that hand-washing is an effective means of additional control.
As for people who are immune compromised, if the person’s doctor
is concerned, a partner or family member can scoop. For people
who live alone, there are social service agencies and animal shelters
in many communities who offer volunteer scoopers.
Weigner
notes gardening and the ingestion of undercooked meats are the
most common ways which people are infected with toxoplasmosis.
Unwashed fruit could even transmit the disease. The American Medical
Association and CDC suggest wearing gloves when gardening, and
washing hands thoroughly after handling plants in the garden or
meat on the counter, and also washing the counter. Washing fruit
is also suggested. Neither organization suggests pregnant women
or immune compromised individuals stop gardening or eating meat.
As
for scooping the litter box, the American Medical Association
and CDC suggest the the same precautions recommended by the by
veterinarians; but neither agency even hints at the option of
giving up the family cat, as Johnson did in his TV report. The
medical website www.webmd.com goes further, “There is no reason,
including toxoplasmosis, why a pregnant woman can’t live with
a cat.”
Weigner
says, “Ten years ago, I’d have maybe three or four clients tell
me, ‘My doctor says I need to give up my cat.’ Today, I have about
a client or two every other year who says this. My half-joking
response is, ‘Then you need another doctor.”
“I’ve
worked with the medical experts on this and I know the profession
as a whole most certainly understands the facts about toxo,” says
Lappin. “I can’t explain why those facts haven’t trickled down
to some individuals, or what that disconnect might be.”
Weigner
adds, “Maybe for some doctors – (telling a client to relinquish
a pet cat) is just an easier and faster answer to give when they’re
pressed for time than to go over the precautionary measures.”
Weigner
says that to his knowledge not a single client in the past several
years has followed such misguided advice to relinquish a cat just
because she’s pregnant.. “This speaks of both the human/animal
bond, and the Internet. It’s quite easy for clients to simply
confirm what I say be searching at reputable sites on the Internet,
or by asking another doctor for a second opinion.”
Lappin
does suggest that women who live with cats take a simple blood
test for toxoplasmosis if after learning of a pregnancy. This
test can determine previous exposure to toxo, since so many have
been exposed without it ever being diagnosed. This is handy knowledge
because, in general, once positive most people are positive for
life, and protected from being re-infected. So, if while pregnant,
there are symptoms concurrent with toxo, the doctor can more likely
eliminate toxoplasmosis possibility.
Research
to be released in 2007 might reveal that feeding cats a raw food
diets (a trend among some cat owners) could increases the odds
of them being infected with toxo. Certainly, keeping cats indoors
can lesson the odds – although mice do get indoors as do roaches,
and other critters who may be infected.
“I
know of no human medical association that encourages people who
are quote – at risk - to give up their cats,” says Scherk, “I
can’t fathom where doctors who suggest giving up the cat are basing
their information.”
Here
are a sampling of legitimate resources for anyone who wants to
learn more about toxoplamosis: (Some of these links require free
Adobe Reader software. Click
here to download.)
