Pregnant Women, Cats, and Baby

Have you ever heard of the fact that pregnant women should stay away from cats? Well, maybe not the cat itself, but definitely the cat litter. Have you ever wondered why all the health professionals give this advice? There is a good a reason. You see your cat or cats if you have more than one carries around a parasite.

If you do some digging around, the statistics will reveal that about sixty million people in America are carrying around this single celled parasite right now and will continue to do so. This parasite can cause a bunch of health problems not only in you, but in your unborn baby to. In adults and young children that have a good and healthy immune system, this parasite that can cause toxoplasmosis will present no danger. A healthy immune system will keep it from doing any damage.

Pregnant women and their baby are at risk. That is why a pregnant woman is told not to clean out the cats litter box and try to stay away from cats. These one celled things live in the cat feces. If you actually get this thing while pregnant it can do harm to your baby. Your baby may be born retarded, blind, have epilepsy, brain problems and more.

If you are pregnant and like to work outside in the garden, wear gloves. Gloves will add protection from you picking up this nasty little parasite the causes toxoplasmosis. You see, cats often use gardens as a toilet since the soil is loose. If you go digging around in your garden while with child, you just may find a bit of cat feces buried in there. Give yourself and your baby that extra protection by wearing gloves.

You can also get this little bug from meat. When handling meat make sure to wash your hands thoroughly. Also be sure to cook your steak or whatever it may be all the way through. This will ensure that anything that is living in there will be killed. It is just not worth taking any chances with the life of your new baby.

Remember to have someone else clean up after your kitty. Cook your meats all the way through. Wear gloves when working outside in your garden. This will go a long way to help prevent you from contracting toxoplasmosis.