Pregnancy and cats

[ellenlouise]

Hi

Just a question thats been niggling me how do cats affect your pregnancy I know that you should be very careful around the cat litter and you should also but a cat net for the crib but would love some advice from someone who has been pregnant and has cats.

[angieh]

sorry ellenlouise - no experience in that department! Sure someone else will be along soon who knows all about that. How exciting - I take it you are pregnant? When are you due?

[dandysmom]

Same here. Hopefully the members who can advise will be on soon....

[Kim]

Well I had 3 cats while I was pregnant and I just carried on as normal. I did use disposable gloves while cleaning out the litter tray, or got my OH to do it, however I never had any problems at all. I never found the cats got in the baby's crib or cot either, although we do have a photo of one of the cats in the buggy. I never used a net for the crib, but was just careful. My youngest daughter is 18 now and have never known a house without cats, they have always been very healthy children.

Oh and I guess you are pregnant - CONGRATULAIONS!!!! How exciting! I am sure you have enough to think about just now, so please don't worry about cats & babies, they go together perfectly I found. I have a photo of one of my cats (he's been at the bridge for 10 years now) on my knee and my son Adam (hes 21 soon!) in my arms.

[yola]

Something you'd like to share with us EL??? ;)

I had cats around me during both pregnancies (2 and 5 years ago). Because I'd had cats for some time, I really didn't take any extra precautions with the litter tray as it's 99.9% likely that I'd already been exposed to toxoplasmosis and would therefore be imune to further infection.

The only thing that meant I couldn't empty the tray was when my bump got too big for me to bend down (at about 6 months).

In terms of a cat net for the pushchair/pram/cot? Again, I bought all of that stuff with my 1st son but I didn't even get it out of the packet! None of my cats were bothered :roll: With my second son, we had Darcy around who was a seriously nosey cat. Even so, basic precautions such as shutting the door to the room that baby was in or having him with us meant that these things weren't really needed.

However, it all depends on how careful you feel you need to be, the layout of of your home and the personality of your cats! Good luck :D

[ellenlouise]

Thanks guys good advice. As for me being pregnant I think all I can say for now is possibly lol ;) Explain when time is right.


Thanks again guys.

xxx

[random]

When I was preg I had other people clean out the tray for my but I only had tabs then and she mostly went outside.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis

As for the nets and things, had them but never used them, I never left my son and the cats unsupervised anyway so never needed to.

Hope that helps! And congratulations if you are!

[PoshPuss]

Congratulations on your pregnancy! Ellen louise.
Just be careful when changing cat litter trays, use gloves, or better still get somebody else to do it ;) also, wear gloves in the garden; in case of cat faeces there. As for the cat nets etc, some cats are curious , others not so. Having a cat shouldn't cause probs in pregnancy, you may even find that your cat becomes extra cuddly when it finds a warm belly to rest on :)