Conference misery::feline_v1

    I think she over-reacting! The only way she could catch the
    disease is by cleaning the litter box and that is not very likely
    to happen even if she cleaned the boxes and she doesn't even clean
    them at all.  I think it sounds as if the doctor's nurse has a problem 
    with cats in general and is passing her fears along to others. If
    the housekeeper has a question about this - then she should ask
    her DOCTOR.  There is a note somewhere in the file specifically
    about this problem. Maybe someone knows off-hand where it is. I
    will also try to locate it. I know this is a very real concern
    as there are reported cases of the disease but they are so rare
    considering the number of people who have cats vs the number of 
    people contracting toxoplasmosis, and they always involved the litter
    box.
    
    BTW- did the nurse say exactly WHY it was dangerous to be around
    cats? Maybe it doesn't have anything to do w/disease. Maybe she
    truly believes in a particular ole wives tale.
    
    

    If she doesn't do the litter boxes then she's okay.
    Tell your housekeeper to consult with her obste-
    trician, not the nurse, but the person with the
    M.D. following their name.  Then, when your house-
    keeper has the correct information she can consider
    it her duty to educate this apparently misinformed
    nurse.
    
    Donna

    Another suggestion would be for her to wash her hands FREQUENTLY
    no matter what she touches in the house, especially if she is 
    in the habit of touching her face or mouth.

    I was told that you can get this disease from meat that
    has not been cooked properly. So she has just as much
    chance picking it up that way. I got tested for
    this virus during a physical once, just because I did not
    understand it. I wasted money on this because of my ignorance.
    I was told by both my doctor and my vet that if I handle the cat
    litter with good hygiene (rubber gloves, litter pan liners,
    wash my hands with hot soapy water, etc.) I should be okay.
    
    Also, I was told that the virus will die in 2-3 days. If
    it is in the feces at all, the virus will only be alive for
    2 or 3 days, and die afterward. Has something to do with not
    being able to survive in air. I change my litter (all of it,
    not just scooping it out; I ditch the whole thing) once a week.
    I also use 30 gallon garbage bags (cheap economy brand) as
    the liner and I don't even touch the litter this way. The
    Vet said this was a good clean way to use and change cat 
    litter. I don't have a soiled litter pan to deal with either. 
    (But a real back ache 'cause I have to carry out about 45 lbs 
    of used cat litter!)
    
    But when I told the Vet that my cats are never fed raw meat
    like hamburger, and they only eat canned food and are
    house cats, then both doctor and Vet agreed that I have really
    nothing to worry about.
    
    One way that cats pick this disease up is eating pidgeons
    who carry the disease as well. I've heard that bird droppings
    carry it too. She has more chance of catching this by touching
    a bird feeder than touching your cats, (if they are like mine
    and never go out or are never fed raw or undercooked meat).
    I wish people would get their facts straight before creating
    panics like this. She should call a Veterinarian to get the real
    scoop on this disease and then call her doctor to confirm this.
    
                                         

    I would like to re-open this discussion or find another
    note where it is currently being discussed.  
    
    My gynecologist tells me that toxoplasmosis, which one
    can catch from eating raw meat or from handling cat litter,
    causes birth defects or miscarriages if a woman catches it while 
    she is pregnant.  The catch-22 about toxoplasmosis is that it
    has few if any symptoms and, once you have had it, you
    test positive for it forever.  That means that if you catch
    it without knowing it, and then get pregnant, and then have
    the test for it, you will test positive even though you
    do not have the disease.  To be more clear about this,
    the disease ONLY causes birth defects if you catch it WHILE
    you are pregnant.  But if you caught it BEFORE you got 
    pregnant, your doctor cannot tell exactly WHEN you got it,
    so you have a moral dilemma to face.  
    
    Since I am a young female and plan to have children, my
    gynecologist advises me not to change cat litter or eat raw
    meat NOW, so that when I DO get pregnant, the test for toxoplasmosis
    will mean something.  What I do is use plastic gloves and
    wash up well afterwards, and trade off the duty with my
    husband.  I can't live for toxoplasmosis alone, after all.
    And gynecologists as a group are pretty hyper these days.
    But it is something every woman who plans to have children
    should know about.  IF YOU HAVE CATS, please get what is known
    as "pre-pregnancy testing" just before you "start trying".
    This includes a test for toxoplasmosis which the doctor
    will use as a baseline for tests during the pregnancy
    so that they can tell if you caught it DURING the pregnancy.
    I consider myself an intelligent person, yet I would not
    have even known about pre-pregnancy testing if I had not
    met a pregnant gynecologist at a party last year.
    
    By the way, since we live in an old leaky house, I do not rely on the
    "indoor" status of my cat to protect me against raw food
    sources like mice.  

    I'm a little confused.  Is it possible to get toxoplasmosis more
    than once?  If I remember correctly, my gynecologist once did a test
    for German measles and said "lucky you;  you already had it so
    you don't have to worry about it."  If toxoplasmosis works the
    same way, I would think any woman who might plan to have children would 
    want to be tested to see if she was already immune, in which case she 
    wouldn't have to worry about it.
    

    If it is like German measles, then it is possible to never be immune. 
    That happened to me.....when I went for my pre-marital blood test they
    discovered that I wasn't immune to G. measles (even though I had had
    them at age 18 months).  After my honeymoon I went through 4 shots to
    become immune ( a period of 8 months).  With the last one my doctor said
    you will either become immune or you'll catch the measles.  Neither
    happened.  I had had enough with shots at that point and gave up
    knowing that I wasn't immune.  Three months later I was pregnant.
    
    Testing ahead of time is a great idea though to have a baseline for
    comparison.  You're also right about today's doctors being very
    careful, but I feel that's what we pay them for......
    
    Diane
    

    re: .7 - you're right.  I've hads German measles at least twice.
    

    re: .6
    
    My doctor's advice implies that although you can catch 
    toxoplasmosis more than once, you will test positive
    for it "forever" even if you only get it once.
    
    I don't think that this testing problem would be a
    concern if having had the disease made you immune.
    On the contrary, if having the disease made you immune,
    doctors would be happy to see someone test positive
    before they were pregnant, rather than unhappy.
    
    That's what I have reasoned out from my doctor's advice.
    I can ask her directly next time I see her.