Question :

There was a cat – a kitten for exact- comes to my house a couple of days ago, it feels cozy and doesn’t want to leave my house, so, decided to take it as my pet. My question is what is the connection between cat and toxoplasma?

I’m planning to have a baby; my kid also loves Milky (the kitten). What should I do in having a cat as a pet? I used to not care about it, as long as we feed the cat and give it place to sleep, and that’s it. But now, why do I have a lot more consideration? Without its mother, none will teach it how to defecate or is it simply instinctly that way? (nad)

Answer :

Some says that toxo relates to its feces, so, just be careful in handling Milky’s feces. (mp)

I suggest you to take the kitten to a nearby vet for a rabies injection; I think nothing else to worry about. (Dn)

Having a cat as pet never becomes a problem as long as we don’t have dogs. I mean, as long as you (and your family) can take a good care of it, you won’t get the toxo. Cat is toxoplasma’s host (parasite not bacteria or virus), so, it doesn’t affect the cat, however once a human get it, toxo become disease.

It is not only harmful especially for women where toxo loves to stay in womb, but it also can affect men, too. My friend’s brother has just died out of toxoplasmosis. Poor him, he was a university student, when suddenly he got hydrocephalus. Actually toxoplasmosis is not only infected by cat, but it can be infected from raw meat (especially goat which also becomes T. gondii’s host), not thoroughly washed vegetables, especially the raw ones eaten as “lalapan” (raw vegetables): - there is a chance where the toxoplasma cyst is still on the vegetables and we eat it.

Since your cat is a wild one, I suggest you to take it to see a vet for a complete vaccination. Don’t forget to bath the cat – it needs to take a bath, too :). For the feces, simply let the cat does it in the yard or would like to you use TidyCat (a certain sand/crystal for cat’s defecating)? My advice is always use rubber gloves when you clean its feces, just in case the cat got toxo so it won’t get you. Or you can ask your vet about its condition by blood sampling (toxo antibody). If you want Milky as your pet, facilitate it with a scratching place (such as rolled carpet) so it won’t scratch your furnitures. Or you can declawed it so as to your children will be safe from its claws. I think that’s all. (Nk)

I notice my sister-in-law in cat petting, she really concerns about its food. She prevents her cat from eating lizard, mice or raw fish but home made cooking (rice+”pindang”), sometimes she gives it ‘snack’ too ( (friskies atau whiskas ?) and she bathes it oftenly. I once ask my doctor that people who lives with cat without affecting toxo is because they have already had an antibody in their body. I think it’s better for you to see your doctor for a torch check-up before you get pregnant. (Rhm)

I think you can do it yourself. My nephew/niece trained his cat to defecate in sand. He put the sand on a certain place, so the cat won’t carelessly defecate. He bathes his cat once in a week, and everytime the cat feels its body is dirty, it mews in the bathroom, asking to bath, what a funny thing! (Nt)

I can tell you about my own experience. I have cats as a pet since I was a little girl. We have a lot of cats; we once had 30 cats at most, but now not more than 20. I used to sleep in one bed with my cats. I’ve heard about toxo since my teens and asked my vet about it, he said that toxo is not only infected by cats; I once read an article that toxo prevalences related to cats is only 50% (I have no idea whether it’s true or not), but it also can be infected from a lot of food or other animals.

Toxo infected by cat because there is the toxo virus in its feces; to localize the virus (if the cat is really infected, not all cat infected by this virus) is by facilitating it a certain place such as a small sand box, and place it everywhere convenient to you, and train your cat to defecate there everyday, put away the sand with cat’s feces. If you are planning to have a baby, you can ask your maid to do it, or if you want to do it yourself, always wear a rubber gloves. You should place the sand box away from kitchen or place where you use to deal with food; since this virus is not only directly infected but it could be from the dust from the feces that stick to the food we are going or have already been cooked. Always wash your hands before you eat, especially after dealing with cats or other stuffs affected with cat’s fur such as the sofa where it used to sleep.

If your cat loves to lick its body, it probably licking its anus after defecate and after that licks its fur, in that case the fur might be infected too. It’s better for you to regularly bath the cat, unless it’s still a kitten, it might die out of cold. It is very important to wash your hands since this virus can be infected through air too, we eat the food or drink contaminated by this virus. It might be seems a little complicated to do, but practically, it’s not that complicated, especially when you use to wash your hands, which is the most important part. When I was pregnant, I had no problem with toxo. Thank God, my child was born healthily. I know a lot of people who have cat as their pet and intensively deal with their cats, but they have no problem in having a baby nor do their pregnancies have any problem with toxo. To my opinion, you don’t have worry as long as you keep the sanitary of it (Rn)

I concern not only its feces, but also its fur. If our kids hold it and wash their hands right away, the fur might be thrown away. What if our kids hold the cat and after that hold his nose or even clean his hands on his shirt? (Ydh)