Pets
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Cleaning litter boxes while pregnant?
Hey there!
We're TTC, and had a quick question. Is there a safe way to clean litter boxes while pregnant? I know you should avoid it due to bacteria, especially in the 1st tri. However, MH is out of town often and sometimes for long periods. I'd hate to have to leave it until he got home.
Anyone use gloves? Is this safe? Surely single mom's with cats still have to do it? I'll avoid it when possible but just thought I'd ask around here.
Re: Cleaning litter boxes while pregnant?
I've never been KU, so take this with a grain of salt, but ... wash your hands very well when you're done, and I'd think that would be ok. I would be careful not to touch ANYTHING (especially other bare skin) before washing my hands.
litter boxes are not NEARLY as big a deal as the media would have you think.
-if your cat is an indoor kitty, kitty probably doesn't carry toxoplasmosis
-if your cat has been living in your house for a while and DOES have toxoplasmosis, you've probably already been exposed and have immunity (which means there isn't a risk to a baby)
-there are things SOOO much greater for the risk (gardening, for example) to get it from
-the risk comes form ingesting particulates.
The Mr.does litterboxes most of the time but, even when PG, I did change them myself sometimes. (I did wear gloves and was extra careful about hand washing)
Pretty much what GBCK said.
Kitties usually get toxoplasmosis by eating vermin while outside.
Once kitties are infected, they are contagious for two weeks only. During those two weeks, they shed toxoplasmosis eggs in their feces.
The feces must sit out for twenty four hours for the eggs to mature and become infectious to humans.
Humans must ingest the eggs in order to contract toxoplasmosis.
Some people have their cats tested for toxoplasmosis, but once they have contracted it, they will test positive even if they are no longer "contagious" so there's not really a point in doing the test.
DH wanted to clean the boxes while I was pregnant, and I did not complain. I would have been fine with it, though, because of the reasons GBCK and RHB mentioned.
5 cats. 1 baby.
FF
I always used gloves, not for toxoplasmosis, but because, ewwww! And I'm not much of a germophobe, but I generally wore a mask, too. This was before I was pregnant.
Once I got pregnant, ddh and I worked out the deal that he managed the back end, and the front end was my responsibility. Stayed that way for years, and whenever he'd ask me to do the boxes I'd pipe up in my whiniest voice, "But I might be prehhhhg-nant!" Even long after those tubes were tied into nice little double knots.