A mixture of feelings cross your mind. First, indignation, followed by uncertainty, and then curiosity as to why they say these things.
Unfortunately, today there are still people who believe that living with a cat is incompatible with pregnancy. Unfortunately, misinformation is still commonplace in certain circles, causing great harm to many families and their cats.
But why this eagerness to get rid of cats?
On other occasions we have talked about the importance of deworming our cats, even if they do not leave the house. So, on this side, the problem would be solved.
What these people are really based on is toxoplasmosis, but to be able to decide if our cat is a risk in this sense, we must know what the cycle of the parasite is like and its consequences.
Toxoplasma is an obligate intracellular coccidia that can infect all warm-blooded species, including humans. But not all people will react the same to infection.
A healthy person, with an adequate immune system, who becomes infected with toxoplasma will suffer from a flu-like condition . While a person with immunological problems, such as a cancer patient, receiving chemotherapy, with AIDS, leukemia, lymphoma or a person in chronic treatment with immunosuppressants, for example, having a weakened and/or altered immune system, will develop signs and more serious illnesses.
In the case of pregnant women , if they have not had previous contact with the parasite, they may have problems during pregnancy, which can cause miscarriages, neurological alterations of the fetus, or serious congenital malformations. It is for this reason that, as a general rule, serological tests are carried out on pregnant women to confirm whether or not they have had previous contact with Toxoplasma.
If these tests detect, through the quantification of antibodies, that they have had previous contact with the parasite, they will have antibodies to avoid possible reinfections, thereby protecting the fetus.
How can a cat be infected with toxoplasma?
Before seeing how a cat can be infected, we must know what the life cycle of this parasite is like.
Toxoplasma has several “life forms”, that is, in order to survive in different environments (the outside, the feces, the inside of any warm-blooded living thing) it takes on different forms that have different names.
In turn, there are two life cycles of the parasite.
In the definitive host (the cat) – enteroepithelial cycle
- The bradyzoite is the form in which it is found inside the cat to be able to replicate sexually and form new parasites that are released through the feces as non-sporulated oocysts (which are not infective)
- In order for these oocysts to infect another host, they must sporulate . This takes between 24 hours and 5 days in the environment. From that moment on, the sporulated oocysts can be infective.
- When a cat ingests these sporulated oocysts (through infected raw meat from different prey, either indoors or outdoors), the bradyzoites are released into the intestine and we are back to square one.
Extraintestinal cycle (in other hosts, such as people and even in cats).
- When a host ingests sporulated oocysts, the cycle begins within the host. In the intestine, the sporozoites of the oocysts will be released, which, when reproducing asexually, will give rise to tachyzoites. These tachyzoites will be responsible for infecting any tissue that, due to the action of the immune system, will form latent cysts, which will be reactivated in cases of immunosuppression.
- These dormant cysts found in the tissues are themselves infective if ingested.
Reviewing these two cycles we can elucidate how a cat can be infected. It can do this by eating prey that is infected with toxoplasma cysts, that is, by eating raw meat from these prey. Drinking from stagnant water contaminated with sporulated oocysts. And they can also be spread vertically, from the mother (if she was seronegative) through the placenta or milk.
So where can a pregnant woman, or anyone else, ingest these sporulated oocysts?
As we have seen, one of these two forms is necessary to develop the infection.
- Ingesting sporulated oocysts that can be found in contaminated water, soil, or directly ingesting cat feces that are more than 24 hours in the environment. Let’s remember that petting the cat is not included at this point
- Ingesting tissues that contain infective cysts, that is, eating raw or undercooked meat.
To avoid this possible contagion, people, and especially pregnant women, should:
- Wash the vegetables well.
- Drink drinking water of known origin.
- Cook the meat well and if not, freeze for a minimum of 2 days at -20º
- Wear gloves when gardening. If gloves are not used, hands should be thoroughly washed and disinfected, and especially avoid hand sucking (for example, by biting nails) before this cleaning.
- Maintain daily hygiene of the litter box, removing feces with a trowel and wearing gloves. Let’s remember that for cat feces to be infective they must be in the environment for more than 24 hours and be ingested (by sucking hands or biting nails, for example). To disinfect the sandbox tray, it can be done with steam or boiling water and usual disinfectants.
So, knowing what can and cannot be done, and its possible implications, we can continue living with our beloved cats during pregnancy.
References
Positioning AVEPA Feline Medicine Study Group https://www.avepa.org/pdf/Posicionamiento_Toxoplasmosis_GEMFE.pdf
