When preparing for pregnancy, you have to give away cats and do
When preparing for pregnancy, you have to give away cats and do
Q: I have a very cute Chihuahua at home. I have had it for five or six years and have been with it longer than my husband. My husband and I are planning to have a baby, but my family members all say that keeping pets is bad for the fetus, and they all advocate giving away the Chihuahua. Do we have to give it away?
A: There is no need to send them away. Dogs have little impact on babies and can be kept.
● If you have Toxoplasma antibodies, you don’t have to give your pet away
When it comes to Toxoplasma gondii, friends who are preparing for pregnancy will be very scared, because TORCH screening, which is what we usually call the five eugenics tests, includes this one. In the past, it was generally believed that since it was included in the eugenics inspection project and had a certain relationship with cats, dogs, etc., the family pet should be given away from the beginning of the pregnancy preparation period. But now, the concept has changed. Many authoritative experts in obstetrics and gynecology at home and abroad believe that if you have been infected with Toxoplasma gondii and developed antibodies, you do not need to give away your pet during pregnancy.
● Dogs generally do not affect pregnancy
Dogs are the intermediate host of Toxoplasma gondii, and their feces and excrement are not infectious. Toxoplasma gondii is mainly found in the blood and muscles of dogs, and there may also be Toxoplasma gondii in the mouth. Unless you have a "tongue kiss" with a dog or eat dog meat, you will not be infected with Toxoplasma gondii through normal contact. Nowadays, dogs are regularly vaccinated and monitored at any time. The possibility of being infected with viruses such as Toxoplasma gondii is very slim, so raising a dog generally does not affect pregnancy.
● Let someone else be the cat’s shit-sweeper
Nowadays, there are more stray cats, and they look for food in trash cans, which makes them dirty. However, if domestic cats bathe frequently, are relatively clean, often eat cooked food, and have little contact with stray cats outside, it should not be a big problem. It should be noted that cat feces may contain Toxoplasma gondii, so it’s better to let someone else take over. In addition, the fertilizer applied to flowers and plants at home may also contain animal feces, so women who are preparing for pregnancy should try not to touch it.
