"Girls can't keep cats when they're pregnant." This view makes my ears tingle.

Indeed, if pregnant women are infected with Toxoplasma gondii, it may lead to serious consequences such as fetal malformation, miscarriage, and stillbirth. But is Toxoplasma gondii only related to cats? Are cats definitely related to Toxoplasma gondii?

If your cat could talk, he would probably talk to you about it. Don’t worry, let’s learn about the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and cats today.

1. A brief introduction to the relationship between cats and Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that can basically parasitize in all warm-blooded animals. The main forms of parasitism are tachyzoites (stronger ability to infect), bradyzoites (weaker ability to infect), and oocysts wait.

Cats are the only final host of Toxoplasma gondii, which is the host of the adult or sexual reproductive stage of Toxoplasma gondii. At this stage, Toxoplasma gondii can reproduce in the cat's body, so the cat can excrete feces carrying oocysts.

The intermediate host of Toxoplasma gondii, that is, the host of the larvae or asexual reproduction stage, can include all warm-blooded animals, including humans, but all intermediate hosts will not excrete feces containing oocysts.

1. Cats will only excrete oocysts in their feces within 2-4 weeks of initial infection.

However, after a cat is first infected with Toxoplasma gondii, it will form antibodies in the body in about 2-4 weeks. After forming antibodies, it will no longer excrete feces containing oocysts. Moreover, oocysts are not contagious within 24 hours after being excreted from the body. The oocysts need 2-3 days to develop in the outside world before they become contagious when mature.

2. Not all cats carry Toxoplasma gondii.

The chance of carrying Toxoplasma gondii in cats that are raised at home and do not feed raw meat or raw water is very small. Cats are not born with Toxoplasma gondii, they are also infected. Cats can become infected with Toxoplasma gondii when they eat raw meat carrying Toxoplasma gondii.

3. Toxoplasma gondii in humans is not necessarily transmitted by cats.

Eating raw or semi-raw meat is the main way for humans to be infected with Toxoplasma gondii. Other ways include drinking dairy and egg products that have not been completely sterilized, and raw water. For example, when eating hot pot, the meat is not cooked, the cutting board at home is not separated from raw and cooked, and the steak is medium-rare. These living habits may increase the risk of Toxoplasma infection. Although infection through cats is a route of infection, the chance is very small. So tying Toxoplasma gondii and cats together is really unfair to cats.

2. What steps do pregnant women need to go through to be infected with Toxoplasma gondii?

1. First of all, you need to raise a free-range cat. The cat often goes out to catch mice, birds and other raw meat to eat, or feed the cat raw bones and meat, and these foods carry the infection stage of Toxoplasma gondii.

2. Cats excrete oocyst-containing feces within 20 days of initial infection, and pregnant girls let these feces stay in the cat litter for more than two days because of laziness.

3. I personally scooped the cat's feces, but I did not wear gloves when scooping the cat's feces, and I touched the cat's feces.

4. He did not wash his hands after shoveling poop, and directly touched food with his hands and ate it.

After the above steps, the hostess may have been infected with Toxoplasma gondii by the cat. Obviously, the probability of all of these situations happening is very small, but if a pregnant cat owner really meets all the above characteristics, then it is really not recommended to keep a cat during pregnancy.

3. How to scientifically protect cats during pregnancy?

Domestic cats fed cooked food and cat food can continue to be fed during pregnancy, as long as scientific protection is required.

1. Before preparing to become pregnant, you can take your cat to a pet hospital for a Toxoplasma test. The owner can also go to the hospital for a Toxoplasma serum screening to rule out the possibility that the cat or person has been infected with Toxoplasma.

2. Do not let cats eat raw meat or raw water. As the saying goes, "disease enters through the mouth", if you don't feed raw meat and bones, and don't drink raw water, you can reduce the chance of cats being infected with Toxoplasma gondii to a great extent.

3. Seal doors and windows. This is to prevent the cat from having the opportunity to go out and allow the cat to have free contact with the outside world, which can further reduce the chance of the cat being infected with Toxoplasma gondii.

4. Ask family members to help shovel poop for the cat. You can leave the honorable task of shoveling poop to your family members, and instruct them to clean the litter box frequently, keep the litter box clean, and wash their hands in time after cleaning.

5. Regularly disinfect cat litter boxes, cat litter boxes, cat food boxes and other cat supplies. Regular disinfection can also effectively prevent the growth of other bacteria.

6. Deworm the cat regularly and check for Toxoplasma gondii. Regular deworming and regular physical examinations for cats are important.

7. Do not adopt kittens during pregnancy. Kittens have generally not been infected with Toxoplasma gondii, so it is difficult to be immune to Toxoplasma gondii. If they are first infected with Toxoplasma gondii after being adopted, the feces containing Toxoplasma gondii oocysts may be transmitted to humans.