Catwatching. The cat can get so stressed that the cat will get ill, or perhaps attack the baby, or someone else. This is why pregnant women are often advised to avoid contact with the litter box during pregnancy. The behaviorist also knows that biting is a reaction an aggression factor that could get worse instead of better. If a pregnant woman does find it necessary to change a cat litter box, she should wear gloves when doing so and wash her hands thoroughly afterward. Domestic pets cause most animal bites. See the Pregnant Cats and Kittens Page for information on caring for pregnant cats, kitten development week by week, kitten training, kitten care, and more. Since toxoplasmosis can be transmitted via contact with cat feces, many pregnant women are told to lower their risk by giving away their cats or by putting their cats outside. References: Morris, D. (1986). The patients involved in the study were all bitten on the hand. The parasite lives at the expense of its host, meaning it needs the host in order to produce offspring, known as "oocysts." If you’ve ever been bitten by a cat, you know exactly what I’m talking about! Pregnant women can transmit toxoplasmosis, a rare parasitic disease, to their unborn babies, and a toxoplasmosis infection can lead to miscarriage or cause malformed babies. The cat is desperate to play with you. I am sure all this is working in the head of the behaviorist when she suggested a … The researchers studied nearly 200 cat bite cases that occurred between 2009 and 2011. Seidensticker, John, & Lumpkin, Susan. (2004). Ideally, another household member should change the cat litter box. Check out these cute cat reaction to pregnant women and write in the comments what reaction did your animals have during your pregnancy. While cat scratch disease has not been proven dangerous to a fetus, toxoplasmosis can cause serious birth defects or a miscarriage. Rather than being transmitted through scratches, toxoplasmosis is spread from cats to humans through their feces. We might not always realize it, but cats can be very attracted to our simplest motions, such as the movement of our ankles as we walk around the house. Pregnant women or immunosuppressed individuals are safest when other household members clean the litter box. You’re sitting on the couch, giving your purring pal some pets, when all of the sudden, they decide they’re over it—and they flip around and bite your hand. The average of the participants was 49 years old, and 69 percent were women. For a full list of cat articles, see the main Cats page. Cat bites, however, are more likely to cause infection. Rabies is more common in raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes than in cats … Cover children’s sandboxes when not in use to prevent wandering cats from defecating in them. If possible, a pregnant woman should not change the cat litter box and should avoid contact with cat feces. 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