my cat

I'm sure this topic has been brought up before but maybe i have a new twist on it. I don't know. I'm only about 7 weeks pregnant and I'm going to admit it - I still take care of my cat's litter box. It's not a decision I take lightly. DH scooped it for five months when I was pg with dd. It started out good but then he would constantly forget. the thing stunk. Plus I would notice he didn't wash his hands after. gross. i love dh dearly and if this is the biggest issue in our marriage I consider myself lucky. But he hates my cat. She hates him too, hisses at him all the time but she is good with dd. Anyway, when i was pg with dd, we had a huge fight over the cat and her box. I was so stressed and angry that I left the house at 2 am and drove to a pathmark parking lot and cried. Really nuts. after that i scooped the box for the rest of the pregnancy. This time I decided to just do it myself. I did the research the last time. I know the risks, the precautions, my cat is 10 years old, has lived inside for at least the last six if not longer than that (she's adopted) I scoop once a day and don't let it sit, wear gloves and mask. I just needed to vent and get it off my chest. I already made the decision to do this but I'm worried about it constantly, imagining i've already done damage and it will all be my fault because I couldn't just let dh do it his way. DH said he would do it again, has no recollection of the fight we had last time, but I'm afraid of history repeating itself. am i nuts or is it just as bad me doing it as him forgetting for days and then not washing his hands so that what he touches dd and I come into contact with? if the rest of you cat owners have dh that scoop diligently that is awesome and I envy you! but maybe there are others that live in a similar mess of reality as me lol?

my cat

(Crashing, not currently pregnant) Next time you go to the Dr ask them if they can draw blood to specifically do a toxoplasmosis test to see if you're immune. You could also bring a stool sample to the very and ask them to test it. If your cat comes up negative and does not go outside at all then they can not currently contract it and you're safe. Also if you come up immune to toxo then you don't have to worry.

Please for your safety and the baby's do this especially since there was a time that your cat could have been outdoors and could be a carrier.

Message edited 5/11/2013 8:23:42 PM.

Re: my cat

Re: my cat

I was going to do the blood test, but was told it really wasn't necessary as long as I scooped it once a day and wore gloves and a mask as protection.

At first DH thought I was just being "dramatic" but when I showed him all the literature he freaked out. He scoops it everyday now and won't let me near the box closet.

Talk about dramatic!!!

Re: my cat

I have been scooping for 7 months, I hold my breath and wash my hands afterward.

my cat

Thanks for the ideas. The vet said I could only get it if I ate the poop and ob didn't really seem too upset by it, told me to wear gloves. No one thought the blood test was necessary, but that would be reassuring. I thought the cat was only a carrier for a couple of weeks so that even if she were outside the first four years of her life, it wouldn't carry over to now. Oh well, I'm taking the precautions. I guess I thought maybe someone would say, "my husband is like that too!", make me feel better lol.
I guess at this point in my life I'm choosing the route of less stress and not smelling the damn thing all the time. With dd, I got to that point of doing it myself after months of stress and fighting, I don't want to go through that again. In some ways I think that could be just as bad for a pregnancy.