My friend is pregnant and has four cats, she heard recently, cat poo/litter emits a toxic chemical leading to birth defects.. has any one heard of this? And could give me more info?

I think that the problem comes from the cat feces. The disease is called toxoplasmosis. I kept my cat box during pregnancy but someone else cleaned it for me during that time.

My friend changed cat littler whle she was pregnant in her second trimester and her baby had bad birth defects so tell her not to change the ltter!! Very important

The chances of the cat transferring any toxins are very rare, as long as she washes her hands real good after each change I'm sure she'll be just fine.

Chrstalbivens, you can risk your baby's health, but you should not recommend that she take a risk with hers.


Please tell your friend to have baby's daddy do it

I am not risking anyone's health , I am currently working towards my BS in nursing and would not give out any information that I thought might harm someone. Yes, there is a slight chance but like I said this is VERY RARE and as long as she scrubs her hands with soap afterwards she should be OK, if she's still worried she can use gloves, just be sure to take the gloves off before she touches anything else.

Below is a website that may help. It is not advised to clean your cats box at all during pregnancy, even though chances are rare, there still is a chance... just tell your friend to have her partner clean the box throughout the rest of the pregnancy.
https://www.caremark.com/wps/portal/...ic=kittylitter

Okay, here is the real deal...

Toxoplasmosis is related to cat feces. Period. However, it is usually found in the feces of cats who are outdoor cats.

It is more commonly found in undercooked meats or unprocessed meats than it is in cat feces. It is said to stay away from lunch meats and/or hot dogs for this purpose.

Avoid processed meats during pregnancy and handwashing if one has a cat is very important.

When I was pregnant I also had a cat and all of the doctors and nurses I saw all say that living with the cats prior to becoming pregnant already exposed you to the toxoplasmosis junk and while you should still stay away from the litter, living with the cast shouldn't do any harm. Its most dangerous to introduce a cat after you become pregnant. J_9 is also right about the lunch meat and hot dogs too. But if you still insist on eating them, they should be heated thoroughly.

Yes. But the threat is not airborne toxins, it's Echinococcus granulosis, a type of tapeworm that can produce hydatid cysts in the newborn, which aren't really 'birth defects'. You may want to amend your advice to include using gloves if she has to change the litter.