Posted: May 25, 2010, 3 a.m. EST
Stitch on my ever-expanding lap. |
It’s time to let the cat out of the bag (not literally). My husband and I are expecting a baby due later this fall. When I first found out that I was pregnant I decided that I ought to do some research. I had heard my share of stories that pregnant women can’t have cats, in addition to many questions being asked on our CatChannel.com Forum regarding “I’m pregnant, should I get rid of my cat?”
Now don’t get me wrong, I had no plans on getting rid of my beloved Stitch. But I knew that I would have to make some changes. The first thing I did was turn to articles on CatChannel.com about toxoplasmosis, and then followed up with an online search engine. I typed in “pregnant cat owner” hoping I would be rewarded with lots of information. Surprisingly I got about six hits of valid articles for pregnant “cat owners” before I got flooded with articles on “pregnant cat” owners.
Toxoplasmosis is no joke, but it doesn’t mean that you have to get rid of your cat just because you’re pregnant. Any further concern was put to rest by my doctor who confirmed that the infection is transferred from contact with cat feces. A pregnant woman can wear gloves and cleans out the litterbox at least daily without too much fear looming over her. As a side note, a pregnant woman should also make sure to wear gloves if she’s doing any gardening. Outside cats do enjoy using gardens as a personal litterbox.
If you’re lucky like me and you have either a loving husband or children in your home, you can have one of them take over the task of being the cat poop scooper.
Davis has asked about the possibility of getting his own pet a couple of times over the last two years since I moved in. I’ve always responded with “If you show me that you can be responsible for the pet we have then we’ll talk about it.” Before now Stitch’s care, for the most part, has been taken care of by me or my husband. However, now that I’m pregnant and can’t bend over with ease, the boys have really stepped up.
My husband informs everyone that the boys are now Stitch’s slaves. Davis is the official cat poop scooper. And Tristan has started to help me out and now feeds Stitch both his lunch and his dinner. It’s nice to know that my family will help step in to care for Stitch while I’m pregnant.
He’s been a good sport so far but now the issue is that Stitch is quickly loosing space on my lap to my ever-growing tummy.
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