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Do you think this is kind of whacky? I'm a cat owner myself and have known people who've owned cats for a long time and I've never heard of such a thing. As a cat owner, are you at all worried? Has anyone discussed this with their vets? What have they said?
Do you think this is kind of whacky? I'm a cat owner myself and have known people who've owned cats for a long time and I've never heard of such a thing. As a cat owner, are you at all worried? Has anyone discussed this with their vets? What have they said?
The parasite (it isn't a bacteria) is called Toxo. This is nothing new at all...Toxo has always been around, they're just learning more about it works.
You are FAR more likely to get toxo from eating undercooked meat or gardening in soil than you are from your cat. In fact, there's a very good chance that you Tekkie have been exposed to Toxo at some point in your life. It's a very common parasite.
So far as your cats go, the parasite cysts are present in feces, but they take twenty four hours to hatch out and become active. So avoiding Toxo from a cat is as simple as scooping your litterbox everyday. If you're really worried, wear gloves.
If you happen to be pregnant when you get toxo for the very first time, it can cause the fetus to abort. So pregnant women should take common sense precautions like wearing gloves to scoop litter or having their husband do it.
Most people infected with toxo will experience a mild flu-like instance. They aren't likely to even realize anything is wrong. Once you're exposed, it stays in the system. Only in very rare cases does it migrate and cause damage to the brain. It actually happens in cats too...most cats will have a mild fever that their owner won't even detect. Rarely it can cause more serious illness in the feline, including rabies like symptoms (which I've actually witnessed and it was heartbreaking.)
Do you think this is kind of whacky? I'm a cat owner myself and have known people who've owned cats for a long time and I've never heard of such a thing. As a cat owner, are you at all worried? Has anyone discussed this with their vets? What have they said?
This is what I got when I clicked on that link.
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Hmmm, sorry that's weird. I assure you that it's not a harmful link. It's a site called phys.org that I came across when Googling this parasite.
Parallel, you seem fairly knowledgeable about this parasite. Have you heard anything about breathing this in while scooping litter? That's my biggest concern really. I wash my hands with soap and water immediately after scooping and usually my hand is only touching the handle, not the actual litter.
Parallel, you seem fairly knowledgeable about this parasite. Have you heard anything about breathing this in while scooping litter? That's my biggest concern really. I wash my hands with soap and water immediately after scooping and usually my hand is only touching the handle, not the actual litter.
In everything I've read, the parasite is not airborne. You basically have to touch something, then touch your mouth/face in order to ingest it. The cysts are probably heavier than air.
But again, the easiest way to prevent infection (from felines anyway) is just to scoop every day. Like all parasites, there's a life cycle involved. Toxo is passed in the feces as an encapsulated cyst (think like an egg.) After twenty four hours it 'hatches' and becomes actively infectious. So if you scoop daily, the cysts never have a chance to hatch and become dangerous.
I'm a veterinary technician by trade, so I've dealt with both sides of this- cats who actually were sick from infection, and owners who wanted to get rid of their cats because their misguided doctors told them to. What they don't understand is that they've probably all been infected because they once ate a piece of undercooked meat or pulled some weeds without wearing gloves. News story like this are just fear mongering. It's not that the parasite can't be dangerous or that precaustions shouldn't be taken...but the whole phrasing comes across like you WILL go crazy if you touch a kitty, which just isn't the case.
If it really worries you, you could wear a face mask. They sell them at pharmacies, and hardware stores too. It would keep you from breathing the litter dust in too. I don't think it's necessary, but it certainly wouldn't hurt anything to do it.
In everything I've read, the parasite is not airborne. You basically have to touch something, then touch your mouth/face in order to ingest it. The cysts are probably heavier than air.
But again, the easiest way to prevent infection (from felines anyway) is just to scoop every day. Like all parasites, there's a life cycle involved. Toxo is passed in the feces as an encapsulated cyst (think like an egg.) After twenty four hours it 'hatches' and becomes actively infectious. So if you scoop daily, the cysts never have a chance to hatch and become dangerous.
I'm a veterinary technician by trade, so I've dealt with both sides of this- cats who actually were sick from infection, and owners who wanted to get rid of their cats because their misguided doctors told them to. What they don't understand is that they've probably all been infected because they once ate a piece of undercooked meat or pulled some weeds without wearing gloves. News story like this are just fear mongering. It's not that the parasite can't be dangerous or that precaustions shouldn't be taken...but the whole phrasing comes across like you WILL go crazy if you touch a kitty, which just isn't the case.
Thanks for sharing, Parallel. I had the same impression regarding the fear mongering. I've grown up with cats and haven't heard anything like this until recently.
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