This is a YouTube video titled "Desterrando falsos mitos sobre embarazo, gatos y toxoplasmosis" created in October 2017. It features a veterinarian named Carlos discussing the myths and facts about toxoplasmosis risks during pregnancy, particularly addressing concerns about cats as a source of infection. The video aims to educate pregnant women on how to avoid toxoplasmosis through proper hygiene and care practices, dispelling the common misconception that cats are the primary risk. The content is a monologue with some brief interjections from other speakers but primarily a single presenter sharing expert advice.
And if those eggs only come from a cat infected by its feces, I don't need to tell you what you have to do to get infected with your cat. Are you pregnant and don't know what to do with your cat? Hello. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families Channel. I'm Carlos. I'm a small animal clinical veterinarian, and today I'm going to talk to you about the risks of toxoplasmosis during your pregnancy. Toxoplasmosis is one of the diseases that most worries pregnant women because it can affect the fetus. This disease is caused by a parasite called toxoplasma, and for the disease to occur, a cat must always be involved in the parasite's transmission cycle. If you're worried because you live with a cat and you don't know if you're going to be at risk of getting toxoplasmosis and if it's going to affect your child, don't miss the end of the video because I'm going to give you the exact guidelines so that you're not at risk of getting toxoplasmosis. The information I just gave you at the beginning of the video is completely true, and that is the origin of the confusion that occurs in toxoplasmosis and in your cat's intermediation of the of course, as a veterinarian, I am not going to tell you that it is your cat's fault for you or your baby suffering from toxoplasmosis, because in most cases you will see that it is not like that. Only in cats can toxoplasmosis be present in adults. In the rest of the animals that it infects, which includes many mammals and also includes people, toxoplasmosis cannot develop. What it produces are alterations, for example, in the fetus of pregnant women. But even if your cat is infected with toxoplasmosis, can it transmit it to you? Probably not. Only 1% can currently pose a risk to the health of a pregnant woman and her fetus. But is toxoplasmosis curable? Yes, toxoplasmosis is curable, and it is curable with antibiotics. Of course, veterinarians want your cat to be healthy and for you to be healthy because your cat is healthy. But we also want to dispel the dark myth that cats have toxoplasmosis. Pregnant women were usually told and almost forced to take their cats out of their homes because they were pregnant and because they were a risk of toxoplasmosis or. But that's not really true. As a result, almost 13% of cats that are abandoned in Spain do so because a baby is coming home. And this is outrageous, because in the end, the cat is not to blame and the blame is being placed on it for toxoplasmosis. And the pregnant woman can become infected with toxoplasmosis through other channels that are not through her cat. In the case of my fellow veterinarians, most of them, and there are quite a few who have become pregnant while working with me, have been tested. And in a profession like veterinary medicine, which involves contact with so many different cats, where we can't know if a cat is being cared for properly or poorly, whether we touch them or are with them in the consultation, most of my fellow veterinarians have tested negative for toxoplasma. That means that it's not that easy to get infected with toxoplasma, but that there has to be some other possibility of toxoplasma infection and that contagion does not occur solely through direct contact with the cat. So if we forget about this witch hunt against cats and toxoplasmosis, what is the main risk for a pregnant woman to get toxoplasmosis? Poor hygiene. In order to get infected with toxoplasma, you need to ingest the parasite, that is the eggs. And if, in addition, those eggs only come from an infected cat through its feces, I don't need to tell you what you have to do to get infected by your cat. And since that's not something we normally do, keep your cat away from the source of the problem, because your cat is probably not the cause of the toxoplasma infection. Also, keep in mind that In Spain, only 1 in 10,000 births can have a complication with toxoplasma. In other words, it's not easy for a pregnant woman to become infected with toxoplasma and for that toxoplasma to reach the fetus. And I'm also telling you that the main route is oral. Abandon the idea that the cat is the source of the possible risk of getting infected with toxoplasma and think about what practices you can do to avoid getting infected. I'm going to give you the necessary advice to make it almost impossible for you to get infected with toxoplasma. What do you want? Oh, we're talking about cats. You've intruded here. Feed your cat only cooked food or kibble the parasite is only viable in fresh, uncooked meat. When it's cooked, the parasite dies and therefore it's impossible for the cat to get infected. Prevent your cat from going outside. In addition to preventing accidents, as I mentioned in another video, I'll leave the link in the description box. You'll prevent your cat from coming into contact with diseases, some of which are only transmissible to cats, such as immunof deficiency or leukemia, and others that are also transmissible to people, such as parasites or toxoplasmosis. If your cat doesn't eat anything outside your home, it will be impossible for your cat to catch toxoplasma and therefore impossible for it to transmit it to you. Don't clean its litter box. If you avoid cleaning its litter box and having contact with your cat's feces, you'll avoid having contact with any toxoplasma eggs or cysts that may be there. In addition, for the toxoplasma egg to be infectious to a person, it has to spend some time in the feces approximately a couple of days. If someone removes your cat's feces from your litter box for you every day, it will be practically impossible for you to get infected with toxoplasma. Don't eat fresh meat. If you think about what I've told you about your cat, it can also apply to you. Only fresh meat and uncooked products can infect you with toxoplasma. Wash fruits and vegetables before eating them. Poorly washed and uncooked fruits and vegetables can pose a risk to your health by transmitting toxoplasma. Lettuce leaves, apple skin and tomato skin may contain traces of toxoplasma that can be dangerous to you. Therefore, always wash your fruits and vegetables. Avoid gardening without gloves. If you wear gloves while gardening, you will be much less likely to come into contact with possible Toxoplasma cysts in the soil. If after gardening, you wash your hands thoroughly and remove any residue that may be on them, you will practically eliminate that source of contact for you. Finally, and most importantly, get tested yourself to find out if you are toxoplasmosis positive, because if you are, it will be impossible for toxoplasmosis to pose a risk to your pregnancy. And get your cat tested, because if your cat is negative, it will be impossible for him to transmit toxoplasmosis to you. Don't blame your cat for toxoplasmosis. It probably won't give it to you. Of course, don't be so stupid as to expel a member of your family, such as your cat, from your home just because you are pregnant. Toxoplasmosis does exist and cats really do like it. But as I said, it's not all that people say, right? And the risk of getting infected with toxoplasmosis from having a cat at home while pregnant is really low. The risks of getting tosoplasmosis are usually in the food that is consumed and in the practices that are carried out without adequate hygiene. With this video, we hope to dispel the myth that your cat can transmit toxoplasmosis to you so you can rest easy. And that's it for today's video, by the way. Anyway, many thanks to Cynthia, who recommended that we talk about this topic on the channel. If you have been a mother and have lived with cats, tell us about your experience in the comments so that we can help to definitively dispel this myth of toxoplasmosis and cats. Thank you very much for following Happy pets and Families. If you like the video, give it a like. Subscribe and share it with your family and friends so that the information reaches as far as possible and I'll see you in the next video. Here we go.
