While we know that cats and babies can coexist harmoniously in the same family, there are still precautions that new or expecting parents can take to protect both baby and cat. Keep your cats indoors and don’t befriend your neighbor’s cats while you’re pregnant!

The parasitic infection of cats, toxoplasmosis, can be caused by the cat eating small mammals or birds. This parasite in a pregnant woman can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, or birth defects such as blindness, deafness, hydrocephalus, or epilepsy.

Toxoplasmosis cysts are excreted in the faeces of infected animals. Because cats often use gardens as litter boxes, always wear gloves when gardening. Also wear gloves when washing raw vegetables and fruits, handling raw meat, or cleaning food preparation surfaces, and do not rub your eyes until you have washed your hands. It is also best not to eat or feed your cat raw or undercooked meat. To prevent infection of cysts that are passed in the faeces, scoop up the faeces at least twice a day.