It is possible that you have heard something about toxoplasmosis, especially if you are or someone in your family is pregnant, since it has been discovered that, although they are not very frequent cases, this disease can be spread from a cat to the fetus that is in her mother’s belly, in a way that affects her proper development.
This topic is usually worrying in the family of a pregnant woman, because toxoplasmosis refers to an infectious disease.
For this reason, and in general, if you learn how to know if a cat has toxoplasmosis, and how to act in these cases, as well as other useful information, keep reading this article where we are going to show you everything you need to know.
What is toxoplasmosis:
Toxoplasmosis is an infectious disease caused by Toxoplasma Gondi, and can be spread to a human fetus, not that the chances are too high, but there is still a danger of it happening, hence it is normal that many pregnant women want to find out about the disease and want to find out as much as possible about it.
Toxoplasmosis can be found in the feces of cats that suffer from it and in raw meat in general, and its transmission occurs by simple direct contact with these objects. In addition, if care is not taken when cleaning and disinfecting our cat’s litter box correctly, the infection can spread.
In general, it is estimated that around 10% of cats worldwide suffer from toxoplasmosis, while 15% are carriers of toxoplasmosis, and that this can be transmitted mainly by feeding wild cats, which usually eat mice, birds, etc.
Therefore, if your cat does not leave the house and does not eat raw food, it is almost impossible for him to suffer from this disease, unless he has come into contact with the feces of other feline companions who are infected.
How to know if a cat has toxoplasmosis:
It is a disease that does not produce visible symptoms in general, unless the cat has low defenses, and then it can present some symptoms, such as losing the desire to eat, having diarrhea or even having trouble breathing, and also feel listless or have a fever.
So, if in 90% of cases toxoplasmosis is asymptomatic, then how do you know if a cat has toxoplasmosis? Well, for this, it is necessary to go to our trusted veterinarian to perform a blood test on our cat. This is the only really reliable test that will show whether our cat has toxoplasmosis or not. Someone might recommend stool testing, but we should note that this test will not be entirely reliable depending on the stage of the disease.
How to cure toxoplasmosis:
Once your cat’s blood test has tested positive for toxoplasmosis, the veterinarian will be in charge of indicating the treatment and the duration to follow from that moment. However, you should know that in general antibiotics do not manage to completely kill the virus, but at least they will succeed in multiplying the formation of eggs.
The main medication prescribed to treat toxoplasmosis is usually clindamycin, indicating a dose that can be between 8 and 15 mg per kilo of weight of the cat every 8 hours. Treatment is usually orally and usually lasts a month.
On the other hand, clindamycin can be administered in combination with another antibiotic belonging to the group of sulfonamides, administering a dose of about 15mg per kilo every 8 hours for a month to make the treatment much more effective.
In any case, this treatment that we are commenting on is for information only, you should always go to the veterinarian and fully follow their instructions, since the administration of these medications incorrectly can cause serious problems.
For example, if we administer a higher dose of clindamycin than necessary, we can create some type of gastrointestinal problem in our cat. On the other hand, high doses of sulfonamides can cause kidney or liver failure to damage the bone marrow, as well as cause digestive diseases and conjunctivitis.
The symptoms produced by toxoplasmosis, such as respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological damage, as well as possible uveitis, should also be treated. In this case, it will also be your veterinarian who considers the option of treating these symptoms or not and how it should be done.
How is toxoplasmosis spread?
In general terms, we can say that toxoplasmosis is spread by directly touching the infected cat’s feces or by eating raw meat. Contagion can occur at any time, and we can even become infected without realizing it, since there are usually no obvious symptoms related to the disease.
Once our cat has been infected by the toxoplasma Gondi virus, the virus will begin to multiply and reproduce in its intestine, causing eggs called oocytes to form. These eggs are eliminated between 15 and 20 days after being infected.
Once outside, we still say that they are not active, but after the eggs mature between 1 and 5 days after leaving the cat’s body, they will become the so-called focus of the toxoplasmosis infection. Therefore, if you change the litter in the box every day, it is difficult for contagion to occur, but in addition, veterinarians recommend always changing our cat’s litter by putting on gloves, so that it protects us from the spread of this disease.
Eating raw or undercooked meat should also be avoided, and vegetables should also be washed very well, just in case they have been in contact with cat feces.
Remember that, although it is rare, the spread of Toxoplasmosis can occur at any time, including any stage of pregnancy in which you are.
Now the time has come when the pregnant woman or the family is no longer told that they must give their cat to another family, but instead, it is recommended to be careful and prevent contagion in any case, so that neither the family nor the cat is affected for this reason. Remember that domestic cats are usually a member of the family and it is not easy to get rid of them simply.
In addition, you can follow these recommendations to prevent your cat from becoming infected with toxoplasmosis, just like yourself.
Toxoplasmosis is a very contagious disease, although it is a minority of cats that have it, here we have shown you how to know if a cat has toxoplasmosis, so that you put it on treatment and try to avoid possible contagion with humans, especially in cats. The case of being pregnant. In addition, it is recommended that your veterinarian do a review at least twice during the year.
