How to take care of your cat to avoid toxoplasmosis

On International Cat Day, we gave you 10 tips so you'll be well prepared if you want to add one to the family. However, it is also important to learn about toxoplasmosis, a disease that was related to these animals.

Therefore, Comfort we discuss with him infectologist Hugo Pizzi, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of Córdoba (M.N. 54101, M.P. 7827) and researcher on the subject for more than 40 years.

The expert states, in the first place, that domestic cats are not the only animals that may carry this parasite but that "the microorganism can be in all the felines of the world". To know how we can become infected, you must first know your infection cycle.

The animals contract it by eating raw meat. Once ingested, the parasite fills its life cycle in the intestine and produces microscopic particles that are eliminated by feces (in each deposit, there may be up to 20 million). At this point, the human can be infected.

In two ways. The first is inhalation: the particles are sucked because they are close to the fecesbut also (in the domestic case) to share armchairs or places where infected cats rise to clean themselves. The second form is digestive: felines can infect other animals such as cows or pigs in the same way as before. If we eat this meat without cooking it well, we will contract the parasites. Another option is to buy poorly washed fruits and vegetables that have come into contact with contaminated soil.

What causes toxoplasmosis? Pizzi explains that in most cases he is asymptomatic, so we will not know. The reason is that our immune system manages to control the infection and balance the body. If this does not happen, we may suffer eye damage, hepatitis or ganglionic toxoplasms (the latter heal themselves).

The higher risk exists for immunocompromised people (like HIV-AIDS carriers or transplant recipients) because their immune system will not be able to fight against parasites, or for pregnant women that they contract the infection during pregnancy.

"For pregnant women, the severity will depend on the trimester in which the infection occurs.The earlier the pregnancy, the more serious the consequences," said the professional. From problems that can cause in the fetus These are: hearing problems, malformations and eye injuries.

For this reason, blood tests are indicated to determine if the woman was already suffering from the disease at the time of her pregnancy – which does not represent a risk – or if she should take care of herself during the next 9 months . Pizzi said that there are treatments to prevent the toxoplasm from harming the fetus.

Then, the precautions we can take to take care of our cats they are:

-Do not give them raw meat;

– Feed them properly to prevent them from eating small animals such as mice or birds.

As well we can add the following actions:

– cook the meat well;

– wash fruits and vegetables well;

– If you want to have a child, find out if you have toxoplasmosis and, if it is not, perform periodic blood tests on a preventive basis.