How To Care for Cats To Prevent Toxoplasmosis

Dom and Min

One of the scary thing for the owners of pets like a cat or a dog is infected with Toxoplasma. For that, we need to know how to care for a cat to avoid toxoplasmosis infection.

Some people prefer cats as pets because they are considered loyal and adorable animals, fun to love and play with. But one thing of concern by the owners is a matter of Toxoplasma infection.

Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by infection of Toxoplasma gondii (T.gondii), classified as a coccidian parasite. For people who have a normal immune system function, it may be a mild infection. However, if it infects people who have impaired immune systems, the infection may be more severe and cause symptoms such as fever and enlarged lymph nodes. But in some people, there are no symptoms and are detected during blood tests.

Things that can cause infection by the parasite Toxoplasma are as follows:

1. Touching or direct contact with the feces of animals such as cats or dogs that are infected. Cats usually get this infection if eating mice, birds or other animals that eat raw meat.
2. Eating contaminated meat which was raw or undercooked.
3. Not clean in washing fruits or vegetables that have been contaminated by manure.
4. Children whose mothers contaminated with Toxoplasma, this is because the parasite can pass through the blood stream and infect the fetus.

Generally, Toxoplasma excreted from the body through feces and not from cat fur. In addition, most cases of toxoplasmosis caused by eat raw or undercooked meat that are already infected.

This does not mean you do not need to maintain the cleanliness of the cat. Therefore, you need to know some important things in how to care for cats to prevent toxoplasmosis, as follows:

1. Avoid direct contact with feces, if you want to clean the litter box, you should use gloves and wash your hands afterwards. Clean the stools 1-2 times a day and use a special sand for cat litter.
2. Give dried or wet food that is specifically for cats and avoid giving raw food such as fish or meat.
3. Keep cats indoors to prevent him eating mice or other animals that may be contaminated.
4. Bathe your cat at least 3 times a month or once a week using cat shampoo, and dry his fur.
5. Give vaccines for cats according to age. Give toxoplasmosis vaccine and rabies vaccine for cats.
6. If your cat shows signs of illness such as loss of appetite, more silent or less agile, colds or diarrhea, immediately consult a veterinarian.

Do not forget to wash your hands every time you play or contact with cats. By maintain the cleanliness of the cats and their cage, cat care will be safer for health.