January 17th, 2002 our first grandchild was born. Our son and his wife
live in the same city as we do. The pediatrician told our
daughter-in-law that house cats can give diseases, illnesses, to her
son (our grandchild) of 10 months.

What can you find out as far as true or not, what conditions cause
illnesses and what we can do to get our grandson to visit us and still
keep our 2 kittens 8 weeks old.

Hi again,

The FAQ page from the rec.pets.cats newsgroup lists diseases that can
be caught from cats, and says:

"Anyone with an impaired immune system is at risk of exposure to germs
and other things from cats that healthy people would not contract;
this is regardless of the health of the cat.

You are more likely to contract diseases from other people than your
pets. Transmission of disease generally requires close contact between
susceptible people and animals or their oral, nasal, ocular or
digestive excretions. Use common sense and practice good hygiene to
reduce your risks."
http://michiana.org/MFNetLife/CatsFAQ2.html

Obviously a baby has a less effective immune system than adults. But
the point that "you are more likely to contract diseases from other
people than your pets" is a good one.

The only problem I can see is that young children don't understand
cats, and kittens don't understand humans, so the chances of the baby
being bitten or scratched is quite high if he or she plays with the
kitten. My personal opinion is that if there is no contact between the
cat and child, and if the cat appears to be healthy, then it would be
as safe as any other environment.

A lot of the information on this FAQ page relates to cat disease being
passed to humans:
http://www.netshop.net/~cnah/faqcat.html

This short article at BabyCentre has some tips:

How can we make sure our pets and our new baby will live together
harmoniously?
http://www.babycentre.co.uk/expert/536374.html


Search strategy:

cats disease children FAQ
://www.google.com/search?q=+cats+disease+children+FAQ

Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by robertskelton-ga on 09 Nov 2002 23:29 PST

More detail can be found via the links, but it is worth mentioning in
brief here:

Toxoplasmosis appears to be the most likely source of any danger to
the baby. It is a relatively common parasite that can be carried and
shed by cats in their feces, and is of particular danger to pregnant
women (if any more grandchildren are on the way). To be safe:

- Keep your cat free of infection by feeding only cat food (no raw
meat) and keep him indoors so hunting is eliminated. Keep any
children's  sandboxes covered.

- Since FRESH feces pose very little risk, clean the litter box and
change cat litter daily. If possible, someone other than the expectant
mom should have this responsibility.

- Do not eat raw or undercooked meat. Any vegetables that could come
into contact with cat feces (do any cats "go" in your garden?) should
be washed well.

- Wear gloves and wash hands after changing litter, working in the
garden or handling raw meat and vegetables.
http://www.netshop.net/~cnah/faqcat.html

Thanks, Robert. Very well done. So her comments were not so weird
after all. Glad to be informed well and to care for not only the
opinions of others but their actual well being.

Blessings.
John Pendleton

pendleton,

In addition, cats can sometimes carry Toxoplasmosis, a very common
infectious parasite which can be spread through the handling of, or
proximity to, cat feces. Toxoplasmosis is similar to other ubiquitous
causes of illness, such as Epstein-Barr virus (which causes
mononucleosis), in that many people will have been exposed to it by
the time they become adults.

As robertskelton says, it is chiefly only a serious concern in people
whose immune system is not at full strength (such as infants, the
elderly, AIDS patients, and organ-transplant recipients who are taking
immuno-suppressive drugs to avoid rejection of their transplant).

You can read more about this on the Seattle & King County, WA Public
Health website's "Toxoplasmosis Fact Sheet":
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/prevcont/toxoplas.htm

So, it's just a good idea to keep your kitties' litter box(es) safely
out of reach, where your grandson can't get into them the instant
someone turns their back (something at which small children are quite
adept!).

I hope you find this information helpful!

Regards,

aceresearcher

pendleton,

Well, I see that as I was writing that up, robertskelton had the very
same idea! He is right on-target.

aceresearcher