It seems to be a growing trend in my town for pregnant women to give up
their ferrets because "my doctor said so".

I first found this odd when someone gave me their unwanted ferret
because she was pregnant (the person, not the ferret). I told her that
was irrational and that ferrets brought no harm to the baby while in
the womb, she simply should not handle the dirty litter. Of course she
didn't listen and I got anotherfuzzie. =D

I often go on a local "yard sale" site. It's like Craigslistfor my
local area. Every other month I see a ferret that's being given up
dueto the owner's pregnancy. Also, I went to the pet store to buy some
ferretsupplies and there was another ferret there that the pet store
owner said "Was given up because her owner was pregnant and was advised
to get rid of him by her doctor."

I assume there is a doctor in town that is advising people to lose
their ferrets because of a parasite called toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis
can infect any mammal and cause death of a fetus in pregnant women.
There's only been two known cases where ferrets had toxoplasmosis. This
is not odd though since ANY MAMMAL can be an intermediate host for this
parasite. Cats are the definitive host for toxoplasmosis, meaning the
parasite can only produce eggs if the host is a cat. If the parasite
is in any other mammal it cannot produce eggs. I suppose this is the
reason doctors say "get rid of your cat if you're pregnant".

I'm no doctor but if this information I read is true I'd love to find
out who this doctor is and send them some hate mail. It's pretty
ignorant to assume ferrets are just like cats.

Reason I'm posting this is to get opinions and to confirm that what I
read is true about ferrets and toxoplasmosis.

[Posted in FML 6964]