In the last issue (924), Ilson DaSilveira asks about the dangers of
Toxoplasmosis from his ferret to his pregnant wife.  First of all,
let me qualify anything I say here with I am not a Doctor or anything
close to it.  All I can do is pass on our recent experience.
 
When we found out that we were expecting last November, we had two
ferrets (Weasie & Farrah) and two cats (Mittens & Bubba). We too
expressed our concerns about Toxopasmosis to my wife's Dr.  He did
not seem too concerned after we told him that both cats were indoor
cats and NEVER go outside. He just said for caution's sake that I should
change the cat's litter box instead of Judy (my wife) and since I
already clean the ferret's litter box there wasn't a problem there
either. We told him that we had both the cats AND the ferrets and
again he didn't seem to think there'd be a problem.
 
The Dr. told us that we might be at risk of Toxoplasmosis if our cats
were outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats and would possibly be eating wild
animals (birds,mice,etc.).  Again, he suggested that I take over the
cat box duties just as a precaution.
 
We added a 3rd ferret (Dakota) to the fold in March.
 
Well, I'm glad to report (again) that our 3rd daughter (Ashley Victoria)
was born two weeks ago today (8/5/94) and she's VERY healthy (10 lbs, 11 oz!).
 
So, despite our 3 ferrets and 2 cats, we had a very healthy baby! My personal
advice, based on our experience, KEEP Sunny!  Keep handling the litter
box duties and there shouldn't be much of a threat from Sunny provided
your Vet has given her a clean bill of health already. I guess I'm also
assuming here that Sunny has a diet of high-grade cat food or ferret food
as opposed to meat (cooked or uncooked).
 
Well, best of luck to you and your wife (and Sunny too!)and a belated
"Welcome to New Hampshire!", we live in Nashua (NH).
 
Mark Ouellette
[log in to unmask]
 
[Posted in FML issue 0925]