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]