some clearing up?

so tuesday i had my first appointment for being pregnant. they asked me if i had any cats and i told them no but i do have a chinchilla. the nurse said to not change the chins droppings because of parasites but i really dont think she knew too much about chins. i know there are a few pregnant woman that own chins and im just wondering on what they have to say about this? i know i need to wash my hands after handling him but what about cleaning the cage and such? is there anything like a parasite that i have to worry about?

Chins don't have parasites in their poop unless they get sick with giardia or something similar.

i wouldn't be worried at all about cleaning cages while pregnant. just don't go diving bare hands into urine soaked shavings, lol.

if your chin had parasites then they'd most likely be off their feed/hay and not looking good, and you would know on the poop end of things if they were infected, eh?

thats what i thought. i tried telling her that its little pellets like rabbits but she still said to steer clear of it. and Rocko is perfectly fine and healthy.

Do as google search on Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, it harms the human fetus and can be carried in chinchilla feces along with other rodents.

I've cleaned cages the whole pregnancy... as have other pregnant owners and breeders.

IMO Pregnant women should not be cleaning any kind of feces. If you don't have too AKA you have a husband or children, let them do any cage cleaning or animal cleaning up after while you are pregnant. But of course with anything gloves can be worn to protect against anything getting in.

JAMA recommends that pregnant women do not handle any pet rodent feces, here is the article.


http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/294/13/1613.full

Laurie said:

IMO Pregnant women should not be cleaning any kind of feces. If you don't have too AKA you have a husband or children, let them do any cage cleaning or animal cleaning up after while you are pregnant. But of course with anything gloves can be worn to protect against anything getting in.

Click to expand...

I agree with Laurie. I think if you don't have to be the one doing the cleaning don't. But.. if you do, take precautions to be on the safe side. Safe seems to be much more pleasant than sorry.

Isn;t it ironic that pregnant women have to avoid all kinds of poop while they are pregnant, but end up dealing with lots of it once the baby is born?

I suspect the nurse may have been thinking of toxoplasmosis, because she asked about cats, but as the others mentioned, rodent droppings are also to be avoided if possible.