# Can dogs get toxoplasmosis?



## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

I just googled it and my (very reliable  ) internet research says that they can. Funny considering how many dogs eat cat poop.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

And its one thing if your dog visits your own cats litter box for a snack, because you know your cat is an inside cat and so is less likely to ingest something with T. gondii.
But just tonight on our walk, Brooks put his nose down and was sniffing at what I thought was a pile of leaves, when he tried to eat said leaves.... I told him to drop it and tried to open his mouth as a leaf dropped out, along with the unmistakable odor of cat poop.


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> I just googled it and my (very reliable  ) internet research says that they can. Funny considering how many dogs eat cat poop.


I'm sure a great percentage of dogs *have* been infected (just like a great number of human have been). But nearly everyone (dog and human alike) with an intact immune system responds properly and the infection doesn't get too far. A few cysts here and there don't typically cause problems and they almost always stay dormant. For humans (and I would suspect dogs, too), toxo is pretty much only a problem if a woman is infected for the first time while she is pregnant. Then it can infect the fetus before the woman's immune system can get it inactivated. If the woman has been exposed to it before she gets pregnant and mounts an adequate immune response, there is basically no risk to a fetus if she comes in contact with toxo during her pregnancy.

The whole no litter box thing when pregnant is blown way out of proportion. First, a fairly high percentage of women have already been exposed and are immune. Second, it actually takes a couple of days for the oocysts to even become infective so if the litter box is cleaned daily (like it should be), there is little risk. Third, the majority cats using litterboxes have been exposed long ago and no longer shed cysts anyway. Fourth, a large percentage of cats using litterboxes are kibble fed and don't do much eating of raw meat (even if they are hunters-lots of cats kill but don't eat if they don't need to). Of course the health of a fetus is very important and if one can convince their husband to do cat box duty while they are pregnant, I'm all for it!


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## jimfaster (Feb 9, 2011)

Humans can be infected in utero or by ingestion of oocysts. If T. gondii can pass through the uterus of a pregnant woman to her fetus infected in early pregnancy, spontaneous abortion is common. If infection occurs later in pregnancy (10-24 weeks of gestation), the child may have serious or fatal congenital anomalies, including hydrocephalus, blindness and mental retardation. Most pregnant women infected have no symptoms. About 60% of infected pregnant women are the infection to their fetuses.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

When my older son was born with "issues", they tested me for toxo(a bit after the fact considering I am a veterinarian) and checked his eyes for the pathognomonic signs of toxo. After growing up in a horse barn with cats, and being a vet, my toxo titer was negative. As iowaGold said, the litterbox thing is more of a problem if the stool sits there... I am probably more in danger by gardening, than cleaning the cat box. And as I understand it, raw meat is a culprit for carrying toxo.


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