So, while I was explaining my excuses (below) about why I still clean the cats' littler box to an online group of friends, I realized this might be a good blog post. So, here it is and here are my excuses why I am still cleaning the cats' litter box:
1. I have always cleaned the litter box, except when I am out of town (can't very well do it when you're not in the same house as the cats, right?). It was part of Mr Siili's and my agreement before we even got the cats.
2. When I clean it, it gets done on a regular basis: 2x a day, (once in the morning and once at night...), which I'm not sure DH would be good about doing. Plus, we have 2 cats and 1 box, it HAS to be done twice a day.
3. I know DH wouldn't do it as good as I do (based on past experiences when I have been out of town) and the entire box would have to be cleaned more often, which leads to wasting litter & money.
4. I use gloves when I clean the littler box, then I wash the gloves after I clean the box and then my my hands after I remove the gloves. (Side note, I should probably add a mask for my mouth and nose while cleaning the box just to be even safer. I have 2 very cute ones and they are super-duper easy to make.)
5. When I can no longer squat down, it will have to be Mr Siili's job. Plus, I hope by that time we will be in our new place, so we can have at least 2 boxes, so the urgency to scoop 2 times a day will be a bit less. (Not that we should be lazy and only scoop once a day.)
6. Our cats are indoor only and don't get raw meat (except for the rare times Mr Siili gives Rusty an itty-bitty pinch of hamburger, which I have told him is now 100% off limits), so likeliness of Toxoplasmosis isn't as high as if they were outdoor cats. From above mentioned preparing your cat article:
And that's all my excuses on why I am still cleaning the litter box, for now. What do you do (or have you done) during pregnancy that you really shouldn't be doing? Please don't let me be the only blogger that doesn't always play by the rules.
Some cats do carry toxoplasmosis but the ones most at risk are those who are allowed outdoors and as a result, hunt and ingest birds and rodents. Cats on raw food diets are also more at risk.7. Women (and a close friend) have been doing this (pregnancy & caring for cats) 'for-eva' and still had healthy kids. I have to believe the same.
ANDYou are at more of a risk of getting toxoplasmosis from handling raw meat, not properly washing your hands, or from using the same cutting board for vegetables that you use for raw meat.
8. It just makes life easier for now.
p.s. OMG! Blogger is having issues and I've had to go in and re-organize and fix the text a couple of times already.
