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Is safe/not living with a dog while I am pregnant?

8 posts, 7 voices

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Participants in this thread:	syahfirmansyah Luna Idiot Blaster Tailspin steve.wishart Raspberries ar
syahfirmansyah 6 posts	Is it safe to live with a dog while I am pregnant? As far as I know that prenatal development is very important. Everything can be a teratogen. Teratogens are substances that can harm my baby for instance dogs’ hair. I have a story that is a true story. My doctor had two grandchildren who were deaf since they were born. He was trying so hard to heal his grandchildren, but unfortunetly, they could not be healed. He went to Singapore to check them up, and doctors in there told him that the cause was toxoplasma. My doctor’s daughter used to have a lot of dogs inside her house. What do you think about this story? I want to know more about that because everthing has a possibility that we never know. I don’t want to conduct an experiment with my own baby. That’s why I am so curios. Thank you readers.
Luna 70 posts	OK. First of all, there are SOOOO many things that can go wrong while you are pregnant and SOOOO many things in our environment that are teratogens, you just can’t worry about all of them all the time. I would be more worried about drugs, caffeine, pollution in the air, radiation from the sun (are you going to take a plane ride?), and anything you ingest. Keep a balanced diet, take your prenatal vitamins, exercise! For something to harm your baby, it needs to get into your system. Wash your hands more often, if you think something from your dog might give you an infection but dog hair is not going to get to the baby. Just because one person that had dogs had two deaf children doesn’t mean everyone with dogs is going to have deaf children. Genetics plays a big role on this. Also stress, try to relax a little. If you have made the decision to have a baby, enjoy it. You cannot protect your unborn child (and your child at any stage for that matter) from all harm. It’s just not possible and it’s not a healthy attitute for you or the child. Relax!
Idiot Blaster Dallas, TX 2 posts	Syahfirmansyah, Humans domesticated dogs from wolves about 10,000 years ago. So, I’d say the empirical evidence shows that YES, you may indeed live with a dog while you are pregnant. I can’t believe you would even have asked such a question. Maybe a better question would be..do you even know how to get pregnant?
Tailspin Toronto 60 posts	Blaster….if people get zinged for asking questions they may not ask at all. There is no need to be so rude. Back to the question. Toxoplasmosis is transmitted in domestic animals by feces but it is much more common to contract it through something like raw chicken! There are tests available to check if your pets carry the toxoplasmosis but really, if you simply have someone else deal with the poop scooping and keep your hands clean you should be fine. When I worked at the vet many expectant parents got their cats tested (more common than in dogs) and simply had hubby do the cleaning up. There is some evidence that actually living with animals as infants can decrease the chances of allergies later and also help to stimulate the infant’s immune system, so chances are you would be doing more good than harm living with your beloved dogs. Congrats on your pregnancy and best wishes.
steve.wishart England, UK 22 posts	As the old saying goes Blaster, “Better to look a fool for 5 minutes than to look a fool for eternity”, so perhaps a little more respect from yourself wouldn’t go amiss as I’m pretty sure you don’t know everything, otherwise you would have said that dogs have been domesticated for around 14,000 years as opposed to just 10,000. I would love to give you a long old reply to your question Syahfirmansyah, but I couldn’t do any better than Tailspin’s, so as such, I won’t bother to add anything more than a congratulations and we expect to see some pictures on dogtime soon of the new additions to the family, with and without fur!
Idiot Blaster Dallas, TX 2 posts	I didn’t want to offend someone with a date older than 10K..I figured someone ignorant enough to ask if it were ok to live with a dog while pregnant might also be a bible thumper and ignore a date older than that. And, I can’t respect anyone who would ask such an inane question. The fact that so far a couple of you felt the need to reply in such length to a moronic question is quite humorous to me. I was feeling particularly irritated the day I read this post and signed up just to reply to her. With all the things kids put in their mouths once they are born…I mean..be real.
Jun 10, 2008 5:27pm Raspberries 36 posts	Please stop, Blaster. You don’t have to be rude. No one who asks a question is dumb! They just want to know extra knowledge, and I don’t think you should bother syahfirmansyah in the first place. Thanks Tailspin for standing up for syahfirmansyah. PS- Congratulations SYAHFIRMANSYAH, I hope your family lives long and strong!
Jun 20, 2008 9:17am ar 1 post	SYAHFIRMANSYAH, the only way to get toxoplasmosis is to ingest feces contaminated with “sporulated oocysts”. These oocysts can be found in feces of cats that have eaten an infected animal (rat, undercooked meat, etc.). Here is a website that clearly outlines the life cycle of the parasite. http://depts.washington.edu/hivaids/oip/case2/f… The disease is treatable with antibiotics and you can be tested for it. Dogs have no part in the life cycle of this parasite, do not cause congenital anomalies, and as states before, they contribute to decrease the risk of allergies in the baby by activating the immune system . Best wishes with coming addition!!!
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