More Awesome Than You!

The not-cleaning-litter boxes by pregnant sims probably has to do with toxoplasmosis, a parasite that many cats have had and that gets shed in their poop.  It builds antibodies in the blood, so *if* a pregnant woman cleans the litter boxes and *if* she gets it for the first time while pregnant, it can cause birth defects.  Doctors recommend that pregnant women not clean litter boxes for this reason. 

Actually, it's pretty stupid, because many (most?) people with cats have already got the antibodies in their blood anyway.  I'm about 99% sure I do, because I had a cat who had a bad case of it when he was a kitten (it can be dangerous to kittens and elderly cats, but most healthy adult cats--and humans--don't have any symptoms at all.

PB

Plus, these are sims. I hate to say it....but the sims are not real.

My sims don't clean out the kitty litter anyway, they have their maids or servos do it :D

My Sims Influence other sims to clean the litter boxes at parties.

PB

I just train them to use the terlet.

Same here, with the addition of the Terlet O' Awesome that flushes itself. The cats get their very own potty room that's locked to all sims. Now if only the dogs could be terlet trained..

Or at least piss on the grass instead of on the footpath by the letterbox!

I heard that prevalence of toxoplasmosis varies greatly by country. Only 4-5% of whole population are carriers of toxoplasmosis where I live (S.Korea), so it's really a serious danger to most pregnant women. I personally know several women who were scared/harassed into giving their cats up, usually by their parent-in-laws. It makes me really angry, why can't their husbands get their lazy asses off to clean up litter boxes just for a few months? >:(

I'm pregnant, and I just use rubber gloves. Wow, that took some thinking up.

I use a mask now to clean the litter box. My lungs are dodgy.

For my sims, they clean the box when they get pissed enough to do so. Kind of like me.

I'm sure the moderators here will viciously taunt/riducule/poke/ban me for this (my first) post to MATY, but I wanted to share a quick bit of info re: toxoplasmosis for those who come after and find this thread (and also say thanks for this mod, even though I pressed the thanks button first; "thanks" to the Arse who put that wav up, btw, since I originally opted to not spam with a reply of any kind--BMA).  EA is semi-retarded--as we all know--but the particular code for preg simmies proves it.  They were probably conned by their doctors about toxo and didn't bother to study up before punting kitty out the door.  There's no need to wear masks (unless you have dodgy lungs/asthma), give up your kitties, or even wear gloves--the parasite is MORE prevalent in birds than in cats . . . the birds have to get it via an infected meat source usually, AND your cat has to eat that bird, AND you have to eat its poo to get it.  Yup--you have to INGEST the parasite to get it.  If you had it, you'd have chronic eye infections, maybe blindness, other funness.  Don't raid the litter box for snacks or phail to wash up after scooping, mkay?!  Cheers to everyone, back to simming . . .

That's not true.
You can get toxoplasmosis just by coming into contact with the feces from a cat.  If you change litter, you're at risk.  If you garden and cats happen to have gone in your garden, you're at risk.  If your cat takes a dump and then goes trolloping on your counter and you prepare food on it, you're at risk.  Hell, even breathing in the litter dust can infect you.
Ingestion of feces is not the only way to get it.

But it's not only cats that you can get infected from.  Meat (or even anything that has touched that uncooked meat, ie...cross contamination) that has not been fully cooked or properly frozen can carry the parasite.  Also fruits and vegetables that may have come into contact with feces can be contaminated.

And if you are infected you'll most likely either feel flu symptoms (muscle aches, fatigue, fever, etc...) or nothing at all.

AND it's an infant that may suffer the chronic eye infections, blindness, brain damage, seizures, etc...after birth if they have been exposed to the parasite via the womb, not the mother.

Thanks fatkitty--I had glossed over the general topic only as a means to rant about panic over tox and EAs contribute to said panic, but your addition and symptom correction is sound.  You and I are talking both sides of the same coin--whether you get it from soil, uncooked meat, poo, the rule is that folks should use common sense and wash hands and food prep surfaces.  It has to be ingested, even if you get it from wiping your mouth with a grubby garden glove after doing some weeding, general contact doesn't mean you get it as it's a parasite too large to be absorbed through the skin.  Folks interested in detailed info can find a spiffy brochure by the U.S. CDC (Centers for Disease Control) at http://www.cdc.gov/toxoplasmosis/pdfs/ToxoCatOwners_8.2004.pdf (http://www.cdc.gov/toxoplasmosis/pdfs/ToxoCatOwners_8.2004.pdf); lots of good info at NIH, too.

The moderators will probably delete our little tidbits for kvetching about toxo on a dead thread, but it's good to know.  See you 'round!