It has recently become widespread that raising cats causes infertility in men and women. It is also said that they contain a germ that affects pregnant women and leads to miscarriage if pregnancy occurs. However, despite the spread of this belief, it has not been scientifically proven and has no medical basis that has been documented in published medical studies.

Do cats cause infertility in women and men?

Toxoplasmosis, also known as toxoplasmosis, is a parasitic infection. This type of parasite lives in the intestines of cats infected with toxoplasmosis. Not all cats are infected. Cats become infected with the parasite due to raw food, food of unknown origin, and processed meats. When a pregnant woman comes into contact with the feces of infected cats, the infection occurs, and she becomes infected with the same parasite. The fear here is for the fetus of deformities and birth defects.

Humans, both men and women, can contract this disease, but it is not infertility. It is toxoplasmosis, a parasite found in the intestines of cats. In men, this disease manifests through a range of symptoms, including:

• Fever.
• High temperature.
• Fatigue and exhaustion.
• Swollen lymph nodes.
• Skin rash and allergies.
• Feeling blurred vision.
• Exposure to convulsions and tremors in the limbs.

These symptoms are common to both women and men, but the symptoms specific to women, in addition to those mentioned, are miscarriage, especially in the early months of pregnancy, and not infertility.

Methods of transmission of the toxoplasmosis microbe to humans (the parasite responsible for cat disease)

As we mentioned, the Toxoplasma parasite is not necessarily transmitted only through cats, but is found in a range of other things that can cause miscarriage and other diseases. Therefore, miscarriage is not necessarily caused by raising cats. Here are some ways that help in the transmission of the Toxoplasma microbe:

• The main reason for the transmission of the Toxoplasma parasite may be the consumption of processed meats of unknown origin, which are popular among many people, such as burgers, luncheon meat, sausages, and other processed meats, due to the lack of control over the manufacturing of these products.
• Some people eat raw and undercooked meat, believing that it is more beneficial to eat it this way. However, when it is raw and undercooked, the parasite is highly active, thus causing the human body to contract toxoplasmosis.
• One of the main reasons for the parasite being transmitted to the human body is drinking untreated milk, since this parasite is found in cattle and is therefore transmitted to the milk and from the milk to the human body.
• The microbe is transmitted to the pregnant mother through any of the methods mentioned previously, and thus it is transmitted from the mother to the fetus through the placenta, through which the fetus is nourished. Consequently, it is exposed to miscarriage or death immediately after birth, or in some cases, it is born with mental or physical deformities.
• Eating vegetables and fruits that are not properly cleaned greatly helps in the transmission of the parasite to the human body.
• One of the main ways of infection, which places the blame on cats, is by cleaning the cat litter box carelessly and without sanitizing the hands afterwards.

Cats do not cause infertility

A woman may be infected with the parasite initially, but it does not manifest in a pathological form until pregnancy occurs. When pregnancy occurs, the parasite is active and thus causes miscarriage, especially in the first months of pregnancy, or exposure to fetal deformities, but it does not affect reproductive ability and does not cause infertility in men or women.

We have provided important information about cat disease, scientifically known as toxoplasmosis, methods of prevention, its main causes, and how the disease is transmitted from animals to humans.