Toxoplasmosis

You have definitely heard of this one before, despite its pretty difficult name to remember. And that is because it is mainly connected to cats, and because we make a pretty big deal about making sure pregnant women do not contract this disease.

You can get toxoplasmosis from cat feces, which is why you should be careful when you clean the litter box and always wash your hands after you do so, so you limit the chances of potentially getting it if the cat has the parasite. It is only the infected cats who have it, not all cats out there.

If you have any immunocompromised people or pregnant women in your household, which are the two groups of people that could get complications from toxoplasmosis, you should make sure they do not clean the litter box and that you keep your cat indoors to avoid the chance of getting this parasite.

Generally speaking, cats will not exhibit any symptoms that they have toxoplasmosis, but kittens, since they are more vulnerable, will have diarrhea if infected. In humans, things are very different: you can have toxoplasmosis and be perfectly healthy since the CDC reports that about 40 million people may be living with the disease already. If you are more sensitive, you may end up having flu-like symptoms from toxoplasmosis, including muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes.