Pet Lovers and Pregnancy
"Dr. Cuddles" is not your typical doctor but a cat that teaches  e xpectant parents about the danger of Toxoplasmosis, an infection that can be spread to pregnant women when they come in contact with their cat's litter box.
Vanessa (Dietel) Armstrong, a sophomore pre-pharmacy major at the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC), created a Toxoplasmosis awareness brochure featuring Dr. Cuddles as part of her Microbiology class. Her professor, Jerry Knutson, said the brochure has practical value.
"Vanessa selected a unique audience, expectant parents, and used her microbiological knowledge to develop a brochure with good information and potential value to the people of our community," he said.
Armstrong, originally from Blackduck, MN, recently delivered the brochure to Jodi Stassen at the Polk County Nursing Service, who will use it in conjunction with the Teen Parenting program. Stassen said the brochure will also be a valuable resource for other expectant mothers who stop by the office.
Marie Brekken, also of the Nursing Service, said the brochure describes an infection that few people know much about. "A lot of our pregnant women have cats and don't make the connection, so the brochure will be very good in that sense," Brekken explained.
The brochure was also distributed to Valley Animal Hospital in Crookston, where it's a valuable resource for both pet owners and pregnant women.
Many Americans are unknowingly infected with the Toxoplasma gondhii parasite and don't display symptoms because most healthy immune systems are able to successfully overcome the parasite. But pregnant women or other people with compromised immune systems (the elderly, infants or chronically ill) could become severely ill if infected. Armstrong's brochure includes precautions pregnant women should take, and tips on how to decrease their chances of coming in contact with the parasite. One tip: Have dad clean the litter box. The back page of the brochure contains numerous informational websites on Toxoplasmosis.
Armstrong had cats when she was pregnant and recalled her doctor telling her about the dangers of Toxoplasmosis, but there wasn't a brochure available to explain the single-celled intestinal parasite in simple language easily understood by a lay person. Armstrong, able to create and publish the brochure as part of a service learning project at UMC, believes she learned more because she did additional research on Toxoplasmosis as the brochure took shape. She named the knowledgeable cat featured in the brochure Dr. Cuddles because she thought it was cute.
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