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- Aug 23, 2020
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Sorry for the long post. I‘m suffering from health anxiety and I thought there may be someone here with experience or knowledge about this. I appreciate you taking the time to read this.
I moved into a house share temporarily over a year ago and only lived there for around 2 months. Before moving I met the owner of the property and everything was fine. Upon visiting their home, and their 3 cats, I was shown the room. The carpet was stained where the cats had been sick several times in the room, something I am familiar with from friends with pets and have never really considered a huge deal, although I would have expected it to be cleaned up properly. However, they had not bothered recently as the carpets were due to be replaced that week.
The owner seemed otherwise quite clean and assured me that the carpets were being replaced before I was moving in. This was not the case however and it wasn’t until a week after moving that the job got done.
My concern comes from the fact that when the carpet fitter arrived he asked the owner if the stains on the carpet were feces. The owner said yes. The fitter said he could not do the job because his wife was pregnant and it was a health and safety risk.
At the time I was suffering from a myriad mental health and financial problems and just assured myself it would get better and to just stick with it. I didn’t understand what was going on regarding health issues and what the fitter was referring to. I also didn’t know if the owner actually meant feces or if they were just caught of guard by the fitters question.
So, whilst living there it became apparent that the owner was not a very clean person at all and it didn’t take long for the whole situation to deteriorate. The cats were well fed and cared for but would relieve themselves in the bathtub occasionally and once in the main room/porch/ Luckily, I was able to find alternative accommodation quite quickly.
My problem is the anxiety that occurred after leaving and reading up about the health and safety issues that could have arisen and learning of Toxoplasmosis.
Can Toxo survive on objects and if so, for over a year?
How likely is it that, even if the cats had defecated in that room that they had Toxo at all? (They were indoor cats that very very rarely left the house, and if they did it was just out of curiosity and they returned almost immediately.)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I would arrange for a blood test for my own sake but with COVID it is very difficult to do that, and that doesn’t help with the anxiety of transmitting it to my family.
Thank you for reading and sorry if this is the wrong forum for this.
I moved into a house share temporarily over a year ago and only lived there for around 2 months. Before moving I met the owner of the property and everything was fine. Upon visiting their home, and their 3 cats, I was shown the room. The carpet was stained where the cats had been sick several times in the room, something I am familiar with from friends with pets and have never really considered a huge deal, although I would have expected it to be cleaned up properly. However, they had not bothered recently as the carpets were due to be replaced that week.
The owner seemed otherwise quite clean and assured me that the carpets were being replaced before I was moving in. This was not the case however and it wasn’t until a week after moving that the job got done.
My concern comes from the fact that when the carpet fitter arrived he asked the owner if the stains on the carpet were feces. The owner said yes. The fitter said he could not do the job because his wife was pregnant and it was a health and safety risk.
At the time I was suffering from a myriad mental health and financial problems and just assured myself it would get better and to just stick with it. I didn’t understand what was going on regarding health issues and what the fitter was referring to. I also didn’t know if the owner actually meant feces or if they were just caught of guard by the fitters question.
So, whilst living there it became apparent that the owner was not a very clean person at all and it didn’t take long for the whole situation to deteriorate. The cats were well fed and cared for but would relieve themselves in the bathtub occasionally and once in the main room/porch/ Luckily, I was able to find alternative accommodation quite quickly.
My problem is the anxiety that occurred after leaving and reading up about the health and safety issues that could have arisen and learning of Toxoplasmosis.
- I am now incredibly concerned that I may have ingested Toxo whilst staying in that house. Some of my belongings (in bags and boxes) were in that room and moved about whilst the carpets were fitted.
- I am also incredibly concerned that the spores would have lingered on my belongings and that I carried them with me to the new place.
- Which leads me to my primary worry now that, as I am moving in with family next week that I am going to bring this with me and potentially make them ill. They are old and immunosuppressed.
Can Toxo survive on objects and if so, for over a year?
How likely is it that, even if the cats had defecated in that room that they had Toxo at all? (They were indoor cats that very very rarely left the house, and if they did it was just out of curiosity and they returned almost immediately.)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I would arrange for a blood test for my own sake but with COVID it is very difficult to do that, and that doesn’t help with the anxiety of transmitting it to my family.
Thank you for reading and sorry if this is the wrong forum for this.
If it helps alleviate some of your anxiety I was concerned about toxoplasmosis when I was pregnant with our first child. Our cats were indoors only and the vet suggested having my husband clean/change the litter box but otherwise not to worry. I've always had cats and a second child as well with no problems related to toxo. I hope this information is helpful and the move back to live with family goes well too. 
