# Rabbits?



## lov3hat3

i just read in first tri that pregnant women shouldnt clean out rabbit cages because theres something in their urine. Is this true?! ive cleaned mine out every week since i found out i was pregnant :|


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## K123

I don't know about rabbits. I know cleaning cat litter trays is a potential problem though, but can be done with rubber gloves.


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## Sooz

Really? What were they talking about? The only thing I can suspect is Encephalitozoon Cuniculi spores and even then it seems pretty extreme. I don't take any precautions cleaning my three out, I actually said to someone yesterday if my kid ate a rabbit dropping it wouldn't worry me (not that I'd encourage it of course though).


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## lov3hat3

Sooz said:


> Really? What were they talking about? The only thing I can suspect is Encephalitozoon Cuniculi spores and even then it seems pretty extreme. I don't take any precautions cleaning my three out, I actually said to someone yesterday if my kid ate a rabbit dropping it wouldn't worry me (not that I'd encourage it of course though).

Just that she had to tell someone who she had 3 rabbits with that she was pregnant because she could no longer clean them out. Hahaa, well hopefully that would never happen :haha:


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## confused87com

im a vet nurse and all my risk assessments were wasrning of cat urine so i cant touch the trays but theres no mention of rabbits, ive never heard of that.


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## MelReb

I have guinea pigs and dogs and my Doctor told me to avoid cleaning the dogs mess but the guinea pigs were fine so long as you clean your hands after (well obviously, who wouldn't ha ha).

I figure if guinea pigs are ok then so should rabbits :flower:


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## theresarhuebb

yup its true and if you do clean the rabbit out wear gloves and mask do not inhale. cats litters have toxoplasmis in them can kill your baby so same with cats x


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## Sooz

confused87com said:


> im a vet nurse and all my risk assessments were wasrning of cat urine so i cant touch the trays but theres no mention of rabbits, ive never heard of that.

I think it's probably overzealousness with the rabbits myself. I've done a lot with rabbit welfare over the past 5 years and this has never come up. The only thing I have heard is in cases of humans who are immuno-compromised there was some debate that they could be susceptible to EC spores but I don't think this has ever been proved. 

If it's ammonia, well if a rabbit is fed a decent diet and cleaned properly (i.e. has a litter tray emptied at least every 48 hours) that should barely be an issue like it is with cats. They don't carry toxoplasmosis like cats do.


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## theresarhuebb

i know rabbits dont have taxoplamis in the pee. but when i had my rabbit i kept being told to make sure i was very careful x


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## buddabun

People do often panic about pets and pregnant women but trust me on this - Sooz knows her stuff when it comes to bunnies. Even cats aren't an issue if you are around them regularly and clean them out regularly as you will almost certainly have contracted (and hence become immune to) toxoplasmosis.

I can't imagine any issue with cleaning out your rabbit whilst pregnant. We had 5 when I was pregnant last time around and never ran into problems (although obviously this is not proof in itself). Nobody told me to keep away from them either, unlike my cats :roll:


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## DragonMummy

it's only cat pee you have to avoid. however i lied to DH when i was preg with H and told him it was all animal pee so he had to clean out the rabbit. :D


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## welshwarriors

I think cat pee is the issue....I had rabbits when I was pregnant with my son and never had any problems.


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## miss cakes

i think this warning comes from the ammonia in the pee but im pretty sure its harmless x


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