Pregnancy is one of the most exciting and joyful times in life, but it can be one of the most stressful too. It's perfectly normal to experience a rollercoaster of emotions—not to mention intense physical changes as your body changes to accommodate a growing baby.
That's why it's incredibly important to receive as much support as you can get during this period. But sadly, not everyone is capable of providing it. Like Reddit user mozzz22.
Recently, his wife got pregnant and asked the man to cover one of her responsibilities—cleaning her cat's litter box. But mozzz22 was adamant. He told her there was no way he was going to pick up the trowel and suggested giving up the pet instead.
After he started hearing other people calling him names for it, the man made a post on the subreddit 'Am I the [Jerk]?' asking if he was really in the wrong. Here's what he wrote.
This man confessed that he really hates animals
Image credits: Laura LaRose (not the actual photo)
It's so bad that he even refuses to clean his pregnant wife's cat's litter box and would rather have her risk getting toxoplasmosis
Image credits: Amina Filkins (not the actual photo)
Image credits: u/mozzz22
Experts say you can change your cat's litter box safely while you're pregnant, but it's better to have someone else do this chore if possible. The main concern here is toxoplasmosis.
It's an infection caused by a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. People often get it from eating undercooked meat, but it also spreads through contact with cat feces.
Most infected people do not have symptoms and it's usually harmless, but the parasite can pass to a baby during pregnancy, causing miscarriage and birth defects.
Luckily, the chances of getting toxoplasmosis for the first time during pregnancy are thought to be very small. And even if you do become infected for the first time while pregnant, this doesn't necessarily mean your baby is in danger. In fact, in many cases, the infection doesn't spread to the baby.
Still, each year, between 800 and 4,400 babies in the United States are born with toxoplasmosis.
About 1 in 10 babies (10 percent) with the infection are born with problems, including:
- Eye infections or eye inflammation;
- Swollen liver and spleen;
- Jaundice (when a baby's eyes and skin look yellow);
- Seizures or convulsions;
- Fluid on the brain (hydrocephalus);
- Swollen lymph nodes;
- Large head size (macrocephaly) or smaller-than-normal head size (microcephaly);
- Feeding problems;
- Low birthweight;
- Skin rash or bruising.
Without treatment, newborns may develop problems later in life, even if they show no symptoms early on. This can happen even 20 or 30 years later. These problems include:
- Intellectual and developmental disabilities (problems with how the brain works that can cause your baby trouble or delays in physical development, learning, communicating, taking care of themselves, or getting along with others);
- Eye infections and vision problems;
- Pneumonia;
- Cerebral palsy (a group of conditions that affects the parts of the brain that control the muscles. It can cause problems with movement, posture, standing up straight, and balance);
- Seizures or convulsions;
- Hearing loss.
Why would you risk something like that when you can just clean the cat's litter box for a few months?
People unanimously condemned the man for not stepping up when his wife needs him the most
