Is Your Cat Making You Crazy?

Is your cat making you crazy? According to Czech scientist Jaroslav Flegr, cats can be the source of serious medical conditions, mental health issues and tragic incidents in humans, including:

Suicides
Car crashes
Schizophrenia

Say what — he must be a kook, right?! Well, Flegr’s theories really aren’t as crazy as they sound. Cat feces contain a single-celled parasite known as Toxoplasma. Exposure to the parasite has long been known to cause serious health problems, including severe brain damage and death, in fetuses and people with weak immune systems. But for healthy people? Well, though Toxoplasma takes up permanent residence in your brain cells, the adverse health affects are usually mild.

Flegr, however, doesn’t believe that Toxoplasma is so innocuous in healthy brains. He believes that the parasite could be, “tweaking the connections between our neurons, changing our response to frightening situations, our trust in others, how outgoing we are, and even our preference for certain scents.”

This might all sound a little “fringe,” to put it delicately, but Flegr’s work has gained some respect from notable neuroscientists. It’s also been backed up by some pretty incredible research. One such study found that the parasite, “can turn a rat’s strong innate aversion to cats into an attraction, luring it into the jaws of its No. 1 predator.”

Flegr has found some fascinating gender disparities in his research on humans with the parasite — men were more likely to be introverted, sloppy dressers and oblivious; women, on the other hand, were more likely to be outgoing, image-conscious and trusting. Both genders tested were also 2.5 times more likely to be involved in a car accident than people without the parasite. Toxoplasma, too, can trigger schizophrenia in people that were already genetically susceptible.

Still sound crazy? Well, perhaps it’s fair to compare Toxoplasma’s mind-control power to rabies, which, if left untreated, can seriously alter a person’s personality.

Next page: Tips for protecting yourself from Toxoplasma, and should you be concerned about your cat?

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Shan D.

8:20AM PDT on Apr 9, 2012

Judging by the photo accompanying this article, it's the human making the cat crazy. That is one incredibly pissed-off cat!

Nice that the article doesn't bother to say whether the alleged problems are caused by physical contact or due to airborne particles...

send a green star

Past Member .

10:14PM PDT on Apr 5, 2012

Well, I won't swear my sanity was highly rated to start with, but moral of the story is 'keep your cats inside'.

Ra S.

2:49PM PDT on Apr 2, 2012

Yup, it's the cat making me crazy. Obviously. It's the cat. Couldn't possibly be anything else. I totally blame the cat.

Debbie C.

5:55AM PDT on Mar 16, 2012

All our cats are inside cats, so I don't have to worry.

Rudolf A.

1:35PM PST on Mar 10, 2012

Never. He is too darned lazy!

aj E.

11:15AM PST on Mar 1, 2012

very sad how inaccurate this article is. any vet can give you much better information. I guess care2 is going for ratings today?

Giovanna M.

3:49AM PST on Feb 25, 2012

Very surprised at the lack of responsability in the information portrayed in thsi article.
Is Care2's basic concern getting a polemics even if by using things that are biased ?
Of course you can get some infections etc from your pets, just as they can get them from you, and in the mentioned cases, many can be prevented if the owner takes good care of his/her cat.

There is no cat as dangerous as any human being, even comparing the ammount of infectious serious stuff we can give each other.
I think thsi dr Flegr openly hates cats and is looking for excuses to get rid of them.

Leiah S.

5:29AM PST on Feb 24, 2012

If your cat is that angry at you , you don't treat it well that's for sure. Also in TV I saw "How clever cat one had" when it said no no no no...that was not true the cat is singing warning song and better to stay far away it because the instinct is on and it can attack anyone who touch it. Cats are very sweet pets...IF you treat them well

Diane L.

1:37AM PST on Feb 24, 2012

How true, Marilyn. Seems some of the writers here think that such sensationalism will attract readers. Yes, it does at FIRST and then turns them off when they realize how full of B.S. the articles are and how filled with untruths and misinformation. Some of the writers become incensed and comment themselves in the discussion when they've read where they've been "discovered" and called out for their lack of professionalism.

Now, as for the E-Coli, it's everywere and we're all exposed to it 24/7. Most healthy individuals shrug it off. We all have it in our digestive systems, and some of it is harmless. It depends on the "variety" or strain. Children play in unsterilized atmospheres all the time and most don't get sick. Most grow up with immunities to "stuff" and the ones who are constantly being "scrubbed down" and disinfected are more likely to fall prey to the bugs. I ate dirt and rotten food as a kid, so did my friends.........it was FUN and none of us were ever sick. We dared each other to do it. My son used to muck horse stalls and then fix himself a PNB&J sandwich and not wash his hands. That grossed me out, but like I said, he was never sick! He didn't fare so well after being bitten by a cat that he tried to restrain once, but that was his own fault. He wanted to "man up" and didn't clean the wound.

MarilynBusy F.

3:36PM PST on Feb 23, 2012

A woman recently took test swabs of MacDonald's play areas and found e.Coli and a lot worse things that are on the kids!

I guess we can blame kids for all the diseases they bring home, and car accidents when they're misbehaving while mom is driving, and depression, anxiety and insanity ...so are you supposed to get rid of your kids!?

The scary part is when someone leaves a comment like 'good to know'...because they swallowed this baloney....and will now be among those who will abuse cats because they're so dangerous!
Irresponsible!..... and I'm amazed that this article is still here...unlike those of us who are fed up with stupid articles and will be leaving care 2.