I knew all of you 'cat people' were lunatics...

[WVUBeta1904]

Cat Parasite Linked To Development Of Mental Illness In Owners:

In a potential blow to cat hoarders, new research on a parasite commonly carried by cats – Toxoplasma gondii – suggests that it can be linked to mental illness in owners, particularly schizophrenia.

Cats are only the hosts wherein the parasite is able to sexually reproduce. After the parasite produces new eggs within the cat, they are expelled as it defecates. These eggs are able to last for many months in a variety of dry and temperate climates, ready to infect another warm-blooded host.

Read the full (short) article HERE.

[SHMIV]

Not only does this explain the crazy cat people, it explains the cats, themselves.

I knew that there was a reason that I distrust cats.

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[thekinetic]

That parasite only affects the fear center of the brain, it usually only affects rodents. The rodent becomes fearless of the cat and actually attracted to the smell of cat urine and thus gets eaten completing the cycle of the parasite.

When people are infected they become less fearful of things their brain says are dangerous, which in a separate less biased study I read stated that those infected are more likely to be thrill seekers. That study also stated that medical professionals are studying it as a potential treatment for anxiety disorders.