Scientists Now Say Having A Cat Might Cause Mental Illness… And The Evidence Is Scary.
To people who can get past their mood swings, cats are truly awesome pets. It like they can do no wrong. But as it turns out, there may be a downside to owning these magical creatures...
And it comes in the form of a very strange disease.
Scientists now claim there may be a downside to having cats around. It’s called T. gondii,and most cats carry it.
T. gondii is a parasite present in the waste of most cats, and it can alter the brains of certain animals.
Mice normally use their sense of smell to avoid cat urine. But once they’re infected with T. gondii, their brain is altered so that they start actually being drawn to the scent of cats - which inevitably doesn't end well for the mice.
Having the infected mouse be eaten by a cat is beneficial to the parasites, since cats are the only hosts where that allow them to reproduce.