[JoanVarga]

Mind parasites! Fun read for a Saturday.

Fun questions for political discussion automatically arise: Cat People v. Dog People

Does Allstate's Mr. Mayhem suffer from Toxo?

[FDNYRHEROES]

Well, this would explain why all those women with 20 cats are crazy!

[duckman]

Toxoplasmosis, if I understand it correctly is bacteria on raw meat and transferred to the feline, if the feline ingests raw meat. I assume it can transfer to humans when they clean the litter box. I am not a vet but had discussions with a vet about this topic.

[G Larry]

All of the Schizo folks I know have cats.....

[Free Vulcan]

I’m a dog person.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy

Well, ours have traditionally done it by running underfoot - apparently it was just a diversion from the brain parasite infection they were trying to give us.

[Netizen]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2844832/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2845102/posts

[equaviator]

Cats...Ya don't have to love 'em.

[A_perfect_lady]

From the article: Indoor cats pose no threat, he says, because they don’t carry the parasite. As for outdoor cats, they shed the parasite for only three weeks of their life, typically when they’re young and have just begun hunting. During that brief period, Flegr simply recommends taking care to keep kitchen counters and tables wiped clean. (He practices what he preaches: he and his wife have two school-age children, and two outdoor cats that have free roam of their home.) Much more important for preventing exposure, he says, is to scrub vegetables thoroughly and avoid drinking water that has not been properly purified, especially in the developing world, where infection rates can reach 95 percent in some places. Also, he advises eating meat on the well-done side—or, if that’s not to your taste, freezing it before cooking, to kill the cysts.

[Sequoyah101]

Are cat people liberals or conservative?

[right way right]

Oh well, whatever doesn’t kill you can often makes you more interesting.

[Lady Lucky]

Toonces alert!

[the_Watchman]

My father was infected by toxo while he was in Army training during WWII. It caused him to be totally blind. He went to Mayo Clinic in Rochester and an ophthalmologist gave him an experimental treatment which restored 80% of his sight which allowed him to function normally most of his life.

His eyesight became impaired again during the late nineties.

My brother-in-law, who is a doctor, says that toxo is a problem in France where they like to eat raw beef. (They don’t know the meaning of “well done”. On the other hand, I think that “well done” is an oxymoron.}

[chuckles]

ping for later so my wife can read this and maybe throw some cats under a bus.

[libertarian27]

This suggested to him that Toxoplasma might have an adverse impact on driving, where constant vigilance and fast reflexes are critical.

Oh great, now with cell phone bans and texting bans we'll have to add Cat "owners" to the list of driving bans....:)

[Albion Wilde]

"Jaroslav Flegr is no kook. And yet...he suspected his mind had been taken over by parasites... Could tiny organisms carried by house cats be creeping into our brains, causing everything from car wrecks to schizophrenia?"

......

Hmm, I zee you hav worn ze sweater I picked out for you, Doctor Flegr.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

[blueunicorn6]

A cat is never happy where he is. If he’s inside, he wants out. If he’s outside, he wants in. If he’s in a vacuum cleaner bag, he wants to be under the bed.

[Rage cat]

I think my board name is appropriate.

Do I own cats?
Yes.

How many cats do I have?
….More than enough….

My political leaning?
Rabidly conservative.

What gets me is their statements are contradictory. Where they state the primary vector is cats….. Yet, cats get if from mice, or other infected meat. And they only can pass it on for three weeks. The only way you can get it from them after then is if you eat the cat raw.

Basically, cats are not the primary vector, unless cat meat is routinely served as raw food in this country.

Mice, beef, pork, lamb and other food animals are the primary vector. People/things eat them and then become infected. Ether directly via eating the meat, or indirectly via other animals that are under our care eating them meat, then infecting us via the contagious period.

I wish they would get that simple fact straight.

[Lx]

As a conservative cat and dog owner I have to post this comic. I think they have them backwards though.

It's just a feeling but I believe the artist leans leftwards (he's on his side he's so far left).

[Albion Wilde]

This story is back again today! More funny comments and graphics...

[Sarajevo]

How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy

Which one would that be. All-in-all, we have 16.