Cat Parasite Affects Everything We Feel and Do

ABCNews ^ | June 09 2099 [sic] | staff reporter

[Daffynition]

Kevin Lafferty is a smart, cautious, thoughtful scientist who doesn't hate cats, but he has put forth a provocative theory that suggests that a clever cat parasite may alter human cultures on a massive scale.

His phone hasn't stopped ringing since he published one of the strangest research papers to come out of the mill in quite awhile.

The parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, has been transmitted indirectly from cats to roughly half the people on the planet, and it has been shown to affect human personalities in different ways.

Research has shown that women who are infected with the parasite tend to be warm, outgoing and attentive to others, while infected men tend to be less intelligent and probably a bit boring. But both men and women who are infected are more prone to feeling guilty and insecure.

Other researchers have linked the parasite to schizophrenia. In an adult, the symptoms are like a mild form of flu, but it can be much more serious in an infant or fetus. Oxford University researchers believe high levels of the parasite leads to hyperactivity and lower IQs in children.

Lafferty, who is a parasite ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the University of California at Santa Barbara, is an expert on the role parasites play in the ecology of other animals.

[LomanBill]

[Lafferty, who is a parasite ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the University of California at Santa Barbara,]

IOW - It’s grant time for the Parasitic Parasitologist.

And I’ll take my cat, Maximus, over the rodents he kills any day.

[Slings and Arrows]

[Lx]

Are you the one who was talking about this and other parasites a few months ago?

[Lx]

Oh, you already beat me.

[Constitution Day]

LMAO!! And don’t let any guilty, insecure cat lovers here get you down.

[TheOldLady]

X

[TheOldLady]

Is this PETA trying to get us to give up our pets again? Stick a sock in it, PETA!

[The Comedian]

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[martin_fierro]

[Fawn]

Truly a stupid article. Let's talk about Birds and the 60 diseases they carry into your back yard and to your pets.

[Fawn]

Birds.....stay away from birds.

[RichInOC]

[Jaded]

Research has shown that women who are infected with the parasite tend to be warm, outgoing and attentive to others, while infected men tend to be less intelligent and probably a bit boring. But both men and women who are infected are more prone to feeling guilty and insecure.

I always thought that was Catholic Guilt.

[MarkL]

Transmission

Ingestion of contaminated cat feces

How about some Kitty Litter Cake?

YUM!!!!

Mark

[SunkenCiv]

Other researchers have linked the parasite to schizophrenia.

My cat speaks to me all the time, and he told me not to worry about this, and to (if I get the chance) kill the researchers. ;')

[Nik Naym]

“Damn! Now I have to cut back on my cat consumption.”

It’s OK as long you cook them thoroughly.

[Daffynition]

that's really *out there* ... like how many cats does it take to screw in a light bulb. ;)

[LibFreeOrDie]

A plush toy version of Toxoplasma gondii:

[Daffynition]

LOL

Thems ‘nanas ain’t ripe yet!

[Kevmo]

This seems like sci-fi, does it count? There’s a movie in this somewhere.