Owning a Cat Could Double Your Risk of Schizophrenia, Research Suggests

Science Alert ^ | 16 Nov 2025 | Rebecca Dyer

[fwdude]

Having a cat as a pet could potentially double a person's risk of schizophrenia-related conditions, according to an analysis of 17 studies.

Psychiatrist John McGrath and colleagues at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research in Australia looked at papers published over the last 44 years in 11 countries, including the US and the UK.

Their 2023 study found "a significant positive association between broadly defined cat ownership and an increased risk of schizophrenia-related disorders."

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: australia; cats; felines; schizophrenia; toxoplasmosis

[fwdude]

Keep in mind that this is the same “science” that says a man can “become a woman. “

[Yo-Yo]

Keep in mind that this is the same “science” that says a man can “become a woman. “

Keep in mind that the same people who say a man can "become a woman" usually own multiple cats...

[kawhill]

“Having a cat as a pet could potentially double a person’s risk of schizophrenia-related conditions, according to an analysis of 17 studies.” What if I had 17 barn cats?

[citizen]

....crazy cat ladies...

[fwdude]

However, a link doesn't prove T. gondii causes these changes or that the parasite was passed on to a human from a cat.

In other words, the strong-willed cat’s personality drives us into madness.

[dforest]

Do any of these people having anything better do do?

How about owning a lizard? Or a fish?

[Leaning Right]

That study is malicious garbage. Complete nonsense.

(My cat persuaded me to say that.)

[EandH Dad]

All three of my cats deny this.

[9YearLurker]

Correlation is not necessarily causation.

[Jim W N]

Only if your cat hypnotizes you...

[Revel]

Well let me see here. Does Candace Owens own a cat?

[Kozak]

Cats transmit toxoplasmosis, associated with mental illness.

[Carriage Hill]

Cats are my favorite people.

[bankwalker]

Which came first? The chicken or the egg?

[JayGalt]

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Typical lousy “parlor game” science equates correlation with causality.

[Polanski]

My kitty told me not to listen to the other voices.

[fwdude]

Only if your cat hypnotizes you…

The psychotic stares they give us are very suspect.

[jacknhoo]

I don’t believe cats are the source of schizophrenia, but a lot of schizophrenic women are cat ladies. They could make the same and more valid claim about participating in abortion, seems to me.

[iamgalt]

If you reverse the headline they may be onto something.

[bort]

Another conclusion: “people with schizophrenia are far more likely to own cats.“