Posted on 11/16/2025 10:54:34 AM PST by 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."
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...
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In ancient China:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8D38d4r/
You had to sign a cat contract, give Mom cat dowry gifts for her kitten. They still have the records.
Correct.
You end up crazy by owning a cat.
Sounds very much like the shelter we set up in our screen porch for a little feral cat family. Bought a mid-size dog house at the farmers co-op and insulated it. From Amazon we got a hard plastic heating pad for the bottom, and plugged it into a thermostat that would power on if the temperature went down to a certain point. (I think it’s made for chicken farmers.)
We cut a second door opposite the main door since cats don’t like to feel trapped. After the first below-freezing TN months we brought them inside to live.
its called a pet carrier.
You would never have to buy mousetraps.
Of course. Cages.
Well, our cat does have multiple personalities, that’s for sure.
Political Affiliation and Pet Choice: Cat owners are more likely to identify as liberal and support Democratic candidates, while dog owners are more likely to be conservative and support Republican candidates.
Child-Free Status: Data from various surveys suggest that child-free people (those who do not want children) are more likely to lean liberal.
Intersection of Child-Free Status, Pet Ownership, and Politics: Cat owners without children are a population that is predominantly liberal and politically engaged. A YouGov poll noted that while cat owners with children lean slightly Republican, Democrats run up the score among childless cat people.
The stereotype of the “childless cat lady” has entered the political conversation, with politicians like JD Vance using the phrase; however, recent studies have analyzed this demographic and found they are a significant, politically engaged group with predominantly liberal views, particularly on issues like abortion rights and climate change. -Goggle AI
The association/correlation may be very real.
However, this does not mean that having cats increases risk of schizophrenia. It can mean that people with a heightened risk of schizophrenia are more likely to have cats.
Correlation is not causation, but it does sometimes mean that there is a link that should be investigated.
This was a retroactive analysis of previous studies, not an original study. This means that it is fairly low on the scale of scientific robustness. I would always take such retroactive analysis with a huge grain of salt.
I own two cats and none of my alter egos are schizophrenic. My cats assured me!
Tiger and lions are cats. I’m not saying anyone who owns one is schizophrenic, but they have to be on the edge of stark, raving mad.
I call BS on this story. The only thing my cats ever give me is a temporary case of feline paralysis every time they lay on me.
Alternately, people with mental illness prefer cats as pets.
LOL, agree, crazy cat ladies, and lady-guys, indeed. So it seems highly curious that the chicken-egg scenario has been avoided—is it the cat association that leads to increased risk of mental illness, or a cat-lover brain/mentality that leads to increased risk of mental disease?
Cats are not clean and no one can tell they are. They shxt in your house hopefully a litter box, cover it up, hop out and may or may not clean their paws, then run all over your furniture, counters etc. They lick their, ass then lick your face and sleeping with you is even worse.
I’ll pass...
Lifetime probability of a schizophrenia diagnosis is 0.3 to 0.7 % so cats could double it to 0.6 to 1.4%
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