T. Gondii

It turns out that your kitty can cause an actual mental illness to occur if you’re not careful. It’s through a process called toxoplasmosis, and that happens when a parasite called T. gondii invades the body.

In most cases, the tiny parasite remains benign. However, in rare instances it can cause mild mental illness in humans.

Here’s how cats are involved.

T. gondii normally live inside cats. But when mice become infected by the parasite, it turns off certain defense mechanisms in the brains of mice. The smaller animals normal avoid cat urine, but T. gondii makes mice drawn to the scent of cats. That usually means mice infected with toxoplasmosis end up as a cat snack.

Once a cat eats the infected mouse, the parasite reproduces since T. gondii only reproduces inside of a living cat.
gondii, things get even weirder.

Three studies link exposure to cats at a young age to mental illness as someone grows older. Apparently, your cat driving crazy is an actual thing.

So there’s a solution to this problem if you already own cats: just use commons sense and wash your hands often. Since T. gondii are found in cat waste in the litter box, always wash your hands following cat litter box cleanings.

Does your cute n’ cuddly feline seem like a good snuggle buddy now, or would you rather keep your distance a little