Are You Hosting the Cat Parasite? Here’s How You’ll Know

My dad used to hate cats. When I used to be a child, we weren’t allowed to have indoor cats, despite the fact that a rotation of semi-wild outside kitties roamed out and in of the backyard. As an grownup, I’ve had 3 indoor cats for over 15 years, and my father by no means to be informed their names. It’s protected to mention, I by no means imagined he’d develop into a cat man.

But a couple of months in the past, my dad discovered a tiny, jet-black kitten huddling below the diesel tank on his farm. Now, that kitten (named Diesel, after all) runs the space, galloping up and down the corridor with my oldsters’ yellow lab, consuming top rate kibble out of ceramic dishes, lounging on a brand-new cat tree, or even—gasp!—napping on the mattress at night time.

There may also be just one cause of this general persona and way of life alternate: the cat parasite is controlling my father’s mind.

What is “the cat parasite?”

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a protozoan (single-celled) parasite that infects maximum species of warm-blooded animals, and reasons the illness toxoplasmosis. A 2014 New York Times article referred to as it “one of the most successful parasites on Earth.”

If any warm-blooded animal can get it, how did T. gondii get the nickname “the cat parasite?” It seems, cats are uniquely crucial to T. gondii’s existence cycle: it will possibly best sexually reproduce inside of pussycat intestines. As the New York Times explains, “the parasites produce cysts that get passed out of the cat with its feces; once in the soil, the cysts infect new hosts.” From there, Toxoplasma gondii returns to cats via their prey.

Here’s the place issues get actually attention-grabbing (and roughly gross, imo): research display that T. gondii adjustments the conduct of animals it infects. For example, rodents have advanced to keep away from cat smells up to conceivable with the intention to now not get eaten, however as soon as inflamed with Toxoplasma gondii, many lose their herbal concern of cat smells. At instances, they even appear to be drawn to it. The “cat parasite” immediately influences their conduct and places them in hurt’s manner—and very easily, for rodent-loving cats.

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How Toxoplasma impacts animals (together with your cat)

Toxoplasma gondii doesn’t simply lend a hand outside cats catch their dinner. In fresh years, research have proven that toxoplasmosis could cause behavioral adjustments in hyena cubs, main them to be extra vulnerable to lion assault. And in Hawaii, toxoplasmosis is a number one reason for mortality in the endangered monk seal.

As Rover’s resident cat knowledgeable Dr. Mikel Delgado explains, “toxoplasmosis can be a problem for several species including marine mammals such as seals and otters.” One fresh learn about presentations that puts with upper human populations see upper instances of T. gondii in wild animals. Why? Because extra people manner extra free-roaming cats who poop outdoor. That cat poop, filled with T. gondii eggs, will get carried via soil and rainwater to susceptible marine animals.

Unfortunately, in case your cat is a provider, you’ll more than likely by no means know. Although home cats are the number one carriers of T. gondii, in keeping with the  Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, “the parasite rarely causes clinical disease in them.” But you’ll be able to give protection to close by flora and fauna by means of protecting your cat indoors (which has the added bonus of extending their lives!) and moderately taking away their waste. “Cat waste should be disposed of in the trash, not flushed in the toilet,” Dr. Delgado says. “Flushing infected feces can lead to water contamination that spreads the parasite to other species.”

It’s additionally at all times a good suggestion to have your cat spayed or neutered, and toughen trap-neuter-release methods for your house. Although spaying and neutering doesn’t save you cats from wearing Toxoplasma, it does save you undesirable litters which are much more likely to roam loose and deposit the parasite in the wild.

Can toxoplasmosis modify the human mind?

In the now-famous article “How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy,” revealed by means of The Atlantic in 2012, science creator Kathleen McAuliffe profiled Czech scientist Jaroslav Flegr, who hypothesized that the Toxoplasma parasite would possibly alternate human conduct. Another scientist quoted in the tale mentioned, “the organism rewires circuits in parts of the brain that deal with such primal emotions as fear, anxiety, and sexual arousal.”

While that is true for rodents, the proof is less-conclusive in terms of people. According to the Atlantic article, there may be some proof that males wearing Toxoplasma gondii are “more introverted, suspicious, oblivious to other people’s opinions of them, and inclined to disregard rules.” Women wearing the parasite, on the different hand, have a tendency to provide as “more outgoing, trusting, image-conscious, and rule-abiding than uninfected women.” However, even Dr. Flegr admits, “the parasite’s effects on personality are very subtle.”

Although adjustments in human conduct make for attention-grabbing headlines, over the previous Five-10 years, there hasn’t been a lot new proof to conclusively end up that Toxoplasma gondii alters human brains the manner it affects wild animals. And there’s completely no information about whether or not the cat parasite can flip up to now cat-hating fathers right into a kitten-snuggling softies, regardless of how a lot positive writers assume it may well be true.

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How to understand when you have toxoplasmosis (and what do to about it)

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that during America, “1% of the population 6 years and older have been infected with Toxoplasma.” In growing international locations, an infection charges cross as much as 60%, particularly in puts with sizzling, humid climates. In different phrases, thousands and thousands of other folks round the international are wearing T. gondii—however maximum of them by no means really feel the results.

As Dr. Delgado explains, the majority of other folks wearing Toxoplasma gondii “have asymptomatic infections.” If you did increase signs, they might resemble a gentle flu—muscle aches and gentle lymph nodes—and would most likely transparent up inside of a couple of weeks.

Pregnant or immunocompromised persons are maximum vulnerable to growing signs and headaches, however that doesn’t imply pregnant or immunocompromised other folks shouldn’t have cats. Like any one else, they will have to merely observe just right clutter field hygiene. Dr. Delgado explains, “because it takes at least 24 hours for the Toxoplasma parasites in feces to become infectious, cat owners will not be at risk if they scoop the box twice daily, which I recommend anyway. If someone is in an at-risk group, they can wear gloves, or ask someone else in the household to clean the litter box.”

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Do cats regulate our brains, or now not?

The reality is, cats aren’t even the number one reason for toxoplasmosis in human beings. It’s a lot more not unusual to contract toxoplasmosis via infected water, or by means of consuming undercooked, infected meat or shellfish. As Dr. Delgado says, “People are still at more risk of getting toxoplasmosis from handling raw meat than from their cats.”

So, perhaps my dad isn’t below the affect of a tiny one-celled parasite that compels him to let the kitten lick his mustache. Maybe there’s a a lot more glaring cause of his seemingly-sudden alternate in conduct: kittens are lovable, and it’s not possible to not love them.

I guess, in that manner, cats do regulate our brains—however it’s now not the parasite’s fault.

Further Reading