We’ve all heard of the crazy cat lady. This stereotype has existed in the pop culture lexicon for decades, but where it did come from? And why does it exist?
As a cat owner who also is unmarried, living alone and a woman- I really resent the concept of the “crazy cat lady”. I mean, I am crazy but that has nothing to do with the fact I own a cat.
It got me thinking, this association has to come from somewhere. Most mythological and supernatural things from history have a modern day explanation. Mermaids are actually dugongs, the Loch ness monster (Nessie) is an elephant trunk, so is there an explanation cats being connected to witches and crazy women. Is there any truth to this? Any scientific feasibility behind a cat theoretically actually making you quote unquote “crazy”
I spoke to Jonathan Loso’s, an American cat evolutionary biologist from Washington University who introduced me to a deadly parasite called Toxoplasma
“There is a parasite called toxoplasma Gondi that can affect many different types of organisms but it can only reproduce in felines. If it gets into a domestic cat it can then produce millions of eggs which then get pooped out into the environment. If that person injects the egg then that person can get infected.”
Results in extreme cases can cause hallucinations, cysts in the brain, seizures, and neurological and intellectual processing issues.
But before you cat owner reading this panics- its actually extremely common. It’s estimated that up to 30–50% of the world’s population is infected, and most people experience mild symptoms.
“There are two groups of people its bad for and one is pregnant women, because if the parasite infects the embryo it can do very bad things. It can cause birth defects or even death of the embryo. Thats why pregnant women are often told do not scoop the kitty litter. The other people are immunosuppressed and they can be badly affected. But for most people, its not a big deal”
“Once you have it you have it, and most people will have cold or flu like symptoms for a couple of weeks and then that’s it.”
So yes, theoretically the crazy cat lady is real- but a lot of us are already infected, and experience mild symptoms, and we are not alllllll reclusive spinsters. So its nothing to be worried about Now if you’ll excuse me- I need to go clean up my cat’s litter box. I think I’ll glove up, just to be safe.
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