Being a cat lady makes you more likely to suicide

Apparantly, being a Crazy Cat Lady makes you prone to suicide because of some kind of toxin in cats, more specifically their poop. Also, the article was nice enough to link to us. I've always wanted a cat, but now I kind of don't, seeing as they have poisonous suicide poop. Then again, I don't qualify for the "lady" part of the trope, so maybe all is not bad. It also begs a chicken or the egg conundrum; does being crazy make you a cat lady or does being a cat lady make you crazy?

edited 4th Jul '12 8:42:55 PM by cfive

I swear I read just a little while ago that women with toxoplasma actually tended to be inexplicably happier than others. Huh.

The artist formerly known as spasticgecko

First off, toxoplasma is a micro-organism, not a toxin. And you can get this thing from meat, unwashed vegetables, and dirt as well.

Something like a third of people already have it, anyway.

Be not afraid...

Maybe that was my problem...

Ah, whatever. Still love kitties.

Looking for some stories?

Supposedly Toxoplasma can change the behavior of rats and mice to make them attracted to cats as opposed to being afraid of them, so being happier could be an effect. According to The Other Wiki "A study of 191 young women in 1999 reported higher intelligence and lower guilt proneness in Toxoplasma-positive subjects". So it makes you smart, happy, and crazy. Two out of three isn't so bad.

edited 4th Jul '12 9:01:28 PM by cfive

Nothing to do with the fact that cat ladies are usually middle aged and horribly lonely, then?

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

No, it's clearly because cats are murderers and are making it look like a suicide.

Haven't you ever realised how many of these ladies leave all their money to their cats? See, that's no coincidence.

edited 4th Jul '12 10:43:08 PM by TheBatPencil

And let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that)

this is the best sentence ever written

Usually here.

Wow. You learn something odd everyday.

Cats are pretty freaking evil, so this isn't a surprise. Soon there will be discoveries about cat piss being able to summon portals to hell.

"@[=g3,8d]&fbb=-q]/hk%fg"

I heard about this study. And that's a rather wrong conclusion. They only used women, and they just happened to have cats. Or something like that. The methodology is odd.

And I just killed the fun.

Even if it's a credible study, I refuse to grow old without kitties!

That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.

My family used to have cats, and I liked them; but I suspect that at heart, I am a dog person. Once I settle down, I'd rather like to get a dog...

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

It's a brain parasite, that a huge fraction of the world population already has. IIRC, it makes women more reckless and men more cautious, or maybe the other around. It's also strongly correlated with schizophrenia, but given that way more people have the parasite than development schizophrenia that has to be in conjunction with other factors.

Since it's so common, it probably accounts for some of what we consider ordinary variance in human behavior. As in, if we removed it some things that we consider ordinary would suddenly disappear. Like happiness and intelligence, apparently. Just goes to show that brain parasites affecting large scale behavior are a perfectly ordinary part of life.

The cats are making us think that this parasite is accountable for normal behavior, therefore lulling us into a false sense of security. Once we become complacent, they'll command the parasites to carry out their real mission, which is to take over everyone's minds and subsequently THE WORLD! *

edited 5th Jul '12 1:45:21 PM by cfive

The cats also have the parasite, although I can't remember if it actually does anything to them. Either way, it's more likely that the parasite would command the cats than the other way around.

For reference, the parasite makes mice get killed so that it can end up inside the cat's intestines, which it needs to breed. Then the mice get infected again by exposure to cat shit. Human infections are collateral damage. It's not fundamentally different from the parasite that makes ants get eaten by cows.

edited 5th Jul '12 8:32:03 PM by Clarste

You'll know all about it when it learns how to make people get eaten by Lions.

And let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that)

I didn't need to test cat toxins to tell you that.

"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."

Oh great, so my neighbour Katrina had a pet cat... fun for all the family then...

In an anime, I'll be the Tsundere Dark Magical Girl who likes purple MY own profile is actually HERE!

People with cats are also happier and live longer.

edited 10th Jul '12 11:38:00 PM by Clarste

Apart from the lonely, suicidal cat ladies, obviously.

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

You know who else had a cat? That one villain from Codename Kids Next Door, and look how she ended up!

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

Okay, I can't tell who in this thread are serious and who are less obviously joking