- datavoid ( @datavoid@lemmy.ml ) English33•1 year ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii
Also because my cat is the cutest
- CALIGVLA ( @Caligvla@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English14•1 year ago
What the hell does toxoplasmosis have to do with liking cats?
- Otter ( @otter@lemmy.ca ) English16•1 year ago
It inhibits the fear response in rodents, so they are more likely to cuddle up with cats
The joke being that humans are infected too
In rodents, T. gondii alters behavior in ways that increase the rodents’ chances of being preyed upon by felids. Support for this “manipulation hypothesis” stems from studies showing that T. gondii-infected rats have a decreased aversion to cat urine while infection in mice lowers general anxiety, increases explorative behaviors and increases a loss of aversion to predators in general. Because cats are one of the only hosts within which T. gondii can sexually reproduce, such behavioral manipulations are thought to be evolutionary adaptations that increase the parasite’s reproductive success since rodents that do not avoid cat habitations will more likely become cat prey
- livus ( @livus@kbin.social ) 2•1 year ago
@Caligvla as @otter said, T gondii stops rodents from being afraid of cats. It also makes male rodents sexually attracted to cats.
- currawong ( @currawong@lemmy.ml ) 9•1 year ago
On the whole, there was little evidence that T. gondii was related to increased risk of psychiatric disorder, poor impulse control, personality aberrations, or neurocognitive impairment.
- VM_Abrantes ( @VM_Abrantes@kbin.social ) 6•1 year ago
lmao imagine having an affinity towards felines because a parasite told you to
- HEXN3T ( @HEXN3T@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 24•1 year ago
I’ve gotta be completely honest, anything is better than other people.
- terminhell ( @terminhell@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 17•1 year ago
I’ve had both over my life. Both have pros and cons.
As others have said, cats overall require less attention; both in interaction and maintenance. Our cats are really good about keeping house bugs to a minimum with their natural hunter instincts. Flies,moths and other critters don’t last long. Also litter boxes are something I wish dogs could figure out lol.
Dogs are more social, so they’ll need more from you. They need frequent outside time to run and exercise/bathroom. Most dogs don’t care about catching bugs and critters like cats. However, if treated right, will defend the house to the death from intruders.
In my current situation, cats are better. If I had a much bigger, we’ll fenced yard, I’d love to have a dog again.
- SecretPancake ( @SecretPancake@feddit.de ) 9•1 year ago
You can easily train a dog to use litter boxes. There are actually indoor grass mats you can buy. It’s mostly a way to deal with very old dogs who have trouble keeping it in.
But please don’t do that with young and healthy dogs. They need outside time. If you don’t want to do that, just don’t get a dog.
- livus ( @livus@kbin.social ) 15•1 year ago
My family had cats when I was a baby. The cats put a lot of time into imprinting me to give them baby food, heat etc (babies are resource rich from a cat point of view).
I always obey commands from cats.
- snowe ( @snowe@programming.dev ) 14•1 year ago
Have you had a cat?
- F0l11k ( @F0l11k@feddit.cl ) 6•1 year ago
Exactly
- Apollo2323 ( @Apollo2323@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 3•1 year ago
He is asking why insanely much! I know a woman who has like 20 cats she doesn’t even have time to spend with them and taking care of all them. But just because she loves cats she can have that many
- livus ( @livus@kbin.social ) 5•1 year ago
Having cats you can’t take care of is where it has veered into the realm of mental illness.
- rosymind ( @rosymind@leminal.space ) 1•1 year ago
Yeah, that’s hoarding
- amio ( @amio@kbin.social ) 2•1 year ago
One man’s “insane” is another man’s “calling that insane is insane”
Yeah, they are okay, but not that great
- Omega_Haxors ( @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml ) 14•1 year ago
Toxoplasmosis.
- currawong ( @currawong@lemmy.ml ) 7•1 year ago
Doesn’t affect humans in this way.
- Harlan_Cloverseed ( @Harlan_Cloverseed@kbin.social ) 5•1 year ago
Look out everybody, this user is infected!
- amio ( @amio@kbin.social ) 6•1 year ago
Only if you literally have AIDS or some other near-complete immune dysfunction.
- Omega_Haxors ( @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml ) 1•1 year ago
TP is unique in being the only infection able to cross the blood-brain barrier.
- starbreaker ( @starbreaker@kbin.social ) 1•1 year ago
Only if you’ve been mistaking what you find in the litter box for tootsie rolls.
- Harlan_Cloverseed ( @Harlan_Cloverseed@kbin.social ) 12•1 year ago
Toxoplasmosis
What? Source? 🤣
- intensely_human ( @intensely_human@lemm.ee ) 8•1 year ago
Cat poop
- Thorny_Insight ( @Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee ) 10•1 year ago
Cats are independent and dogs are dependent. That’s why I like cats better. I also don’t want to deal with the death of a dog that I’d probably consider my best friend. No thanks.
- CrimeDad ( @CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work ) English8•1 year ago
I am not a cat person, but I’ve lived with a couple of them and they can be really charming little companions. They can also be incredible assholes and imo their charisma doesn’t make up for it. Some people just weigh the pros and cons differently.
- GreyEyedGhost ( @GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca ) 4•1 year ago
Part of this is people continue to believe cats can’t be trained. It’s harder, but possible. It also means you have to work harder to train out bad behaviour (and they will only mostly stop while you’re around). So getting your cat to not bite you can be done, as well as training them to not go on the counter when you can see it.
Cats are also domesticated differently than most animals, and will absolutely, literally shit on things they know you care about if you piss them off.
- CrimeDad ( @CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work ) English2•1 year ago
It makes sense that bad cat owners are responsible, in large part, for bad cat behavior. That said, if it’s so difficult to raise a cat properly, then maybe cats just aren’t good pets for most people.
- GreyEyedGhost ( @GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca ) 3•1 year ago
As I said, cats are domesticated differently. Current speculation is they self-domesticated during the beginning of agriculture. What this means for us is that, unlike dogs, it’s more of an agreement between us and them, and they will make it known if they don’t agree with the situation. This is the nugget of truth behind “Dogs have owners, cats have staff.” So, as with dogs, if your lifestyle isn’t acceptable to them, you shouldn’t own them. The difference is what is acceptable.
- Call me Lenny/Leni ( @shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee ) English5•1 year ago
In short, they’re like our siblings, minus the sibling rivalries.
- CeruleanRuin ( @CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world ) English2•1 year ago
My cat might vomit up hairballs on whatever surface it finds every few days, but I’ve never walked in to find that it shit bloody diarrhea all over the kitchen after spending the previous evening eating grass in the yard. That’s not something I can say for my dog.