“Crazy Cat People,” Explained In Comic Form For The Infected
April 10, 2020 12:06 PM Subscribe
Do you really love your cat? You might have a brain parasite. (Allyson Shwed, The Nib) Brain parasites previously.
How could anyone love a small, soft, affectionate animal with baby-like facial proportions and vocalizations? The only answer is brain parasites.
posted by Pyry at 1:04 PM on April 10, 2020 [62 favorites]
posted by Pyry at 1:04 PM on April 10, 2020 [62 favorites]
If it weren't for the remain in place, I'd want to get tested for this. Cats keep adopting me. That being said, having cats to pet has been my only outlet of physical contact/ affection during this trying year of social isolation.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 1:12 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by LeRoienJaune at 1:12 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
My brain parasite is named Mr. Fuzzybuns.
posted by fairmettle at 1:18 PM on April 10, 2020 [11 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 1:18 PM on April 10, 2020 [11 favorites]
Speaking of Ally Shwed & cats, my friend submitted the cat one of this series. Her cats are very nice and I like to think they would not eat her.
posted by darksong at 1:21 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by darksong at 1:21 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
whatever my own toxo is doing it's not making me like the smell of their urine, that's for damn sure
posted by flabdablet at 1:22 PM on April 10, 2020 [18 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 1:22 PM on April 10, 2020 [18 favorites]
This Podcast Will Kill You did an excellent episode on toxoplasmosis.
posted by antinomia at 1:41 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by antinomia at 1:41 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
It was like 60 panels of OMG THIS IS A SCARY and one of "most cats don't have it"
posted by double bubble at 1:47 PM on April 10, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by double bubble at 1:47 PM on April 10, 2020 [13 favorites]
Toldja kitties/kittehs rule. (Of note and forever kitty and kitteh mean the same. Only pronounced differently).
posted by pipoquinha at 1:57 PM on April 10, 2020
posted by pipoquinha at 1:57 PM on April 10, 2020
My cat must have it, because my cat-indifferent Other is OBSESSED with what was my cat, but is now pretty darn nearly HIS cat.
posted by Grandysaur at 2:15 PM on April 10, 2020
posted by Grandysaur at 2:15 PM on April 10, 2020
I'd like to encourage anyone posting here to please also include pictures of their furry parasites
posted by meows at 2:22 PM on April 10, 2020
posted by meows at 2:22 PM on April 10, 2020
I mean, yeah, I'm slightly worried about potentially having a parasite, but if I didn't have my cats to cuddle during quarantine I would definitely be even more stressed. So...trade off? I guess?
(I'd be happy to share a photo of my two parasites but the only online place I have pics is FB. Where would I put it to link to?)
posted by emjaybee at 2:58 PM on April 10, 2020
(I'd be happy to share a photo of my two parasites but the only online place I have pics is FB. Where would I put it to link to?)
posted by emjaybee at 2:58 PM on April 10, 2020
(you can create a quick and free photo upload to the website imgur.com then link it here)
posted by SoberHighland at 3:09 PM on April 10, 2020
posted by SoberHighland at 3:09 PM on April 10, 2020
Sometimes I wonder if I've been infected with a brain parasite, but then I realize that such thoughts would displease Master and go to make sure he has wet food in his bowl.
posted by star gentle uterus at 3:10 PM on April 10, 2020 [15 favorites]
posted by star gentle uterus at 3:10 PM on April 10, 2020 [15 favorites]
The overlord sleeping in her favorite sun spot
posted by tofu_crouton at 3:14 PM on April 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by tofu_crouton at 3:14 PM on April 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
If it weren't for the remain in place, I'd want to get tested for this. Cats keep adopting me. That being said, having cats to pet has been my only outlet of physical contact/ affection during this trying year of social isolation.
This doesn't directly speak to your situation, but I've heard it said many times by cat-owning hosts of social gatherings that their cats will ignore the people who are falling all over themselves in their eagerness to pet them in favor of trying to jump into the laps of the guests who are the least comfortable with them.
I've actually seen this in operation only once or twice, but it makes perfect sense from the brain parasite point of view. The people who love them already have the parasite, and it's in the interests of both parasite and cat to devote themselves to the ones who don't.
posted by jamjam at 3:34 PM on April 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
This doesn't directly speak to your situation, but I've heard it said many times by cat-owning hosts of social gatherings that their cats will ignore the people who are falling all over themselves in their eagerness to pet them in favor of trying to jump into the laps of the guests who are the least comfortable with them.
I've actually seen this in operation only once or twice, but it makes perfect sense from the brain parasite point of view. The people who love them already have the parasite, and it's in the interests of both parasite and cat to devote themselves to the ones who don't.
posted by jamjam at 3:34 PM on April 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
No the reason cats go for people who dislike cats at parties is all the cat lovers are like "OMG YOU'RE SO CUTE LET ME GRAB YOU", which is pretty freaky for a small vulnerable mammal, and the cat haters are sitting still and silent, which makes them comparatively much nicer for a cat.
People always wonder why their cats like me and the answer is, I treat Kitty with respect, move slowly and quietly, let them come to me.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:40 PM on April 10, 2020 [19 favorites]
People always wonder why their cats like me and the answer is, I treat Kitty with respect, move slowly and quietly, let them come to me.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:40 PM on April 10, 2020 [19 favorites]
So, if I fit the symptoms, and given my early environment almost certainly have been exposed for most of my life, what then? Is there a test to confirm? And if confirmed, is there a cure? Otherwise, this is just wanking, unless we want to exterminate all cats and mandate a feline-free existence for several generations.
posted by Blackanvil at 4:39 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Blackanvil at 4:39 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
i_am_joe's_spleen makes a very good point. If your first response to either of my cats is to make high pitched lovey noises at her, she will run the fuck away.
It's like the exact cat-human opposite of their mysterious bird-attracting call, which I watched otherwise-developmentally-challenged kitty do today for the first time (through the window) at a flock of blackbirds. Can we have a post on this weird-ass behavior? Is something subsonic (to me) happening? How are birds lured to this weird cat-cackle that sounds very little like a bird?
posted by aspersioncast at 4:40 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
It's like the exact cat-human opposite of their mysterious bird-attracting call, which I watched otherwise-developmentally-challenged kitty do today for the first time (through the window) at a flock of blackbirds. Can we have a post on this weird-ass behavior? Is something subsonic (to me) happening? How are birds lured to this weird cat-cackle that sounds very little like a bird?
posted by aspersioncast at 4:40 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
aspersioncast, I think this recent post is relevant to your interests.
posted by RobotHero at 4:53 PM on April 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by RobotHero at 4:53 PM on April 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
Judging by the Tiger King show, bigger cats toxoplasmosis symptoms seem to be in proportion to cats it comes from
posted by Redhush at 5:19 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Redhush at 5:19 PM on April 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Sigh. Pop neurology, like pop psychology, is questionable at best.
Full disclosure: toxoplasmosis and I have a bad history, because as a young'un, I misdiagnosed someone with it (like everyone else here, I was utterly fascinated by it, and some of their data looked suspicious/they "fit the profile"), and treated them for that instead of asking "what else could this be?" and then when they came to autopsy, it turned out they had something else entirely, which could have been cured if my attendings and I hadn't been so intellectually fascinated with toxo. They were a personal friend of mine, too. It sucked. Still sucks.
Anyway. There is now an antibody test for toxo. Your insurance may or may not cover it. The treatment isn't benign. You may not need treatment at all. Talk with your doctor. I'm not your doctor, so I'm going to have another glass of wine and toast my dead friend.
posted by basalganglia at 5:42 PM on April 10, 2020 [28 favorites]
Full disclosure: toxoplasmosis and I have a bad history, because as a young'un, I misdiagnosed someone with it (like everyone else here, I was utterly fascinated by it, and some of their data looked suspicious/they "fit the profile"), and treated them for that instead of asking "what else could this be?" and then when they came to autopsy, it turned out they had something else entirely, which could have been cured if my attendings and I hadn't been so intellectually fascinated with toxo. They were a personal friend of mine, too. It sucked. Still sucks.
Anyway. There is now an antibody test for toxo. Your insurance may or may not cover it. The treatment isn't benign. You may not need treatment at all. Talk with your doctor. I'm not your doctor, so I'm going to have another glass of wine and toast my dead friend.
posted by basalganglia at 5:42 PM on April 10, 2020 [28 favorites]
No the reason cats go for people who dislike cats at parties is all the cat lovers are like "OMG YOU'RE SO CUTE LET ME GRAB YOU", which is pretty freaky for a small vulnerable mammal, and the cat haters are sitting still and silent, which makes them comparatively much nicer for a cat.
Also, for cats, a steady gaze or stare can be threatening from a stranger.
posted by sebastienbailard at 7:17 PM on April 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
Also, for cats, a steady gaze or stare can be threatening from a stranger.
posted by sebastienbailard at 7:17 PM on April 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
I swear that my cat has a lovely perfume odor, while my wife swears that she can't smell a thing on the cat. I think I might be infected.
posted by McNulty at 10:01 PM on April 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by McNulty at 10:01 PM on April 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
Cats total have a cat smell! Although the main notes can change daily. Most of the time they smell sorta sweet. Once one of mine smelled like toasted biscuits. Sometimes they are stinky though.
(Yes I like to bury my face in my cats fur and smell them).
posted by stillnocturnal at 3:05 AM on April 11, 2020 [4 favorites]
(Yes I like to bury my face in my cats fur and smell them).
posted by stillnocturnal at 3:05 AM on April 11, 2020 [4 favorites]
I think this recent post is relevant to your interests.
Oh my yes.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:15 PM on April 11, 2020
Oh my yes.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:15 PM on April 11, 2020
unless we want to exterminate all cats and mandate a feline-free existence for several generations.
If it's true that indoor cats rarely have the parasite, then one obvious rememdy would be to restrict pet cats to indoors, and cull feral cats, as Australia is in the process of doing. We've already decided as a society that we won't allow dogs to freely roam our streets, so it's not impossible.
posted by Umami Dearest at 10:37 PM on April 11, 2020
If it's true that indoor cats rarely have the parasite, then one obvious rememdy would be to restrict pet cats to indoors, and cull feral cats, as Australia is in the process of doing. We've already decided as a society that we won't allow dogs to freely roam our streets, so it's not impossible.
posted by Umami Dearest at 10:37 PM on April 11, 2020
We've already decided as a society that we won't allow dogs to freely roam our streets, so it's not impossible.
Until packs of freely roaming cats start killing children, I think this line of argument isn't very well thought out.
In the UK, it's considered cruel to not let your cat out.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:50 PM on April 11, 2020
Until packs of freely roaming cats start killing children, I think this line of argument isn't very well thought out.
In the UK, it's considered cruel to not let your cat out.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:50 PM on April 11, 2020
our host would like you all to know this is myth we do not take over brains and you should cease all medical research into us
your cat’s litter box need cleaning now please to clean it and no washing hands
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:02 AM on April 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
your cat’s litter box need cleaning now please to clean it and no washing hands
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:02 AM on April 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
the causal link between the behavioural correlations is quite shaky. people jump at things like toxo because the idea of simple causality and etiology is seductive in its simplicity. finally i can explain my adhd, or my friend's schizophrenia, or my mom's depression — if only i didn't eat that cat poo that one time! it's not unlikely that toxo has SOME role in determining such things, but the idea that this should entail something like making all cats indoor cats betrays how eager we are to scapegoat/cat (which always involves a reduction of complex causality of ills to a single culprit) instead of looking at the wider picture, which is that even if for example toxo has objectively diminished your capacity for attention, there are certainly other more proximate factors diminishing this capacity for everyone, and why should we not work against those proximate causes for the general attention-paying capacities of all rather than fixate on what may impair it in some cases (though not in a way significant enough to note without testing)
(you will have noted of course that the scientist starts off from a norm and then notes how the toxo people deviate, based on apparently his own hunch that toxo has affected his behaviour (based on what exactly?). doesn't sound biased to me at all /s)
posted by LeviQayin at 12:32 AM on April 14, 2020
(you will have noted of course that the scientist starts off from a norm and then notes how the toxo people deviate, based on apparently his own hunch that toxo has affected his behaviour (based on what exactly?). doesn't sound biased to me at all /s)
posted by LeviQayin at 12:32 AM on April 14, 2020
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posted by aspersioncast at 1:01 PM on April 10, 2020 [21 favorites]