Monsters Inside Me : Can My Cat's Poop Kill Me? : Animal Planet

Can My Cat's Poop Kill Me?

By Robert Lamb, HowStuffWorks.com

4. DEATH BY EXTREME SPORTS

If Toxoplasma were actually capable of thinking through their stratagem, this particular death-by-cat poop ploy might play out like this: Step 1: Alter host human's brain to partake in riskier behavior. Step 2: Empower host to take cliff diving lessons. Step 3: Empower host to take a few sips from a stranger's hip flask before hurtling off an ocean-side cliff. The payoff: A housecat eats the distracted human on the way down.

All right, so the plan fizzles out a bit in its later stages. But evolution is a road with the occasional dead end. While most modern humans don't face the constant risk of being eaten by lions, tigers or housecats, early humans may have been a more regular menu item for larger felines. Additionally, researchers have found that human brains and rat brains boast some of the same mechanisms and chemicals. Even if Toxoplasma didn't evolve to deliver people into the claws of hungry lions, we might just be collateral damage in their campaign against rodents.

While no one has actually tested extreme sports enthusiasts for Toxoplasma, studies have shown that infected individuals are generally more likely to partake in such risky behavior as tasting a strange liquid, signing an empty sheet of paper or thoughtlessly handing their wallet over to the experiment leader. Naturally, some researchers raise doubts based on cause and causation. Are Toxoplasma-infected hosts more likely to guzzle odd beverages and jump off cliffs, or are careless risk takers more likely to handle cat litter without washing their hands?

Choose your next death by cat poop:

5. Death by Car Wreck Are your cat's mighty parasites driving you to your doom?		3. Death by Depression Thinking of offing yourself? Your cat's parasitic poop may have something to do with it.
2. Death by Neuroticism Are parasites in cat poop driving half the world mad with guilt and anxiety?		1. Death by Hallucinatory Encounter Is your cat driving you crazy? Well if you've accidentally ingested its poop, you may literally be going crazy.

CONTENT

Monsters Inside Me

Can My Cat's Poop Kill Me?

Can My Cat's Poop Kill Me?

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