You Gotta Be Kitten Me (Toxoplasma Gondii)

I've always been fearless so maybe that's an explanation?

Without getting too political, there are certain viewpoints that I just will never see as viable nor will I ever fear anything they say.

Cats are notorious for being clean; the instinctual habit of covering feces and cleaning themselves; might be an adaptation to contain bacteria...perhaps something in their saliva counters bacteria nullifying it's effect in the species. Dogs on the other hand are very unsanitary, and require human aid to be hygienic; if one doesn't want to catch the myriad of things that can be acquired from them.

I remember watching a show; on if a dogs mouth was as clean as people say, and it was found to be less hygienic than a dirty public restroom.

In quite the odd turn of events I received a phone call during the second follow up post.. when i returned my cat was laying on my laptop and X'ed out the window that contained my post what the heck that was a lot of typing! Grr

Seriously that sucks..

Does anyone more familiar with this site know if I can arrange my post so they will follow in succession without the reader having to page through? I just do not have the time to commit to sit down all in one session.

I accidentally turned half of my previous post into a quote. Ooops! It is now to late to go back and fix it

I have found the subject of toxoplasmosis frustrating because I live in France, and apparently here, the medical establishment has a very different view of it.
Just looking at the french and english wikipages shows this. When I was pregnant with my second child, in France, I was surprised they did no testing for it and asked my doctor why.
She said, "Why? Do you have any reason to think you are not immunized?"
I was confused and said I didn't know you could be!

Apparently they think that if you get infected once, it is eventually killed off by your immune system then you are immune to further infection.

Almost fifty percent of the french population tested in rural areas showed them to be immune (probably because they don't cook their meat enough).

So I don't know......There's almost twice as many people in this country that have been infected...if the findings are true, that would mean there should be twice as many schizophrenics, and twice as many car accidents, if I understand correctly?

oh no i help a friend of the family out with odd jobs cos he's old and he has loads of cats!
AHH GET IT OUT OF ME HELP HELP IM INFECTED!!! can i haz cheezburger?

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CONTINUED

The next experiment drew on the demonstration that many antipsychotic drugs commonly used in the treatment of schizophrenia inhibit the replication of T. gondii tachyzoites in cell culture.25,26 Such observations provided support for the hypothesis that the antipsychotic and mood-stabilizing activity of some medications may be achieved, or at least augmented, through their inhibition of T. gondii replication.

I do have to speak about certain personal experiences to demonstrate my following points.

"I" was once a "normal" person in the eyes of our society. This guy had never even visited these forums! I did hold my own views about "aliens" "conspiracies" etc but was not exposed to something with a wealth of information one finds while visiting this site.

After releasing a build up of "trauma" I had carried with me over an accident in my family, my world took a sudden and strange turn. Long story short, I found myself in a mental hospital. I was discharged 7 days later, with a few diagnoses and a handful of meds.

The "official" diagnoses was schizophrenia. I was horrified to say the least. They told me I had to apply for social security disability because the meds I needed to take (for the rest of my life) were not cheap and with no way other to pay for them I had no choice. They also told me this was a disease in my brain and it would only get progressively worse as I aged. Although part of me knew what I had encountered and was going through was actually healing for me ( I was clearing my body of past trauma I buried deep in my psyche), part of me was so afraid to think at what my life might become with this brain disease. I started taking the anti-psychotic and a few other meds prescribed.

Shortly after taking them I noticed things began getting "worse" mainly my dreams at night, and also a few of the "hallucinations" during my days. Before the meds I would find myself meeting with relatives who had passed, my hallucinations during the day were "scary" but not as "scary" as when I had the drugs in my system. With the meds in my body these peaceful dreams of communicating and exchanging messages with deceased loved ones, were replaced by some of the worst nightmares I have ever encountered. My thoughts during the day made me feel like a disgusting person who had deserved this insanity.

I have always been a cat lover, growing up and as an adult I have always had a cat to keep me company. If they did test my blood for this parasite, they did not tell me about it. However, I am pretty sure this parasite is now part of who "I am" I have a very vivid memory of a cat scratch (I believe this is when it entered my blood stream) when I was 5 months old. It seems silly but I have confirmed this and many other memories from that age with my parents and they turned out to be true.

During my "hallucinations" an "alien" element was for sure a big part of them. It makes sense to me now why my "fears" got worse after I began taking the anti psychotic meds.

many antipsychotic drugs commonly used in the treatment of schizophrenia inhibit the replication of T. gondii tachyzoites

The parasite lessons fear, the anti-psychotic meds decreased its ability to do so.

Thanks for reading, see you soon. At some point I want to discuss the Egyptian culture in relation to this "alien" parasite.

reply to post by zonetripper2065

Get close to a cat, they walk all over their poop and lick their butts.

My cat says "It's a lie!"

He says not once has he licked his butt!



He also wants to know why all the H8 why all the "species prejudice" ?

reply to post by cavalryscout


Love the picture! I hope you can see so far I do not hold anything against cats. I am actually looking at this in a positive light.

It is going to be quite the long post I feel. When I started this I had no idea where I was going, well I did but didnt lol

Thank you guys for reading, I am doing this partly for me but also to share with you guys as well. It helps to get these "thoughts" out that come into my head about this lol I promise you I am not crazy! I am trying to get over my embarrassment posting that personal type stuff, so if I hide my head in the dirt for awhile do not be surprised. lol

reply to post by Bluesma


Thank you for stopping in and sharing your experience about toxoplasmosis. I had hoped to cover the part about immune systems ect but I figured I should keep things as short and sweet as possible. I do know I have a very healthy immune system actually. The last time I was sick was when I was 18 I am now 32 never been sick once since the with anything and for some reason I still look 18. It sucks, I know it sounds like I should be happy but the grass is always greener as they say.

I should have posted this in the alien forum possibly but at the time I was not sure exactly where to post it. I guess it is kinda general with a little alien thrown in.

Mortality Statistics > Toxoplasmosis (most recent) by country
VIEW DATA: Totals
Definition Source Printable version
Bar Graph Pie Chart Map

Showing latest available data.
Rank Countries Amount
# 1 Brazil: 103 deaths
# 2 United States: 20 deaths
# 3 South Africa: 16 deaths
# 4 Mexico: 14 deaths
# 5 Colombia: 12 deaths
# 6 Argentina: 9 deaths
= 7 Puerto Rico: 6 deaths
= 7 Venezuela: 6 deaths
= 9 Ecuador: 3 deaths
= 9 Spain: 3 deaths
= 9 Romania: 3 deaths
= 12 Germany: 2 deaths
= 12 Peru: 2 deaths
= 12 Netherlands: 2 deaths
= 12 Panama: 2 deaths
= 12 El Salvador: 2 deaths
= 12 Dominican Republic: 2 deaths
= 18 Barbados: 1 deaths
= 18 Cuba: 1 deaths
= 18 Paraguay: 1 deaths
= 18 Czech Republic: 1 deaths
= 18 Nicaragua: 1 deaths
= 18 Canada: 1 deaths
= 18 Moldova: 1 deaths
= 18 Poland: 1 deaths
= 18 Slovakia: 1 deaths
= 18 Estonia: 1 deaths
= 18 Japan: 1 deaths
= 18 Chile: 1 deaths
= 18 Hungary: 1 deaths
= 18 Bahamas, The: 1 deaths
= 18 Croatia: 1 deaths
= 18 Uruguay: 1 deaths
Total: 223 deaths


Found this to be interesting. You gotta remember correlation does not imply causation, these numbers seem heavily flawed from every angle. www.nationmaster.com...

I should have made the posts title Are toxoplasma parasites taking over our brains? I went for cute not scary

I am 39 years old, I have been rescuing animals for 25 years, particularly feral cats. In my own home I have 6 indoor cats ALL of which were rescued from feral colonies. So, in rescuing feral cats ( outdoor cats) I have undoubtedly been "in contact" with animals who might have carried it because they chiefly ate rodents etc. I have never been infected with toxoplasmosis.

I became pregnant and decided to be hyper vigilient with a feral cat we had literally just rescued the same week we found out we were pregnant. While the cat was at the vet being neutered and given vaccinations, we asked for a toxoplasmosis test to be done. The cat was NEGATIVE. We have a "cat room" we built onto our home specifically to house the cat litter boxes etc, we have 8 litter boxes, I have been changing them for decades, I have never been infected with toxoplasmosis. During my pregnancy my husband changed the cat boxes. Easy.


Now, I mention that I deal primarily with FERAL/aka outdoor cats. And not just your average outdoor cats, but cats WITHOUT owners who eat what they can catch, ie rodents. IE, I have been dealing with the worst of the worst for exposure to toxoplasmosis, with NO issues.

Most people who are proper cat owners should NOT have issue at all with toxoplasmosis because cats really should be kept indoors.

Toxoplasmosis has been known about for decades, and doctors simply suggest that pregnant women don't change cat boxes as a PRECAUTION. They also recommend you don't eat cheeses, yogurts, and all sort of common items as a PRECAUTION against listeria....etc.

The recent study by a few scientists saying that toxoplasmosis MIGHT cause depression etc, has only served to make paranoid/OCD people want to get rid of their cats and double up on their anxiety meds and hand wringing.

Cats are NOT filthy animals. Even cats who have lived entirely in the outdoors often DO NOT have toxoplasmosis. Even if you have a cat infected with it, as long as you're not eating their feces, you're fine. And no, cats don't drag feces around the house and infect everything, like the toxoplasmosis doomsday poster would portend.

Animals have a rough enough time with lousy owners who barely take care of them or drop them off at the humane society at the drop of the hat without the toxoplasmosis card being waved around on fire.

reply to post by SilverWraith


Thank you for sharing! I want to make it clear I AM NOT DISSING CATS! I love them

I caught toxoplasmosis from my parents kittens who pooped in sand I was using to mix concrete 25 years ago.
I had the highest blood count that the Auckland pathologists had seen . most people get it but it is normally so mild that they don't know they have it .mine had me bed ridden for 6 months , it was like glandular fever X10.
I still get flare ups of it to this day but it has not effected me mentally

like the toxoplasmosis doomsday poster would portend.
Animals have a rough enough time with lousy owners who barely take care of them or drop them off at the humane society at the drop of the hat without the toxoplasmosis card being waved around on fire.

Seriously? Have you even taken the time to maybe read through the three posts so far I have added to this? I am not a "doomsday" poster and I am not trying to spread a message of doom! If you see that I suggest you read my words instead of reacting so harshly.. I have seen so many dooms day threads in this place for the two years I have been observing.

I come on here for the first time to share something I found very interesting, and if you would have actually read the 3 posts I shared with this community enjoyed observing but never posted in, you would see i have a "personal" connection to the beautiful creatures.

I kept a fun tone and through all my posts you would see I am not a "doomsday" poster. It has affected me personally with the "schizophrenia" and then hearing about this and my LOVE for cats. I had hoped to share something someone who may end up in a situation like mine could benefit from. NOT spread doom.

Well, I don't know what to make of all this? However, I have heard of this ailment, but not something that is etched into the back of my mind either. I have been around cats my whole life, and even had them sleeping with me in my crib. I will probably have one sleeping in my casket as well? From personal observation, I have found that the domestic house cat is probably one of the most sanitary pets in the realm of domesticated animals. I have seen them take great pains at general upkeep and hygiene. They probably look at us as the walking disease factories? We feed them and wait on them, and I guess that makes us tolerable?

As for dogs? Well, I had one that would forage through the cat box looking for tasty morsels. On the other hand, I have never seen a cat eat excrement. Never! Although, I have seen them do damage too just about any small animal that walks or crawls. Bats, mice, birds, and your garden variety of insects. Truly a species of hunting and killing machines. I have found them to be a much better pet than their domesticated counterpart. Just my personal preference, and I have had both dogs and cats. I am not going to lose any sleep over this, or itemize my time worrying about it.

I suppose those that are overly worried about it should probably wear gloves when cleaning the cat boxes or religiously washing their hands after doing it. Pregnant women should make efforts to refrain from litter box duties as well, because the wiki article mentioned their susceptibility to this parasite. I have seen cats use the toilet, and that could do away with the litter box altogether. However, I have not had the patience or the willpower to get any of my cats both past and present to do it. Although, it remains a viable option. So this means I have another thing to worry about? Not likely, because I got plenty on my plate right now.

Judging by the articles in the thread, this disease seems to be a rare one resulting in adverse affects, or even death. Or they just don't know that much about it? Either way, it is always good to learn something new. I have just done that. However, feeding into sensationalist paranoia is not something to partake in. Enjoy your dog or cat, and if it makes this rock more comfortable? All the better! If someone is looking for immortality, or a lifestyle without bumps in the road, big or small? They are on the wrong rock in the solar system. My cat says, "You are all a bunch of haters!"