[Czrzftmz]

Well, I don't have much to worry about because I've rarely kept a litter box. This is the genius of having indoor/outdoor cats! No clean up is really the best way to go I think. They seem to be happier being able to be out in the sun and such and I guess it could keep me happier too!
I don't know how much I would agree with this study though. I would be more worried about the harm cleaning chemicals could do.

[wllsqyuipknczx]

I have heard that a lot of people had that parasite, but I didn't know it could affect people like that. I thought the only danger it could do was to people that were pregnant in that it could harm there baby. There isn't enough evidence here for me to say one way or the other if this is true. If you have a cat and clean thier liltter box often then you probbaly already have the parasite so there really isn't reason to be more cautious now.

[Reocourgigiot]

This would explain why the high school joke was always "going to grow up to be the old lonely cat lady". There's a difference between owning a couple cats and living alone in a house with twenty of them... I've always considered a legit cat lady to have 8+ cats and live by themselves. Not to mention, having a lack of contact with the outside world.

The bacteria that causes the illness may have a little to do with it, but there are definitely outside forced. You cannot put someone alone in a house for weeks and weeks with nothing but cats to talk to and expect them to remain all that sane.

[Progniusis]

If they're going to write scary articles, they should have more concrete proof. ......I'm saying that maybe the women in the study weren't suicidal just because of cat bacteria but other causes as well.

I completely agree with both points displayed here. It's hard to trust a study like this. Was there any cited proof from this study? Also, the women who were studied could have all had loneliness issues or a number of other mental issues that went unmentioned in the article.

[viagraman]

I don't know on this article. I think they have to do more research. I'm sure there is a tie to suicide but not solely because they own cats. Even in the article it stated, "Rest assured, you don't need to be a cat owner to contract the parasite. While it's often found in cat intestines, you can also get it from undercooked meat and unwashed vegetables." So suicide could be the result of environmental changes and catching to bacteria from poor food preparation.

[NicolasOL]

I'd read about this too. Previously, though, the warnings were aimed toward pregnant women and telling them to avoid litter box duty completely.

My cat is 16 years old and I've cleaned her litter box thousands of times. I can't say I'm feeling particularly suicidal, unless you count the smell being a killer sometimes. ;-)

[yK2VgoEI]

As a cat owner, I was a little surprised to read this article. According to a recent study out of Denmark ,the parasite T. gondii ,which is found in cat feces causes an infection that can cause mental illness.

A third of the world's population is infected and cat owners usually catch it from cleaning litter boxes.

While I have no plans to stop owning cats, I definitely think I'll get one of those little painter's nose masks so I'm not inhaling particles when I change the litter box. What do you think? Are they blowing this out of proportion and trying to scare people?

http://gawker.com/5923036/being-a-ca...itting-suicide

[yK2VgoEI]

I know, I used to read that all those warnings were aimed at pregnant women.Now they're saying that a third of the world's population is infected.

If they're going to write scary articles, they should have more concrete proof.

Even if the women in the study did attempt suicide later in life, maybe it's not just the cat bacteria but also the fact that some cat women live alone and are isolated from other people.

I'm not saying all cat people are loners, I'm a sociable cat owner, I'm saying that maybe the women in the study weren't suicidal just because of cat bacteria but other causes as well.