Is there any truth to the toxoplasmosis thing, or is it another "fact" the Internet collectively won't stop repeating?
this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2025
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My sister in law was pregnant and scared she may get infected because she has a cat. So she talked to the vet and she replied in her typical uncouth way and said: just refrain from licking the cats ass, when she comes from the litterbox and you're good!
Where I live the typical recommendation is to skip cleaning the litterbox while you're already immune compromised (sick, pregnant, ...) and you don't have any trouble.
The Gardens of Eden are all yours, hoomans. I only ask you to
just refrain from licking the cats ass
I don't think it's that hard.
5 minutes in
PUT DOWN THE CAT ADAM, I ORDER YOU. Ah gosh, now they teamed up to spite me
Man, these pesky doctors. They always forbid the fun stuff.
I heard from an expert that the usual infection comes from insufficiently washed home-grown vegetables contaminated by mouse droppings.
yes, it's harmless to most people, so much so that you might be infected without even knowing. it's only dangerous to immunocompromised people, especially foetuses.
the "change in human behaviour" is more iffy, we know it changes rats behaviours, but it's hard to measure that in humans.
check the wiki though
Ive been told that cats meows have evolved to sound enough like a fussing baby to trigger our maternal instincts.
No idea how true it is, but it feels true.
that is just neoteny in general.
most domestication involved selecting animals who stay in their childlike state, ie an adult dog is mentally a puppy.
and there is the concept that we have done that to ourselves, natural selection chose less aggressive childlike humans because they make better societies.
My understanding is that it will only infect people who are immunocompromised.
"bread"
Yeah dogs just allowed themselves to be subjugated.. except there are over 4 million dog bites recorded each year, and 25,000 human deaths from dog attack.
Cats: occasional accidental death by infectious bacteria after bites. Not enough annual kills to even bother being tracked.
Cats are too small to easily kill a human, and they're solitary hunters, so they won't gang up on us. I think we lucked out there, like how octopus would probably rule the world if they survived having sex.
We're lucky dogs are on our side now, and that's thanks to thousands of generations of Humans making that happen. Like with Corn.
Ah yes, corn. Man's second-best friend.
What about all the people high fructose corn syrup kills!? /s
That was my first thought too, because fuck corn syrup, but I upvoted username zpqs anyway because his comment made me laugh.
Many bites are by dogs bread to aggressive and that have a predisposition to a cancer that starts in a part of their brain controlling aggression.
These bites and death numbers are mainly from feral dogs, not pets. And most of the deaths are from dogs with rabies, which causes aggresive behavior.
I'm interested in how many of those dog bites are contributed by pitbulls and rotweilers. I don't like to perpetuate stereotypes but every physically intimidating hyperaggressive dog ive met has been a one of those. People want the safety that comes with those killing machines but they refuse to properly train them and cook up some serious cope when their precious furry son breaks their electric fence and bites the face off a child walking by.
That's more attributable to the aggressive fuckwits who tend to those dog races when they get a dog, not to the dog races by themselves. If you get yourself a pitbull and treat and train him to be a little princess who likes cuddles, you will get a little princess who likes cuddles. Aggressive dogs are 95% owner, 5% dog if we talk about pets and not feral dogs.
Yeah, they're only dangerous IMO because their owners want them to be dangerous.
And then there's the other side of the coin, where dogs working in service save people's lives, catch criminals, help the disabled, etc. while cats only shit, meow and sleep
Whilst lowering blood pressure reducing stress and anxiety and all the consequential negative health outcomes.
So basically what dogs do, just… less.
Less? I don't think so.
You forgot pissing in the heating vents because fuck you.
Pest control is a service that likely saved more lives than dogs ever did.
Maybe it's because dogs are often big enough to kill you. My cat gets angry I didn't snuggle right and swats. The cats that big enough to kill us people seldom live with and attacks are frequent.