A Serious Threat To Domestic Cat Welfare?

My three-legged cat Charlie trying to catch a tease
My three-legged cat Charlie trying to catch a tease. Does he carry the Toxoplasma gondii protozoan? No idea.
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

This story won’t go away and I believe it is a serious threat to the welfare of the domestic cat in the USA and Europe. It may have long lasting repercussions on the level of cat relinquishments. It may also result in the people who are best placed to be cat caretakers doing without a cat companion. I am referring to senior citizens and people living alone.

I am writing about that much discussed parasitic protozoan called, Toxoplasma gondii, which is carried by a proportion of domestic cats, usually without symptoms. The parasite can be transferred to people (it is zoonotic). Most people who have this parasite inside them also have no symptoms.

However, I keep reading that there is evidence that the Toxoplasma gondii protozoan can get into a person’s brain, damage it, cause inflammation of the brain and thereby cause depression. This leads to suicide. That is the cause and effect. Personally it makes me worried about cat welfare because some research may have linked the domestic cat to people who commit suicide. We need further research and the situation to be clarified.

However, a study found a correlation between scoring high on an assessment for suicide risk and a positive test for the toxoplasmosis protozoan. I think this is the study: Toxoplasma gondii Immunoglobulin G Antibodies and Nonfatal Suicidal Self-Directed Violence by these scientists: Patricia Langenberg, PhD; Ahmed Saleh, PhD; Niel Constantine, PhD; Olaoluwa Okusaga, MD; Cecilie Bay-Richter, PhD; Lena Brundin, MD, PhD. I can’t access it at the date of this post because the link to it is broken.

People who had the parasite in them were 7 times more likely to attempt suicide, the study concluded. That should very disturbing to people who are concerned about the welfare of the domestic cat.

However, there also needs to be a bit of balance put into these stories on the internet, which feeds the arguments of the cat haters, poisoners and shooters.  I know I keep referring to them but they are a significant body of people in the United States, the home of by far the largest population  of domestic, stray and feral cats in a single country (around 200 cats million in total). This is negative publicity that harms the image of the domestic cat. Potentially, there are significant domestic cat welfare issues at stake.

I have written quite a lot on this subject (possibly too much) so won’t repeat myself here. Click on the link to see the results of a custom Google search for articles on PoC.

One article that puts some balance into the debate is this one: Truth about Toxoplasmosis and Cats.

One aspect of this matter is almost never discussed. The cat picks up the parasite from another animal, infected birds or rodents. I presume this happens when the cat preys upon a bird or rodent. Can rodents and birds pass the disease to people? I am told that the cat is the “primary host”¹. This chain of events would support the argument that cats should be kept in all the time. I personally don’t like that idea but it is an argument that needs to be aired.

Serologic (blood and body fluids) tests will show if a cat has been exposed to the parasite. If the test is positive in a cat that is healthy it means that cat has acquired an immunity to the disease of toxoplasmosis and is “not a source of human contamination”¹. Should we bother ourselves with asking our vet to do a test?


Ref:

1. Cat Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook.

Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for.

12 thoughts on “A Serious Threat To Domestic Cat Welfare?”

    • Hello Kitty, it’s lovely to ‘meet’ such a like minded person who truly does love and appreciate cats like we do here on PoC.

      Reply
  1. Hand hygiene, people. That’s all it’s about. Wash hands with soap and water frequently, especially after scooping the litter box or gardening. My doctor asked me if I was worried about this having a cat. I said that I wash my hands. She pointed out that many people probably don’t. Her answer was not to ban the cat, but to promote good hand hygiene. If it’s good enough for an MD, it’s good enough for me. (Actually, she’s a DO, whatever that is.)

    Reply
  2. Well said Ruth and I intend to say something very similar.

    I think that in general people who love cats are more sympathetic and caring and dare I even say spritual and so I think that any extra suicides noticed amongst cat owners could probably be put down to the despair that such people feel at the rottenness the people who think they are entitled to run this earth in selfserving, cruel and ignorants ways and choose suicide as a means of getting away from it all!

    I also think that whoever has come up with this tommy-rot wants to be spending their time on something a bit more useful and a bit less destructive.

    Reply
    • Exactly! Cat lovers are more sensitive souls who sometimes despair about the cruel people in this world who make it a miserable place for us to live in and I reckon that’s why some commit suicide.

      Reply
  3. I’m so sick and tired of people who should look for better things to do than spend time researching ways to stir up more hatred for cats.
    Where do they get their statistics? Why search for things to blame on cats?
    I don’t know or care if cats have parasites because some humans ARE parasites and spread more disease with their disgusting habits and pollute this earth more than any other species does.
    I’ve lived, worked and volunteered with cats all my adult life, I never pass a cat without stopping to talk to him/her and stroke them if they will allow me to and if I ever contemplate suicide it won’t be because of anything I may have caught from cats,it will be because I can’t stand the way the human race think they are entitled to abuse animals as if they are beneath us.
    Furthermore, many a lonely person probably would have committed suicide but for their cat companion and I think that far outweighs any slight danger of catching some disease from that cat.

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  4. I have heard that the most likely way for a human to get it is when gardening. I suppose this has more to do with feces from small rodents. But gun slingers wouldn’t get off on shooting mice I suppose, so they blame it all on cats. Do dogs have it? Anyway, certainly don’t do any gardeing if you are worried about it!

    Reply
    • Because they are often older and more susceptible (if they older) to suicidal thoughts. And they are more in need of a cat companion.

      Reply

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