Having A Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

[CalMeacham]

Having A Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests | HuffPost Life?

Living with a cat during childhood does not cause mental illness later in life, a new study from University College London suggests, disputing earlier studies that caused alarm by linking cats to human mental illness.
“We found that children who were born and raised in households that included cats at any time period – that is, pregnancy, early and late childhood – were not at a higher risk of having psychotic symptoms when they were 13 or 18 years old,” researchers wrote in The Conversation. The study was published in the journal Psychological Medicine on Wednesday.

Speaking as a cat owner, I’d suggest that having cats is a symptom of mental illness, not a cause.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

This was something people believed?

[gnoitall]

@IvoryTowerDenizen

This was something people believed?

Mostly crazy people.

At least, that’s what Baby Ruth, my Feline Overlady, tells me. I think she’s right. When she looks at you with those huge golden eyes and her irises do the cute kitteh dilation thing, I know that reality itself will alter to conform to her statements, if necessary.

So yeah. Those were some crazy, crazy people, thinking that cats make you crazy.

[Doctor_Jackson]

@IvoryTowerDenizen

This was something people believed?

Yes, related to toxoplasmosis:

“Crazy cat-lady syndrome” is a term coined by news organizations to describe scientific findings that link the parasite Toxoplasma gondii to several mental disorders and behavioral problems.[76][77][78][79][80] Although researches found that cat ownership does not strongly increase the risk of a T. gondii infection in pregnant women,[81][82] the suspected correlation between cat ownership in childhood and later development of schizophrenia suggest that further studies are needed to determine a risk factor for children.

[RivkahChaya]

The risk for pregnant women isn’t very high. You have to be infected for the first time with toxoplasmosis while pregnant for it to affect a fetus. Me, I have had cats almost literally all my life. We had a cat starting when I was a toddler, and she used to sleep with me. She was a “loaner” my parents took in while some friends were on sabbatical. We took their Beagle to. After they returned, we had pets steadily, and there was a gap of about three years that we didn’t have a cat, but we got one when I was maybe four who attached herself to me, and always slept with me. When we moved, we got another cat, and he was indoor/outdoor. I have not been without a cat since, and once I had seven. The chance that I was NOT already exposed to toxoplasmosis by the time I was pregnant for the first time at age 38 was slim. So if I was exposed during pregnancy, no chance it would hurt the fetus. I still made my husband change the litter.

So, the lesson is that if you have NEVER had a cat before, do not get your first one when you are pregnant. Otherwise, don’t worry. You have enough to worry about when you are pregnant.

FWIW, new toxo infections during pregnancy are pretty definitely linked to some birth defects, but they are apparent at birth or shortly thereafter. Not 30 years later.

Also, there definitely is some external trigger for schizophrenia, because while it seems to run in families, there are plenty of documented cases of identical twins where one is schizophrenic and one is not. However, toxo may be a dead end.

Or schizophrenia may not be just one thing. It is caused by a very specific brain process going awry in a very specific way, but that could still have more than one cause. Senso-neurial deafness is caused by a loss of hair cells in the cochlea, but there are more than 100 things that can cause that.

[Wesley_Clark]

@IvoryTowerDenizen

This was something people believed?

There are parasites in cat feces that are suspected of being a risk factor for schizophrenia.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

I got away with years of not cleaning the cat box while I was pregnant with our first, in the interim years (just in case, y’now), and while pregnant with our second. I tried to keep it going, but my husband copped wise.

It was good run while it lasted…

ETA: And yeah, as a microbiologist who just taught about toxoplasmosis, I should’ve remembered that.

I guess I was thinking it was something more old wive tale-ish, like how cats another babies.

[jtur88]

If people were gullible enough to believe what “studies suggested” about crazy cat people in the past, they are also gullible to believe what “new studies suggest” disputing it.

[MikeF]

Another example of “correlation doesn’t equal causation” ;>).

[levdrakon]

Here’s an article I read recently about it, and Jaroslav Flegr who does a lot of research into it. How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy - The Atlantic

I don’t get the impression he ever said anything like “cats make you crazy.” Sounds like the media misinterpreting science and then blaming science for their misinterpretation.

[VinylTurnip]

I’m not convinced. I have two cats and they’re making me nuts.

How can they be the picture of tranquility one minute, cuddled up on the bed lovingly taking turns grooming one other, and ten minutes later they’re going all Highlander on each other?

And we have an entire house. Three levels. How does their favorite toy end up under the same china cabinet eight times a day?

And for the love of God, why do they suddenly turn their noses up at their favorite cat food flavor right after I buy 30 cans of it?

They’re testing me. It’s a plot, I tell you! An insidious plot! But I will have the last laugh. They’ll be sorry! You’ll see! Ha! HA! HAHAHA! HOOHOOHOOOoooOOOO!!!