in

Cat owners are more likely to be into bondage and BDSM than others

A study found that people who own cats may be more likely to enjoy bondage and BDSM than those who don’t own cats.

Me-owwwww.

Researchers in Slovakia and Czech Republic surveyed over 36,500 people and found that many people who owned cats “are more often aroused by their own fear, danger, and sexual submission”.

Their reason? A teeny tiny parasite called Toxoplasma gondii that infects

Get our all-over print Catstronaut shirt, on sale now in our store!

Toxoplasma gondii isn’t something new and it isn’t something that controls your mind… Unless you’re a mouse, that is.

Previous research shows that when a mouse becomes infected with the parasite, they lose their fear of cats. And when a mouse isn’t afraid of cats, they tend to get eaten by cats, which gets the parasite into the cat. Once the cat is infected, the parasite reproduces in the cat’s stomach, then the cat will defecate up to 10 million oocysts (basically the parasite’s egg) a day for two weeks, and these eggs can live in the soil for years until they’re eaten by another animal and their life cycle continues. 

The microbe is a single-celled pathogen that infects most types of mammal and bird, causing a disease called toxoplasmosis. But its effects on rodents are unique; most flee cat odour, but infected ones are mildly attracted to it.

Evolutionary adaptation to help the parasite complete its life cycle: Toxoplasma can sexually reproduce only in the cat gut, and for it to get there, the pathogen’s rodent host must be eaten. (Nature)

It’s generally viewed as harmless to humans, unless you’re pregnant or immunocompromised, but there is interesting data regarding a possible link to schizophrenia.

In humans, studies have linked Toxoplasma infection with behavioural changes and schizophrenia. One work found an increased risk of traffic accidents in people infected with the parasite2; another found changes in responses to cat odour3. People with schizophrenia are more likely than the general population to have been infected with Toxoplasma, and medications used to treat schizophrenia may work in part by inhibiting the pathogen’s replication.

Schizophrenia is thought to involve excess activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. This has bolstered one possible explanation for Toxoplasma’s behavioural effect: the parasite establishes persistent infections by means of microscopic cysts that grow slowly in brain cells. It can increase those cells’ production of dopamine, which could significantly alter their function. Most other suggested mechanisms also rely on the presence of cysts. (Nature)

The CDC has also said that of people who become infected with the parasite, “very few have symptoms because a healthy person’s immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness.” But they noted that for those who are immunocompromised or pregnant, Toxoplasma “could cause serious health problems.”

Back to bondage

Of course, the authors of the study aren’t saying that the parasite is solely responsible for people enjoying BDSM. In fact, the researchers even said “It must be stressed that the Toxoplasma infection explains only small part of the variability in BDSM associated traits.”

Get our high quality, all-over print lightning cat shirt, only available in our store!

I would be interested to see the infection rates for humans and compare it against how many are heavily into bondage versus not-so-much into it. The CDC has reported that around 11% of people over the age of six years old have been infected with the parasite in the past, but in some areas of the world, that rate is as high as 60%.

And while I won’t offer my personal opinion on their findings, I will say that as of last month, my wife and I have four cats in our house.

So, you know. There’s that.

Written by Dan Broadbent

Science Enthusiast. Atheist. Lover of cats.

Comments

Loading…

Loading…

Comment using Facebook

Comment using Facebook

New species of snake

New snake species discovered in another snake’s belly

Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thinks the rapture is a real thing