Most of us love to have pets and cats have captured the hearts of many people due to their affectionate expressions. But the recent research by Kevin Lafferty, who is a parasite ecologist at the University of California, has proved that a cat parasite has the capacity to change the behavior and culture of human beings to a vast extent. He has listed out few of the changes that can occur in human beings due to the cat parasite, Toxoplasma gondii.

      The cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii gets transmitted indirectly from the cats to the human beings. It can affect the personalities and behaviors of the humans in many ways.
      The cat parasite may cause the occurrence of schizophrenia in people. The adults who are affected by this parasite may suffer from mild flu. But the fetus and infants affected by this parasite can face serious problems. The researches done in Oxford University have stated that the cat parasite affects the Intelligence Quotient of the children and decreases it to a considerable level. It also makes the children hyperactive and restless.

      The parasite makes the women very outgoing, concerned and warm about others. But the men who are affected by the cat parasite have become less interesting to be with and their intelligence levels also have decreased very much.

      Lafferty is an expert on the role of parasites in the ecology of other animals. He has proved that the parasite is transmitted to the cat when it eats an infected rat. The infected rat would already have got the parasite by eating the feces of the cat.

      The cat lovers will be disappointed very much to read this information. But the people who provide the cats with proper cat food and keep them indoors need not fear about this information. Such cats will not have an opportunity to eat the rats and they will not be able to spread the parasites.

      But the other cat owners, whose cats wander out during nights, must think about this situation. But here is a big question in everybody’s mind. Will the cat parasite be able to affect all the people on the earth? Will this affect the personalities or culture of a whole society?

      This research has also proved and stated that the men and women who were affected by the cat parasite felt very insecure and also guilty. It was also stated by the researchers that 2 out of 3 women were affected in Brazil whereas 1 out of 8 were infected in the US. Whatever the theory is it has disturbed the minds of all the cat lovers.