

Just as Brownlee is fixated on cephalopods, Nabokov, and goth girls wearing thick, gummy whiteface, I have my own obsessions. Among them are mind-altering parasites, and first in that number is the admirable Toxoplasma gondii.

My darling toxo spends most of its time between two worlds: that of the rodent, and that of the feline. Rats will contract the parasite from cat feces, and once embedded, the bug acts like a Pabst sixpack and a frat party, and significantly lowers the rat’s inhibitions. Making it less cautious, and more likely to be eaten by a cat.

Cats, once infected, will often become more hostile, tempermental, aloof, and generally “catlike”. But the mind-control doesn’t end there.

Infection rates in humans is estimated to be between 20-70%, depending on the country, and research suggests that we’re just as vulnerable to toxoplasmosis as other mammals. Every few years the tabloid media will run an article with a quote along these lines:

"Infected men have lower IQs, achieve a lower level of education and have shorter attention spans. They are also more likely to break rules and take risks, be more independent, more anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose, and are deemed less attractive to women."

"On the other hand, infected women tend to bemore outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered moreattractive to men compared with non-infected controls. "In short, it can make men behave like alley cats and women behave like sex kittens".

Infectedpeople are supposedly more likely to get into car accidents, developschizophrenia, and generally engage in risk-taking behavior.

In otters, toxoplasmosis is a major cause of brain inflammation and resulting mortality,

often from shark predation. In theory, the infection occurs via catpoop that has washed from populated areas and into the sea, possiblyconcentrating the eggs of the wee monster into the otters’ shellfish.

But no one knows for sure.

What is for sure is that if you’veever touched a cat, you’re not you at all. You’re a toxozombie,

fucking and fighting your way through life in the vague hope thatsomehow, someday, you’ll convince someone lower on the food chain toeat your shit.

Parasite turns women into 'sex kittens' [The Age]

photo from GWP