Doggedly searching for the crux of the biscuit.
Toxoplasma gondii, the parasitic protozoa that's making me have to do all of the litterbox cleaning while the missus is pregnant (grumblegrumble), can only sexually reproduce in the feline gut. So while it commonly infects rodents, it really needs to get its host rodent eaten by a cat. You'd think that would be beyond the powers of a mere protozoan, but you'd be wrong. A new study led out of Stanford shows that infected rodents lose their natural aversion to the smell of cat urine—and indeed develop an attraction to it—while maintaining their other normal aversions like dog urine, strange-smelling foods, and open spaces. The toxoplasma, which forms cysts in the brain, tends to concentrate in the amygdala and apparently targets the specific neural pathways responsible for processing cat odors.
Pretty clever, all in all.
Update: The king of parasite blogging, Carl Zimmer, has more, including links to older posts about Toxoplasma.
It's not only mice! Humans get toxoplasmosis, too, and it changes our personalities in strange ways. Plus, different nations get toxoplasmosis in different proportions, depending on diet, so it affects culture in strange and weird ways.
Check out this article on the Loom:
http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2006/08/01/a_nation_of_cowards_blame_the.php
So now we know why dog people are so damn cheerful and annoying.
Posted by: bitchphd at April 4, 2007 08:45 AMOn my way to lunch in Durham today, I passed by a vet's office with a big sign which read: "CATS GET HEARTWORMS TOO!" Which made me laugh a bunch and I'm not sure why.
I guess it's kind of a combination of parasite blogging and freeway blogging.
Posted by: Cangrejero at April 4, 2007 12:32 PMHeh, ever since I saw this hypnotist's show a couple of decades ago, I don't have a fond memory of "Cats."
Posted by: Cangrejero at April 4, 2007 01:29 PM8 was me.
And yes, everyone should hate Cats.
But remember, it wasn't cats who foisted Cats upon the world.
Posted by: M/tch M/lls at April 4, 2007 02:51 PMYeah, that stage show was much better than Cats. I want to see it again and again. After all these year, even.
Posted by: John Johnson at April 4, 2007 03:37 PMMy experience with the litterbox is, once you've taken it over during pregnancy its yours for life.
Posted by: cw at April 5, 2007 01:08 AMParasites rock. You've seen this video, right?
Posted by: Ginger Yellow at April 15, 2007 02:12 PM