Culture Dish wonders, “Is This Cute Video Just a Rat Loving a Cat, or the Beginning of the End of Toxo?”

The parasite Toxoplasma infects many species (including an estimated 60 million people in the US), but it can only undergo sexual reproduction in cat digestive tracts. Evolutionarily speaking, this means toxo’s survival depends 100% on its host being eaten by a cat…So toxo has evolved a complicated system for taking over its hosts’ brains to increase the likelihood that they’ll be eaten by cats (for example: it rewires rat brains so they’re actually attracted to the smell of cat urine). Knowing this, I ask you: Is this rat just friends with this cat? Or is it actually in a toxo induced frenzy and trying to get eaten? If so, then this video is an example of a cat kicking toxo’s ass.

Lindy West was born an unremarkable female baby in Seattle, Washington. The former Stranger writer covered movies, movie stars, exclamation points, lady stuff, large frightening fish, and much, much more....

13 replies on “The Love Bug”

  2. Ack, now I want a pet rat! I’ve always thought I couldn’t have them anymore because of my cats, but this video gives me hope!

    I still hate cleaning their cages and I have way too many wires, however, so I think they’re still out. Rats are sweet, but they’re destructive little bastards.

  3. I love this video, but all I can see is my cat dealing with it for five minutes and then whipping around and gutting the rat in front of a small child.

  4. Thanks to our domestication of cats, up to half of the human population may be infected with the catshit parasite toxoplasma as well. A minority of those affected can suffer from delusions, hallucinations, and paranoia.

    A medical study found evidence that toxoplasma can damage glial cells in the brain, similar to damage associated with schizophrenia. It’s also been shown that pregnant women with high levels of toxoplasma antibodies are more likely to have children who later develop schizophrenia.

  7. @4,

    It also supposedly makes women more promiscuous, so that’s at least one reason why straight men should like cats.

    @5,

    Cat scratch fever comes from the bacteria in a cat’s claws, not toxoplasma.

  12. I bet the cat and rats in this video were raised together. Its not hard to get animals to be friends if you start them all off as babies together, but if you already have a grown cat don’t expect it to be nice to a new rat.

    There’s a (homeless, I think?) guy in Santa Barbara who walks around the downtown area all the time with a dog, on top of which is a cat, on top of which is a rat. They actually walk around riding on the dog like that, and sleep like that. I”ve always wondered if they’re drugged.

  13. Yah, there are some people/scientists who believe that toxoplasmosis might be the cause of schizophrenia. Seriously, if I had to choose between having cats and having schizophrenia or not having cats and not having schizophrenia…(and I do have schizophrenia) I am honestly not sure which I would choose. I know that sounds stupid, but cats really bring a LOT of joy to my life!

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