The Evolution of Cat Ladies

I can't believe I just bet John 100 dollars (although he's being gracious and letting me off with buying him some shrimp tomorrow night at Red Lobster) that this was complete bullshit. Please follow the link, and read this psych PhD's post about toxoplasm, which is a parasite that can reproduce only in the small intestine of felines. I was going on and on about how much I love my cat and- gee, I wonder why that is- why does he make me so damn HAPPY??? Friends, here is your answer to why we become old cat ladies (and sitting here writing this in my robe and relishing in John's piano music... I am well on my way)!

http://psychpundit.blogspot.com/2007/07/feline-parasite-alters-human.html
(I hope he doesn't mind I'm linking him here... but this is out of control nuts.)

So potentially I have a parasite lodged in my brain triggering a series of hormonal reactions that are causing me to be ever more fond of my cat. The likelihood is low- I don't normally serve up a heaping helping of litterbox mess and pour milk on in it in the morning- I probably just love my cat to a "normal" degree. Don't freak... there aren't really any ill effects if you contract the parasite. If you're a girl you just get smarter and nicer, but you might wreck your car... but I've been out driving like Nascar just for fun lately and haven't had any problems so I think I'm OK. It's like a sweet ass xanax-ritalin combo... awesome!

What I love about this is how it reflects how intricate evolution can be. This isn't a single species making adaptations for only its own survival. This parasite helps everyone but the mouse. It helps itself get into a cat intestine (doesn't that just give you the warm and fuzzies thinking about that awesome home?). So it adapts itself to drive the mouse nuts and basically deliver itself as lunch to the cat in order to get into the cat. Check. Then it accidentally enters a human host, where it can live but not reproduce. This in turn ingratiates the cat to the human. The human cares for the cat, loves it, feeds it, puts up with its heinous shedding, and this improves the survival rate of the cat, thus ensuring further perpetuation of toxoplasm. I really love evolution. Natural selection rocks!