Cats and Schizophrenia (aka Crazy Cat Lady?)

Cats are lovable and fuzzy.  Cats are sneaky and funny.  And it's possible that cats could be linked to mental illness and schizophrenia.  Due to a parasite cats carry called Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), researchers are studying how it can affect humans.  Although humans can develop toxoplasmosis due to this parasite, studies are under way as to how it might affect people mentally, especially if they're exposed to cats when young.  Here's the entire Time magazine article about this concern.

Piggy the Laughing Stop

Piggy

Piggy's weird.  He doesn't like loud noises.  For example. Let's say we are talking among ourselves and something humorous is said and everyone burst out laughing.  Piggy will come running into the room and immediately try to quiet us down.  He does this especially with my wife since she is his human.  He will jump on her lap and use his paws to tap her mouth in a gesture of saying "quiet down".  If we have a loud disagreement, he'll do the same thing.  He hates us being loud.  And he doesn't like loud noises in general.  The boom of thunder or some loud noise outside and Piggy is off to hide or run. He'll do anything to stop the loud sounds that annoy him.  Does your cat do that?

Feline Freeway

I sit quietly on my couch.  The sunshine is blazing outside.  The back slider is open, the door into the garage is open and the large garage door yawns open allowing the outside air to blow through the house.  Relaxing, a cool gust of air wafts through the living room and the sounds of birds chirping outside fills my ears.  These peaceful events are suddenly shattered by the sound of huge elephants with super-padded feet roaring through the house.  The galloping sounds of several of these beasts comes and goes as the Doppler Effect is manifest for a split second.  By the time I turn around to see what the commotion is all about the house is quiet, the birds chirp and a breeze drifts over my body.

I relax once again, resting my body and enjoying the evening breeze.  Within seconds the crescendo of a herd of elephants roars into being and is almost instantly gone.  I turn, but not quick enough to see what the commotion is all about.  I suspect, but have no proof.  As I once more let my muscles relax into a pool of ooze, it quickly solidifies like quick drying glue as the sound of Africa echoes off the walls. Turning quickly, I catch a glimpse of white fur disappearing out the back door.  I also notice a sudden pain in my neck where a muscle appears to have been pulled when I whipped my head around so quickly.

Trying to slowly turn my head back around while massaging my neck, the sounds of monstrous soft padded feet comes out of nowhere.  Since I haven't turned my head fully back into place yet, I am able to witness the fuzzy event.  Three of my cats have turned the house into a raceway.  Coming in the back door, going through the house and out the garage, they encircle the house to re-enter the back door again. Fur floats lazily in the rays of sunshine as the cats weight decreases with each pass through the house and their coats of fuzz diminish atom by atom, hair by hair.

I shake my head and have to chuckle at the cats ability to turn something simple into a great game of cat and cat.  Massaging my neck muscles, I slowly turn my head back to its created position.  A few more passes of feline freeway fills my ears before I hear a soft thud as two cats collide with the wall. The third has made the slight bend through the laundry room and out the garage door while the other two quickly regain their balance and re-enter the racetrack of fun.  I laugh, but only for a second.  A pain shoots up my neck.  I need to get a heat pack to fix what these mischievous felines have caused me by their cat antics.

The Immovable Fuzzy Lump(s)

It's time for bed.  You're tired.  You crawl under the covers and your body relaxes as you contemplate sleep.  You start to drift off when you feel a "thump" as your cat jumps up on the bed.  Temporarily startled, your brain grasps what has happened, and you begin to drift off again.  Meanwhile, your cat decides that sleeping on top of your semi-lifeless form is a great idea.  For him this warm mass under the covers is a welcome place to rest for the night.  So up he climbs onto your body.  In your hazy unconscious state you turn to reduce or eliminate this weight that is bearing down on you.  However, as you roll, so does this lump.  It's like he's a great barrel rolling expert.  No matter how you move so does he. He's always on you, no matter what.  Then, in frustration, you begin to push, kick and shake the covers in an attempt to move him off of you.  All this does is turn him into a living Velcro ball. He sticks to you like glue.  His fuzzy body bounces up and down while his claws hang on.  He doesn't move.  Several more attempts to get him to move prove futile.  Finally you give up destined to live with this fuzzy lump on top of your body for the rest of the night. The cat sleeps well, but so much for your restful night.

Love Them!

Our first poll asked how people felt about cats.  Love them?  Hate them?  Don't care?  Out of those who responded, 100% say they liked cats.  Many people do, but then there are those who don't.  Cats, as the title of this blog indicates, can be mischievous and hilarious.  People love them for both qualities.  Future posts will highlight interesting news items, stories, polls and so on about cats.  This could just be the purrfect blog for you!