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Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

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Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#81

Post by fulafel »

3np wrote: post #40
gilbetron wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We learned years ago that our cats get put in the lower part of our house with the door closed at night. We felt bad about it, but being able to sleep all night made up for it. Quick story: for several nights, I'd wake up in the middle of the night with horrendous stomach pains. I was thinking I needed to see the doctor it was so painful. Then on the fourth night when the pain hit I woke up fast enough to notice our…

...why not let them outdoors during night?

Because they are an invasive species and will decimate birds and other critters, messing up the ecosystem in your neighbourhood and causing a lot of animal suffering. Also they will acquire toxoplasmosis and transmit it to you and your family.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#82

Post by cm2012 »

moistly wrote: post #51
cm2012 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By the way, the common myth is misleading. Toxoplasmosis is almost always caused by undercooked meat, which is why it's so much more common in France. You can get it from cats but it's almost always stray cats, not house cats.

I don’t think undercooked meat nor stray cats explain the 30–50% prevalence rate. You have a source for your claim? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3963851/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1118145/

"Pork, lamb, and mutton are the most important sources of T gondii infection, along with game meats such as bear and feral swine."

"A total of 252 women with toxoplasmosis, along with 748 controls from Naples, Lausanne, Copenhagen, Oslo, Brussels, and Milan, were interviewed by telephone or in person. Overall, eating raw or undercooked beef, lamb, or other meats; contact with soil; and travel outside the country were major sources of infection."

Cats don't even make the list of major sources of infection. Further,

"The association of cats and human toxoplasmosis is difficult to assess by epidemiological surveys because soil, not the cats, is the main culprit. Oocysts are not found on cat fur and are often buried in soil along with cat faeces.11 Therefore, direct contact with cats is irrelevant with respect to T gondii transmission, and soil contact is universal and difficult to avoid."

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#83

Post by cm2012 »

danaris wrote: post #54
cm2012 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By the way, the common myth is misleading. Toxoplasmosis is almost always caused by undercooked meat, which is why it's so much more common in France. You can get it from cats but it's almost always stray cats, not house cats.

Do you have a source for that? (I'm not doubting; I'm looking for further reading on the subject, as I've been curious about toxoplasmosis since first getting my own cats over a decade ago...)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1118145/

"Pork, lamb, and mutton are the most important sources of T gondii infection, along with game meats such as bear and feral swine."

"A total of 252 women with toxoplasmosis, along with 748 controls from Naples, Lausanne, Copenhagen, Oslo, Brussels, and Milan, were interviewed by telephone or in person. Overall, eating raw or undercooked beef, lamb, or other meats; contact with soil; and travel outside the country were major sources of infection."

Cats don't even make the list of major sources of infection.

Further,

"The association of cats and human toxoplasmosis is difficult to assess by epidemiological surveys because soil, not the cats, is the main culprit. Oocysts are not found on cat fur and are often buried in soil along with cat faeces.11 Therefore, direct contact with cats is irrelevant with respect to T gondii transmission, and soil contact is universal and difficult to avoid."

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#84

Post by r0b05 »

The gut microbiota seems to have a major influence in the body in which they reside.

Cat + human is only one of the examples of this symbiosis. The same can be said for any animal + human.

Human + human is also true. A couple will tend to resemble each other in looks when living together for a while. If you think about it, the skin is just the outer layer of the gut. One can think of the body as a tubular structure with a couple of openings. The inside, includes the gut where most of the microbiota reside, but also on the skin, in the hair, in the mouth, etc. So when we kiss or touch, we are exchanging microbiota.

Animals in this regard form a sort of proxy. They facilitate the transfer of the microbiota from human to human, including animal to human and human to animal. Overall it seems that diversity is preferable. That's one of the reasons that it's not good to be alone for too long as the microbiota diversity gets compromised. So getting a pet does actually work, be it a cat or dog.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#85

Post by webmobdev »

thrill wrote: post #44
jv22222 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Sixty percent of cat owners sleep with their cats, which may enhance their sense of security and improve their quality of sleep" I regularly open my eyes in the middle of the night and my cat's face is about 5 inches away from mine, just sitting there perfectly still, staring at me.

When I was a teenager I was having an odd dream of my nose really tickling as I came out of a deep sleep. I finally opened my eyes to see my Siamese sitting on my chest holding a struggling mouse by the tail over my snoring mouth. Its front paws had been scrabbling just on the edge of my upper lip.

Lol (and gross!). My mom used to freak out when my cat used to bring such "gifts" for us (mostly mouse, occassionally squirrels that my mom would ask me to rescue, pissing off the cat) or just try to show-off to us what an apex predator he was by bringing his prey inside the house. The peak highlight was when I heard my mom scream one day and rushed to find her on top of the dining table as he had caught a 3 foot thin snake, already half dead, that he was enjoying chasing around inside the house.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#86

Post by Scoundreller »

joshschreuder wrote: post #72
ZEFuVQU3WpZz wrote: post #45

My family and I are all sound sleepers who sleep on our backs. Our cat, from the first day we acquired her at the pound until her last, would go from chest to chest during the night. There are few things nicer than waking up in the morning to a cat purring on your chest.

Usually depends on which end of the cat you wake up to :)

Some cats are pretty good at recognizing you'd rather look at their face. Not enough though...

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#87

Post by Scoundreller »

dylan604 wrote: post #61
55555 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is planning your murder.

Contemplating how much salt, pepper, onions and celery are going to be required to make the soup.

In the meantime, it's almost time for you to leave for your tuna hunt.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#88

Post by teekert »

marricks wrote: post #20

Who knows what the net affect is but taking the final sentences of some of the results paragraphs makes it seem like taking care of a cat is a good idea: > [...] Therefore, cat ownership may be involved in mediating the abundance of disease-related gut microbes. > [...] Therefore, from the perspective of gut microbiota, our study not only supports that there might be no correlation between cat ownership and obesity b…

As long as you keep it inside (where it isn't defecating in my garden, hunting my chickens or trying to get inside where I may lock it in by accident causing mayhem, etc, I'd like my pregnant wife to still be able to do gardening and also I like eating things from my garden).

I live in a country where it is legal to just keep you cat outside all day. It's madness.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#89

Post by xarope »

gcheong wrote: post #3

"Sixty percent of cat owners sleep with their cats, which may enhance their sense of security and improve their quality of sleep" Maybe, but now only between the hours of 10pm - 5:30am, for me anyway.

You must have had the same cats as I did, mine would figure some way to get into my room (either by hitting the door to dislodge the latch, or climbing up the roof to my 2nd storey window) and "ask" (demand?) me to feed them at 5.30am...

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#90

Post by bauc »

teekert wrote: post #88
marricks wrote: post #20

Who knows what the net affect is but taking the final sentences of some of the results paragraphs makes it seem like taking care of a cat is a good idea: > [...] Therefore, cat ownership may be involved in mediating the abundance of disease-related gut microbes. > [...] Therefore, from the perspective of gut microbiota, our study not only supports that there might be no correlation between cat ownership and obesity b…

As long as you keep it inside (where it isn't defecating in my garden, hunting my chickens or trying to get inside where I may lock it in by accident causing mayhem, etc, I'd like my pregnant wife to still be able to do gardening and also I like eating things from my garden). I live in a country where it is legal to just keep you cat outside all day. It's madness.

We have the same here, I think a lot of cat owners who let their cats out don't appreciate the amount of downsides their neighbours have to deal with.
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