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Cat Parasites Infect Otters

Posted by michael on from the we-otter-be-more-careful dept.

Peter T Ermit writes "In an article in the International Journal of Parasitology, a team of scientists links the deaths of sea otters to T. gondii, a parasite found almost exclusively in cat feces. (The above link goes to a technical abstract; this is a more understandable popular version.) It seems that the parasite got into the ocean through waste water, and wound up infecting the otters' brains. So think twice before flushing that kitty litter."

27 comments

  1. Sounds like a case of... by quintessent · · Score: 4, Funny

    Mad Kitty Disease

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    Donate background CPU time to fight cancer.
    1. Re:Sounds like a case of... by macdaddy357 · · Score: 1

      So, pussy is how crabs got into the ocean in the first place!

      --
      How ya like dat?
  2. I have had tons of great stories rejected. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And here they put in one about a goddam cat parasites!?

    1. Re:I have had tons of great stories rejected. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ORALSE ALWAYS WINS!

      (old macdonald had a farm, e i e i oh?)

  3. Excuse me.. by RaboKrabekian · · Score: 0, Troll

    How exactly is this "news for nerds?" I'm sure the Society for the Advancement of Otters is concerned, but this isn't really an environmental news site.

    --
    "Moderate drinking can help prevent amputated limbs" -- Abigail Zuger, NYTimes, 12/31/02
  4. THE END IS NIGH!! by Innomi · · Score: 0, Troll

    ARG We're all going to die! These parasites are infecting our water supply! Boil your water, or buy bottled! STORIES LIKE THIS ARE IRRESPONSIBLE, WE'RE JUST TELLING THE TERRORISTS HOW TO GET TO US!!! Blah. Sorry, this is supposed to be funny but it's not.

  5. Flushing kitty litter? by EnVisiCrypt · · Score: 1

    Who the hell does that? I don't even know how one would go about doing that without creating a new space-visible body of water in one's bathroom.

    Cat poop, maybe. But the litter itself? That's just a bad idea.

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    *everything* is Orwellian to cats.
    1. Re:Flushing kitty litter? by forevermore · · Score: 1
      Actually, they now make "flushable" cat litter. Costs more, but lazy people buy it so they don't have to lug the stuff to their trash can.

      also, this parasite is the reason that pregnant women shouldn't go near dirty cat litter, so it's not just otters who are affected by this.

      --
      Do you really need reason for beer? Wingman Brewers
  6. Hint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Heres a hint, if you have to tell people that something is supposed to be funny, its probably not. : )

  7. Cat owner's lament by eyepeepackets · · Score: 1, Flamebait


    Yo, ho! Yo, Dude!
    Don't tell my cat
    or he get more attitude!

    Save da cuffs, save da blotter!
    Now my cat be doing pokey
    'cause he kill a fucking otter?

    So nerds, so brats
    Ja, best ya be salutin'
    when you see my bad-ass cat!

    Woo, too much diet Coke today.

    --
    Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
    1. Re:Cat owner's lament by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aspartame will do that to you...

    2. Re:Cat owner's lament by eyepeepackets · · Score: 2

      Woo, thanks! I did a quick Google search and all I can really say is, Holy Shit!

      Back to water and natural juice for this boyo!

      Thanks again, you're the best AC ever. :)

      --
      Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
  8. How do we know we haven't cured diseases? by rlotun · · Score: 1

    This reminds me of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, where Arthur Dent wakes up one morning, and eats a moldy sandwich that just hapens to cure him of some virus he picked up in some swamp on an alien world. I mean, how do we know that our cat shit hasn't saved an endangered species of seahorse or something? I mean, look on the bright side ;-)

    --

    --
    "This statement is false."
    1. Re:How do we know we haven't cured diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You prefixed two successive sentences with "I mean". Perhaps you should try to explain yourself concisely the first time. I mean, y'know, hey, whatever.

  9. Fucking otters, by Mordant · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    who need 'em, anyways? Always honking the bloody horns, begging for fishes - about time we gave 'em the old heave-ho, if you ask me.

  10. Uhhh... oh no... by The_Guv'na · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Last time I checked my kitty litter was made of "Pure clay". That is NOT flushable! And strangeley enough my cat doesnt sem to like swimming and building dams.

    As for sifting out the turds from the tray... Err, no thanks!

    What a non-story. It must have been a slow day eh michael?

    Ali

    --
    Ph33r m3!!!
    1. Re:Uhhh... oh no... by Peter+T+Ermit · · Score: 1
      Um... the kitty litter flushing line was facetious.

      The points of the article are: a) otters are dying of a parasitic infection. b) this parasite is found almost exclusively in cat feces. c) otters are more likely to be infected near sources of waste water runoff. The authors then conclude that cat fecal contamination of waste water is a likely culprit of otter deaths. I think that's a story. Why don't you?

    2. Re:Uhhh... oh no... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you mean fEcetious?

  11. Toilet Training by jenniferj · · Score: 1

    Blame it on the people who are toilet-training(http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/t oilet.shtml) their cats. But just think! We may have saved the world from a hostile otter takeover!

    1. Re:Toilet Training by unicron · · Score: 2

      Arrgh, so it's begone. The dolphins have come to take back the ocean, and only an old sea dog like myself can..ARRGGH!...

      Dolphin: Look at me, I'm the Captain, Argh-Matey!

      Dolphin's 2 and 3: Heh-heh.

      --
      Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
  12. Re:I think that's a story. Why don't you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    News for Turds. Shit that matters.

  13. Whats needed to prevent this? by Unknown+Poltroon · · Score: 1

    They otter use condoms when in love with a cat.

    YEah, yeah. I know. Mod me down, I dont care anymore, now that they took away my mod numbers and gave me this damn good thing.

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    All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
  14. Otters...what about Nasa Killing whales and dolphs by cez · · Score: 1

    oh no! our cats'hit killed some otters, what about nasa using ultralowfrequency sonar which blows up whales eardrums and causes them to be beached?
    brings a whole new meaning to green katsup...wait no it doesn't.

    --
    Walk with Music;
  15. More evidence... by pixelated77 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Cats are simply evil... You come home, your kernel has been recompiled and your logs are gone... Worse part of it is that the cat will try to blame it on your dog.

  16. Read the Abstract by PotatoMan · · Score: 1

    "No association was found between seropositivity to T. gondii and human population density or exposure to sewage."

  17. NASA=Space Agency, NAVY=Sea Military by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's no more effective way to convince folks you don't know what the heck you're talking about, than to get your terminology completely wrong.