Happy hours and hotel bars are filled with stories every day of women telling other women about how their man has done them wrong. Or how their man is not quite right. Or, if we are being honest, how did they ever wind up with that guy in the first place.

Wiktor Karkocha via Unsplash.com
Wiktor Karkocha via Unsplash.com
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Relationships are hard and finding true love that will last with someone you actually like and can stand to be around is really difficult. Despite all the modern tools and electronic aids that we have that allegedly make dating more simple and efficient, finding true and lasting love is still just as difficult as it ever was.

But one thing all this information and electronics are doing for the dating world is this. They are helping us ask better questions. In fact, a new study that was published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research early this year suggests that those seeking prospective partners of the male gender can actually save themselves a lot of emotional wear and tear by asking their potential love interest one simple question about their childhood.

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Now, I know your mind is beginning to wander and wonder, just what would that question be about? Is about the relationship he had with his mother? Is it about his bathroom habits? Is it about bedwetting or night terrors or sleepwalking? No, the question that you would want to ask your potential new boyfriend is this.

Did you have a cat growing up?

Mikhail Vasilyev via Unsplash.com
Mikhail Vasilyev via Unsplash.com
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Seriously, that is the question, "did you have a cat growing up"?

The study we referenced earlier in this article suggests that men, and exclusively men, who owned a cat or lived with a cat in the household while they were growing up are more likely to experience psychotic episodes as adults than those who were not raised with a cat in the family.

Now, this most recent damning information concerning cat ownership actually has less to do with the cat and more about an even smaller creature. That creature is Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). It's a microscopic protozoan that is commonly found in rodents and surprise, cat faeces. Studies have shown that protozoan can be linked to mental health problems in humans. In particular, male human beings.

Litter Robot via Unsplash.com
Litter Robot via Unsplash.com
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Now, does this mean that you need to get rid of your cat or sequester your male children away from any cats in the house? Not really, especially if the cat is an inside animal. But if you do have outside cats that have been known to catch a mouse or a rat or some other disgusting creature you need to at least be aware of the study. I would certainly use this information as a catalyst to remind your boys to wash their darn hands after playing with the cat.

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And if you are infected with the protozoan you're not alone about 30% of the human population has already been infected by the parasite. Maybe that explains all of the "unique ideas and situations" that men around the world have put us in. Do you think Vladimir Putin grew up with cats? I think I'd Google that right now if I was in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, as you contemplate finding someone else to go empty that litter box just know this there are other ways you can get parasites, namely mosquitoes. Here are some good suggestions to help avoid those butt pains too.

10 Handy Home Remedies to Take the Itch Out of Mosquito Bites

 

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