Crazy cat lady no more: cats don't cause mental illness, study finds

People who grow up with cats in the home are no more likely than anyone else to develop mental illness, British researchers reported Tuesday. It had previously been thought that owning a cat could cause psychiatric problems, with felines the primary host of the common parasite Toxoplasma Gondii (T. Gondii), which has been linked to disorders such as schizophrenia. The new study was significantly more reliable than previous research in this area since the team looked at families who were followed up regularly for almost 20 years.