This topic was requested by co-host Nathan, who had read several news articles recently suggesting that cats are menaces, plagues upon the world and humankind. IS THIS TRUE?! In this episode, we begin with a brief history on the semi-domestication of cats, and then move into some of their cool and unique biology. Then we discuss cats as invasive species and cats as vectors for Toxoplasma gondii, a crazy parasite! Learn about catnip alternatives and landing on your feet, this week on Petri Dish! Hit us up on twitter: @dishpodcast or via email: petridishpod -at- gmail.com! References:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0139https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article%3Fid%3D10.1371/journal.pone.0147295https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098612X18771203https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/age.12008https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/05/cats-rival-dogs-many-tests-social-smarts-anyone-brave-enough-study-themhttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-inner-life-of-cats/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5356310/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.jfms.2003.07.001https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6404/aaac06/metahttps://www.pnas.org/content/111/48/17230.fullhttps://abcbirds.org/threat/cats-and-other-invasives/https://www.wired.com/story/cats-australia-bushfires/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/magazine/australia-cat-killing.htmlhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC106833/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-67664-7_6https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14567210https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690701/pdf/11007336.pdf https://academic.oup.com/icb/article/54/2/118/2797844https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/6/2/19/htm#B2-pathogens-06-00019https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/toxoplasmosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20356249https://jbiomedsci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12929-019-0503-3 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/parasitology/article/toxoplasmosis-in-humans-and-animals-in-brazil-high-prevalence-high-burden-of-disease-and-epidemiology/CD91DD8A60F76A2E4D02752FD6D49802 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020751909001842?via%3Dihubhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5519211/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1567134818303976https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11011-016-9822-1https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/6/1/3/htmhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4757034/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6564815/