Holy shit, this is really interesting! :D

You should answer "Childhood"
I will tweak the question to clarify, thanks for your feedback

Interesting! This could explain so much.

This is very interesting, especially if a strong connection can be drawn between the two. Or possibly explain why we don't see vore being more popular if so many people have been infected. I've been around cats since birth and my first vore experience came in the form of dreams around age 7.

if you got infected by this during your lifetime it does not automatic mean that you like vore now. it does just increase the chance that you will like it, accept it and grow to love it.
a lot people think vore is a disgusting idea and therefor am able to fight it pretty well, or do not admit it. I for example know a lot who like vore but hate themselfs for it and do not admit it open public.
it does have several other effects too (vore might just be a side effect, even though that is the target of the parasite) like for males being more reckless and willing to take risks in general. and for females the opposite, being more dominant. etc...
It is also said to be connected with depressions and anxiety patients. there is a lot to study about this, which is why this is interesting. but fact is that it does influence for sure, just how and how much is unclear.

Of course, it's no doubt an extremely complicated effect. I'm glad you have brought this theory to my attention and shared some sources so i can read up on it! I have long wondered what might explain the fetish. Is this group the best place to watch for updates on your findings?

we will post results in the future yes. we got 100+ answers so far and still counting.

Huh interesting

It sounds weird and I'm skeptical about this idea but my inner scientist always looks for answers to everything.

I've been around cats since forever and they've seldom caught any mice or rats and my first instance of liking vore was... I think it was either the Sarlacc and Rancor when watching Return of the Jedi followed by things like Yoshi's grab in Super Smash Bros. Melee. There was a few other instances like the Barnacle of Half-Life 2 but I think my fantasy in it took off sometime in 2009 when I discovered the definition and  SparkyTheChu's art.

I agree that perhaps the direct correlation is a wild hypothesis, and I advanced it more as provocation than as an actual guess. In fact I don't expect to prove anything more than a curious bit of trivia, after all it's quite unlikely that a small infection, even if persistent, would be able to influence an human much. However, if indeed a study has collected some circumstantial evidence about Toxo and BDSM, I'll do what I can to collect similar evidence about Toxo and Vore. Might find something, might not, but in the meantime we also find out some interesting tidbits, such as gender distribution, age grouping and pred/prey preferences. The more learnt, the better

a cat does not need to catch mice in order to get infected. it spreads if mice or cats just need to take a poop and another cat might just be to close to their poop for a second.
it is also possible to get infected through other humans, dogs or raw meat. there are a lot of ways.

and yes. being skeptical is fine and expected.
and of course you need to see vore in action to get ideas about if you enjoy it or not.
the infection might just increase the chance that you will get ideas about it if you spot it.
and we do NOT say that the infection IS the reason. no we just say it might add a few percentages to the chance, but is not the main reason.
and this is interesting trivia in how much it might influence it if it even does at all.
it lowers the fear for danger and risk in general for human males even in sexuality and getting eaten for mice, that could help with a vore fetish. who knows. it's just for fun. no we look for the ultimate cause thing. x3

I shared something like this months ago and i was called crazy for it.

10 minutes after I created this questionnaire there were already people with pitchforks and torches looking for me, offended about me "singling out the vore community" and "maybe implying vorarephiles are cannibals" (because of the raw meat question, which actually is related to the pathogen, not vore XD). So yeah, I know the feeling. Oh well, haters gonna hate

not your fault. you did nothing wrong.
It's interesting in my eyes.

you get called crazy for it because people missunderstand and think we try to find a reason to justify why we like vore, but thats not the case. it's just interesting trivia to know how much it might influence the chances. nothing more or less.

People are dumb. You're probably not crazy.

I think it's likely that there is no relationship, and that we may just have confirmation bias or be looking for an easy explanation; but a relationship between vorarephilia and toxoplasmosis is still plausible, even if there's no direct evidence for it. Thinking that there might be a relationship just means that you're considering a possibility; if you are asserting that there must be a relationship, that would not be reasonable, as we don't have sufficient evidence to assert that; but it is a hypothesis worth investigating.

tl;dr: more research is needed. "more research is needed" is a cliché at this point, but it's still true.

My character Chip here has come into contact with that parasite in the past and I often use it as a secret method for as to why he's particularly attracted to feline characters, where as his uninfected brother is utterly petrified of them :P.

Well, let me tell you: that's real clever character building there. My hat's off to you

I have fun with it ^^. Very curious about this article and pondering my interactions with felines before my own voracious memories kicked in (Maleficent Vs Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty comes to mind as my earliest one...)

occams razor, what's more likely: mouse parasite making people horny to get eaten or getting off to a different form of violence lmao yall tripping

we are not looking for an excuse about the fetish. but for interesting trivia.

if we discover that, let's take some made up numbers: ... that let's say a normal human got a chance of 3 out of 100000 of developing a vore fetish in their life and we discover that infected people have a chance of 4 out of 100000... so how does that even matter?

the linked study shows that the infection indeed changed their behaviour, and their sexual interests. I see no harm in researching for fun how much it could influence the vore fetish since it was left out in the study.

such a parasite got no power about what you want to like and think and what not. you can still choose to never like vore even though you had the infection. it can just increase the chance of you accepting the idea of liking it to a degree. and that's it.

its misleading trivia brodie, you're gonna get a whole bunch of people claiming that they're into vore cause they got infected with a cat parasite

thats not my fault. thats a thing people do no matter the topic. they take the easiest excuse.
when we'll post results we'll add reminders that it is not the main source. can't do more can't do less.

I am not at all surprised, considering how much one's gut flora can influence even our own interests in food. Plenty of other parasites and whatnot out there subtly (or overtly) pulling the strings on whatever they've infected.

Interesting idea! It does make sense.

parasites changing behaviour of animals or even fully taking over their body is no rare thing in the animal world. why should humans be imune to that general thing?
I think the idea is fun, but no general excuse for why someone likes vore, it just increases the chance slightly. everyone, even infected can choose not to like vore. and we want to see how much it might influence or if it even does at all. but yeah I think that is an interesting idea. without a gut feeling when you see vore for the first time you'll just dismiss it and move on.

Oh I know, no need for the disclaimer, haha.

sorry x3 my fault

So they're all diseased by a real life SCP. This is fun.

No. you can't day that. you might want to read the comments

You should make it so we can see the results. I do enjoy the study though and can't wait to see the results

we decided not to post the results earlier. or after you answered the google form. why? to prevent people from morphing the results to their wishes. like those people giving games 0/10 points on meta just because the game has 7/10 when they belive it should be at 6/10 and fear their vote would not weight enough to change it.
we will post about it in some reasonable time in the future.

One way to get public results sooner is spreading the word and having more people answer. As soon as we have collected enough data to have "troll-resistant" mean values, then we will be able to fully disclose. In the meantime, if you have any specific interest or question about the trivia found so far, feel free to ask me

I've actually thought about this myself, it's an interesting question.

this parasite is certainly the cause of a large number of behavioural disorders, perhaps also an aggravating factor that can cause certain forms of autism?
the subject is very interesting

No no, let's not jump to wild conclusions here: the effect on humans is tiny. This means, not everyone experiences any effect at all and when they do it's an ever-so-slight better ability to tolerate subjects (as in, one's more inclined to not be disgusted or scared by bdsm or vore for example). This is because, unlike in mice where the parasite directly modifies the brain cells' proteins, in humans it's the body influencing itself while fighting the infection (the immune system starves the parasite of certain chemicals, thus reducing their concentration in the brain). So the effect on humans is only present when the parasite is first active and not later while it is in its dormant state.
So let me squash your hypotheses immediately: correlation to behavioral disorders has been researched and found to be none. Correlation to schizophrenia has been theorized but disproven. Autism is a completely different phenomenon and is totally unrelated.

I would say we don't know how much it leaves behind, it still reprogramms some deeper things in the brain, and it leaves changes even after cured. Maybe not as bad as while being infected but it sure leaves perma changes in the mind of a human.
Isn't that also part of what we try to find out with this?

~forces

Yes. Our specific goal is finding whether it can facilitate the acceptance or insurgence of a vorarephile's fetish.
To clarify my post:
We don't know exactly what is left behind, but we know what isn't: no permanent changes to the physical structure of the brain and no direct influence on one's psychology. So illnesses such as behavioural disorders and the autistic spectrum are far out, and it's very important to make it clear in order to avoid misleading messages.

That being said, some hypotheses on what MIGHT be left behind: it's possible that the brain chemistry continues to be nudged a certain way throughout life, due to the constant presence of the immunological response to the dormant parasites which remain for life in the neural tissue. Of course this influence is very much reduced from when the parasite is active, but we currently don't know the extent of it.

Lastly, what we are almost certain is left behind: the parasite's chemical alterations influence mostly the amygdala, a region of the brain relating to memory and stimuli response. As everyone knows, we respond to new situations by comparison to previous knowledge. These patterns form our judgement criteria, which constitute (part of) the data 'stored' in the amygdala. (Please bear in mind this is my simplification of advanced medical topics) When the infection 'tampers' with our amygdala, it leaves behind changes in that data which may influence our response to stimuli at any further point in time.

Let me however remark this: none of these influences can be cause of mental illness or autism. They are simply different matters entirely, and making that crystal clear is my foremost priority

I would like to say that if you are infected when you are very young, it can have serious consequences, it has been proven that if the intestinal flora of a child under 2 is deregulated, it becomes a factor that increases the risk of autism... Now, it was a television report, I'm not very good at looking for sources, so I wouldn't say I'm right, I'm just saying what I think, it's still a parasitic infection, so the longer it lasts, the greater the influence on behaviour can be

I see.
make sure to read fyre's reply too.

what we talk about are mainly infections once more or less grown up.
and sure could be realted... if you got any sources to link for this, than it would help us a lot as well.

I would like to help more, but unfortunately I can't do effective research on this subject, and I apologize, at least I answered your questionnaire and I shared it where I could

I see where you come from and yes, an infection in the early childhood (first year) can bring around some very dire consequences, however that's true for any and every infection. Toxo is rather mild in this regard and can cause serious damage only before the first month or so.
That being said, another word of advice: be very very very cautious about what they say on TV. Right now they use autism as ketchup for their drama, they put it everywhere. If we were to believe them, 90% of what we come into contact with daily would make us autistic. Take a moment to read up what's been discovered so far about what autism really is and you'll notice that it has nothing to do with infective pathologies or vaccines or fizzy drinks (yes, they said that too).

Regardless, thank you for contributing your opinion. Debate is key to science

it is always a pleasure to help, even if in general I don't feel very useful, if I could help in any way, that's the main thing

slow slow...

1. It does NOT need to anger you. And you should not hate to like vore. Why? Because that's not the fetish' fault that not many IRL people like it. But on the other hand...to be honest there are a lot people out there who like it and it is possible to have a lot friends who like it. My IRL GF is a pred, I am a prey. I life with 3 other vore furs in a shared home. My also vorish ex does have a vore tollerant non furry GF. He also suffered from the lack of interest to normal sex. So it is possible. And time and tollerance will change as well. Just be carefull. The internet helps.

2. It is NOT preventable. Why? You can get infected any time. No cat's need to be involved, not at all. And befor you get it and "start to like vore" this would not even be a topic for you, you could not care less about it and would not have done anything to prevent to get infected as it is harmless for humans and nobody. And you would have prob. never heard about it otherwise, so even going back in time would not help here unless you bring your knowledge with you from the future.

3. It is NOT the source of the vore fetish! Why? It lowers fear and makes it easier for most people to accept risks or dangerous situations. And even if it would magicly add vorish thoughts to your brain (which it does not/should not) it is your own decission to start to like it or not. Just like you would want to hit some mean people in the face when they do shit to you, but you don't do. It's still your decission what you do regarless. Also a real fetish forms after letting it in your mind for a long time, and that is your decission too.

4. There are woman out there who like dominant males, there are woman out there who like submissive males and some who like both or inbetween. You can't blame that to toxoplasmosis - not at all. And if you really really want to blame it on toxoplasmosis than know that the effects of it are kinda the revese for females: This means there should be more dom females who like guys like you than befor toxoplasmosis. Not to mention that those effects are in the worst case JUST tweeking a few percentages of tollerance, and are no full triggers for fetishes or how you will behave.

5. Be yourself. Don't see not finding a fitting partner as suffering, enjoy your time. There are a lot things I miss from the times I was single.
You will reach what you want if you just try and accept it. If you suffer from it others will notice and that makes them back off. People like happy people.

~forces

Vore becomes a bigger and bigger topic in the fandom. 10 years ago you had like 5 artists and that's it. Now there are 1000nds of vore artists out there and most of them could even earn ther living with it.

furaffinity search for bondage: 213045 hits.
furaffinity search for paws: 324363 hits.
furaffinity search for vore: 298389 hits.
vore is catching up in the category of secondary mainstream fetishes in the furry fandom.

Give it another 10 years and people in the fandom will think it's one of the most normal things in the world. Also let the furry fandom itself grow (it grows fast) and your chances of finding a good partner will be higher and higher in the near future. (if you want to stick with only dating furries.)

~forces

I grew up around LOTS of cats, and I remember my first exposure to Soul Core was the dementors from the Harry Potter books. At the time as a little kid, the idea of having my soul sucked out scared the everlivong crap out of me and I slept with my mouth shut so it wouldnt happen. Somewhere along the line, that idea which wouldnt leave my mind had evolved into a fetish by the time I hit puberty xD So I can see the potential for a correlation!

A possible counter argument however would be the previously observed psychological phenomenon in which our minds turn our fears into fetishes during development as a coping mechanism. But if HALF THE POPULATION has this bacteria, then I suppose the phenomenon could still be attributed to the bug.

Don't remember to have had any cats when I was already getting off to vore, which is more or less when I was 4 years old, but later in my life I started having cats, like at 9 or 11

Also correlation does not mean causality

Quick edit: I want to mention that vore continues to be the thing I get off most to, and sometimes a RP or vore art is more pleasant than having sex with prostitutes

I've actually studied epidemiology before, learned about this stuff. It's impressive to see that people do this much research for the sake of a good piece of art.

Uh oh... I've been exposed to cats for pretty much my entire life. I was born into a household with a cat, moved to a different house and got another cat, then moved again and even now I have 2 right now... and I'm into vore :(

O-oh I have a cat maybe that’s why I’m into weird stuff like vore

Vore is caused by cat pee? This is the kind of shitty take I'd expect from a 2017 Buzzfeed article. Cats are a common pet and vore is a common fetish among furries, of course you are gonna get a lot of vore furs who've had cats, it doesn't mean shit any more than "cat pee causes inflation/bondage/giantess/transformation" or whatever. Effects of toxoplasmosis is incredibly rare in humans and overrides your sense of self-preservation when it does have an effect on you, I am pretty sure most voreaphiles are not doing shit like driving into oncoming traffic on a regular basis.

That's a major oversimplification of the actual hypothesis.

Toxoplasmosis isn't "cat pee", it's a common parasite, which infects about 25% of people in Europe and about 15% of people in the USA. Toxoplasma infection has demonstrable effects on inhibitions and attraction towards cats.

"Effects of toxoplasmosis is incredibly rare in humans"
This is scientifically incorrect. Up to 1/3 of people worldwide are though to be infected with Toxoplasma. It's probably somewhat less than that (likely around 5-10% for the global population), but even that is still very significant. Toxoplasmosis has measurable psychological effects.
https://www.frontiersin.org/article.....22.803502/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ar.....es/PMC2526142/