Study Finds a Link Between Domestic Cats and Happiness Across 93 Countries

An international team analyzed publicly available data across 93 countries and found that countries with higher domestic cat density reported higher happiness scores, while countries with higher Toxoplasma gondii exposure reported lower happiness. The parasite, hosted by cats, affects up to 1 in 3 people globally but counterintuitively showed lower infection rates in countries with more cats, suggesting pet management, sanitation, and socioeconomic factors play a significant role.

This is a country-level association; it does not prove that having a cat makes individuals happier or that the parasite causes unhappiness in specific people.