The behavioral manipulation induced by T. gondii is quite specific. The infected rodent doesn’t look sick; its weight is normal; it moves about normally, possibly a bit more frantically than other mice; it grooms itself; and it interacts routinely with its conspecifics. Think how different this case is from what happens in rabies, another nasty infection. The animal loses its instinctual shyness, aggressively attacking others (the proverbial mad dog), thereby spreading the rabies virus through its bite. But because T. gondii can reproduce only in felines, it wants its host to be eaten by cats, not by just any carnivore. And because cats hunt live prey and do not eat carrion, T. gondii must not immediately kill its temporary host.