Cat-induced blindness: It sounds like an urban legend, but for Ohio resident Janese Walters, it’s anything but.

As relayed by WTOL, Walters was struck with what she assumed at first to be pinkeye. Soon enough, however, the infection took a nasty turn for the worse, with Walters losing sight in her left eye. For a month, doctors remained in the dark themselves as to what had happened to Walters – until she mentioned that she had a cat.

Bringing along a lot more than the cat’s meow, her furry companion had apparently passed on Bartonella henselae, better known as Cat Scratch Disease (CSD), to Walters through the most adorable means of transmission – a simple lick. "Anything that is exposed to the cat's mouth, including if you have a little scratch that the cat licks – that's how you can get it," said Dr. Kris Brickman of the University of Toledo to WTOL.

The germ, usually harmless to the 40 percent of cats who come across it in their nine lifetimes, is most often seen in kittens. If microbes could be sentient, that would actually be a brilliant strategy for further infection, as human beings are widely known to be unable to resist a kitten’s tongue. The bug itself, known about since 1931, ends up in cats via flea bite, and there is some suspicion that these fleas may be able to do the same to humans (Ticks are a speculated but unsubstantiated vector as well). More often than not, though, it’s the cat’s saliva or infected flea debris – by which I mean flea poop – in their claws that spreads CSD to people. And despite the name and the writer’s personal allegiance, the loveable dog can also transmit it.

For the overwhelming majority of its victims, usually children under the age of 15, CSD results in little more than a small fever, a rash at the site of the bite/scratch, and enlarged lymph nodes. Walters’ case is an exceptionally rare and rather saddening exception. Those with compromised immune systems are more likely to experience these rarer presentations. "It can also cause some liver problems and can get into the spinal fluids and create meningitis," Brickman said.

Fortunately, Walters' story could have ended much worse. "I'm just lucky it didn't transfer to my other eye," she said. And for those worried about the silent killer purring in their litter box, Brockman offers some common sense advice. "Basically, go play with your cats, but wash your hands afterwards,” Brickman said. “Don't let them lick any open wounds, and try not to get bit by any cat."

Between this and cats’ close relationship to the parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, which causes toxoplasmosis and possibly more insidious changes to human behavior, though, I’m shooting to just get a turtle and call it a day.