Just Wondering ...

Q.:What are the health benefits for humans to owning cats?

A.:Honestly one cannot say there are special benefits to owning cats compared to other pets (although I'd love to be able to say so). It has been well documented that contact with a pet has a very calming and soothing effect on humans; actually this can be measured by following the ratings of blood pressure, pulse, and breathing frequency before, during, and after such contact. These ratings have been seen to drop to levels normally only achieved during deep meditation. Other studies have indicated that owning a pet may reduce one's risk of cardiovascular disease. Nobody knows for sure why, but this is probably due to the stress-reducing effect mentioned above. It has also been established that having a pet can improve elderly people's health and quality of life quite a lot; probably this has to do with the fact that many elderly tend to sink into a depressive state feeling nobody needs them any more. If you have a cat or a dog (or both), somebody will contradict this feeling many times a day :-)) Recently some studies have indicated that if you grew up in a home with furred pets, your risk of contracting allergies is considerably reduced.

Back