Us cat owners already know that cats are highly entertaining pets, but now we know they also help us outlive dog owners. Okay, maybe it's not exactly like that, but there is a new study out indicating cat ownership may have numerous health benefits. I guess they know what they're talking about, but when my cat was a kitten, my blood pressure was tested on a constant basis! Why do you guys think cats make you healthier?
Click here to read the news story.
I think one of the interviewees drew blood on one point:
"Maybe cat owners tend not to have high-stress personalities, or they are just the type of people that are not highly affected by anxiety or high-stress situations," Qureshi said.
My experience taught me, you've got to have nerves of steel to take up residence with Felis domesticus. Just like the big cats in a Las Vegas show, tiny tigers can turn wild in the blink of an eye. I think humans who are of a disposition that both accepts and calms this ferocious kernel within the kitty spirit are the very ones drawn into the irresistible feline-human bond.
Having said that, I think your questions and words implicitly suggest building a case for causality on but a mere whisker's breadth of data. It is the stuff of journalism on slow news days.
I agree -- That which does not kill us makes us stronger. Perhaps that is the key!
Since I didn't write the article or conduct the study, I'm not necessarily advocating the results. But as a cat owner, I'd like to try to believe there's truth in it. Maybe one day they will discover it's years of ingesting cat hairs or inhaling dust from litterboxes. Ammonia and sand - the next great natural remedy craze...
Why cats make us healthier
Because that which does not kill us makes us stronger. :-)