Tip of the Tail: Petting your cat benefits you both!
Few things in life are as free, fast, and effective as petting a cat for de-stressing you and helping to lower your blood pressure. It’s not just conjecture, it’s a proven fact. A study done on New York stockbrokers (talk about stress!) who had cats (or, in some cases, dogs) found that they had lower blood pressure and heart rates than those who didn’t have pets.
You’ve got to believe it! Petting pets gives you instant gratification. It’s hard to stay in a bad mood when you’re petting a fuzzy, furry, purry cat. (Or even a cat without fur.) Let’s say I’m really upset because I’m on the phone with the bank customer service – definitely an oxymoron! – giving me the runaround. All my cat has to do is come over and rub against me, and I instantly feel calm.
Now, don’t think that all you’re doing is using your four-legged companion to feel good yourself. Cats benefit just as much as you do from a good skritch.
As it turns out, getting petted by a nice human lowers the cat’s blood pressure as well! Brad Kollus for Cat Facts mentions that an experiment was done where a tiny blood pressure cuff was attached to a cat’s leg. The result? After just 5 minutes of being petted, the cat’s blood pressure dropped 25 points.
By the way, the researchers weren’t some kooks but responsible veterinarians working at the Cornell Feline Health Center. (Never mind that one researcher’s last name was Looney.) Finally, science is proving what cat guardians always knew: you can soothe your cat by petting it. And if you have cats, you also know that you have to exercise good judgment! It’s not always a good time to pat your cat—for instance, don’t do it when she’s in the middle of a cat fight! But I digress…
The de-stressing effect of being petted was also confirmed by the cats’ cortisol levels. Cortisol is the hormone that increases when a person—or a cat—is stressed. Although cortisol is necessary, if it’s elevated for too long, it can weaken the immune system of both cats and people. That’s why too much stress can make you ill.
In an experiment conducted by Dr. Kathy Carlstead, a research scientist at the Honolulu Zoo, the cortisol level of a group of cats whose routines were changed and received no petting or being talked to, showed much higher stress and cortisol levels. The group of cats who were regularly petted didn’t experience quite so much stress or increase in cortisol.
The same scientist also inserted a catheter in the cats’ legs. Not surprisingly, that’s a stressful procedure for cats. But, if the cats were petted by people, they showed no rise in their cortisol levels. On the other hand, cats who wouldn’t let themselves be petted because they weren’t socialized to people, showed high rises in cortisol.
Right, then. Go stroke a cat. You’ll lower your risk of getting a stroke. And it’ll do you and the kitty a lot of good!