Cats. What are they good for?
They sleep for around two thirds of their lives, they come and go as they please and they’ll happily rip your new slippers to shreds if the mood takes them. But wait…there’s far more to our feline friends than that well worn stereotype. It won’t surprise the millions of cat owners around the world, but cats are actually good for our health. No joke. There’s an established and growing body of research on the positive effects of cat ownership on the physical and mental health of their owners.
For example, did you realize that cats purr at a magical healing frequency? That sounds crazy but there’s actual science behind it. Cats typically purr at between 20 and 140Hz which puts it right in the ballpark of frequencies known to have therapeutic benefits for certain illnesses.
Cats are also proven stress busters. The simple action of petting your cat has a soothing effect which stimulates your pleasure centers and counteracts the effects of stress hormones such as cortisol. This has a huge number of health benefits including a significantly reduced chance of cardiovascular events such as heart attack.
So it seems that we owe our little friends a debt of gratitude. Below you’ll find 15 ways that cats improve our lives. If you’d like to read a little more about each benefit you can find it in the original article at CatConcerns.com.
