I don’t know about you but I just adore cats.I have four felines at home: Billy, Missy , Zoey and Nomi. They are the most huggable pets ever and they keep me company now that the girls are living independently . Having a pet can be so comforting especially if one gets stressed out. For sure techniques like meditation, yoga and blogging can be therapeutic. But owning these furry lovable felines can also have many stress relieving and health benefits. Let’s see.
1. Cats can improve your mood– Never mind if certain online characters are serial attention-seekers breathing down your necks. It’s almost impossible to remain in a foul mood when a super-soft furry cat rubs up against your legs begging to sit beside you. Once my pet kitty cat starts purring at me, I feel the weariness of the day melting away. My cute and cuddly stress-busters calm my nerves, make me smile, help me sleep better and even push me to exercise more. There is evidence that just 15 to 30 minutes of quality time with a cat can calm your nerves and boost your mood.
When you spend time with a cat, your production of serotonin, a chemical that boosts feelings of well-being, goes up, and your cortisol levels go down. Cortisol, along with high blood pressure, is a result of stress, and can lead to high cholesterol and hypertension. This means that spending time with a cat can keep you healthier in the long run
Want to be healthier? Get a pet!
2. Cats Stave Off Loneliness and Provide Unconditional Love Cats offer unconditional love and companionship. During the day, my family isn’t at home so I end up being alone in my corner of the world. I enjoy comfortable silences with them as they snuggle close to me.
A 2003 Swiss study “found that having a cat in the house is the emotional equivalent of having a romantic partner. As well as initiating contact much of the time, studies have shown cats will remember kindness shown to them and return the favor later.”
But cats really do have the upper hand in these relationships. After thousands of years of domestication, cats have learned how to make a half purr/half howl noise that sounds remarkably like a human baby’s cry. And since our brains are programmed to respond to our children’s distress, it is almost impossible to ignore what a cat wants when it demands it like that.
Billy is so huggable.
3. Cats Can Reduce Stress, Sometimes More Than People Of all the reasons why cats (or pets in general) have great health benefits, it is this fact– “While we all know the power of talking about your problems with a good friend who’s also a good listener, recent research shows that spending time with a pet may be even better! Recent research shows that, when conducting a task that’s stressful, people actually experienced less stress when their pets were with them than when a supportive friend or even their spouse was present! ” Missy, reminds me to stop working and relax.
In fact, these cats don’t judge me; they just love me. You should check out my cat photo gallery.
Do you have pets?
Doesn’t the cat scratch the monitor? *shudders*
Yup, I love cats too. I have one cat but right now, there are 3 kittens who are semi-residents of our house. They’re actually my ex-bf’s kittens (who lives near our house) but the kittens visit me twice a day and I feed them daily, so I kind of feel that they’re my cats too.
@benj- I bought them a cat pole for scratching. Monitors are not ideal scratch poles to cats.
@prudence- oh wow. Your ex kitties. How cute that you still take care of them.
ahhhh. i love cats. my family loves cats. eversince we moved in NC though, we haven’t had a cat at all. we’re still renting our house so we have to adher eto our Landlord’s rules. No pets allowed :(. as soon as move into our own home, having our own cats will be on the priority list.
Weird but in my “youngest” memories (preschool?) I remember liking cats. Then I remember my asthma attacks which lasted ’til I was 10. I’m definitely a dog-person
🙂
Unfortunately we cannot own a dog here. It would be alone all day, not fair on the fellow.
Am planning on getting Kelvin a fish or two on Christmas though. Then next year perhaps move him on to a hamster or a guinea pig. I believe kids benefit from growing up with pets.
@dexie- I can’t imagine why pets are not allowed. Cats are easily toilet-trained
@auee- My husband refused to have a cat when the kids were still small due to asthma. He relented when the girls were in their pre-teens. I guess he had to live with his asthma for the love of his kids. Actually, he didn’t get asthma from cats.
Oh a hamster or a guinea pig are lovable furry pets too. I am sure your kids would be thrilled.
I’m a dog person but i love cats too, especially the furry and chubby ones. Speaking of stress—My neighbor’s cats, yes with an ‘s’ are stressing me. Poop in front of my door and they’re burgling my kitchen.
please dont hate me, i dont like pets. sure i have a dog, because it is supposed to keep my house safe, and im planning to get a cat, because it is supposed to keep rats out.
but this post inspired me to get my own cat. as soon as i found out a way to toilet train it i might really get myself one. pero dapat as cute as yours!
@djohnjason- that’s awful. My cats are toilet trained to use their kitty litter.
@lady cess- No i don’t hate you for not liking pets. Maybe your kids might want pets one day. Yes the rats stay away when the cat is around. Cats are easy to toilet train. They know how to use the kitty litter. I think dogs are harder to toilet train. I gave up on my boxer so he is kept outside my home.
I have 3 hamsters. Gail and Marc gave em to me during Taste Asia 2 and they’re now sooooo fat! I talk to them when I’m stressed even though I end up sneezing a lot. I want a dog though but then I travel so much, it’s just going to end up so lonely.
We have a longhaired cat we got from a shelter. He was our baby before our son arrived but he loved the visitors more than us 🙂 I so agree about the cats being therapeutic. Years back in Manila I was so stressed out, my aunt’s affectionate cat kept rubbing her body to my chest as I was holding and, poof, I felt so much better.
Your daughters’ furry friends are both gorgeous!
I don’t have furry pets at home but I’m sure they do affect people! I’m into fishes. They just soothe my eyes when I get home… relaxing…
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we have the koi pond in the garden though the kids wanted house pets. my husband said they must learn to take care of them alone, if ever we get one. kapag taking care na ang usapan, it’s like the kids dont hear anything na e.. so tapos ang usapan 🙂
It has been told that cats frequent a place where positive energy swells from under the ground and out over the earth’s surface. They can feel it while normal human senses commonly don’t. See, we often observe them picking for themselves a nap-place or a sit-down place, ignoring the space/place their masters have prepared/alloted for them. So if the cats pick the computer area as their tambayan, there must be loads of positive energy there. This “belief” on the cats’ attraction to geyser-like and invisible positive energy is unfounded and often shrugged off as rubbish. I still chose to take it as true.
@aileen- ack how can you take care of 3 hamsters? Can’t Miguel take care of your dog?
@geri- Aww good you felt better. yes, those 2 cats are adorable but they ignore me once their masters arrive
@xerendipity- you must have a lovely fish collection. I like staring at fishes too
@raqgold- maybe if the kids get older, they will learn more on caring their pets. My girls were better masters in their early teens
@fritz- aww that’s a nice perspective. I believe in positive energy. One time I saw Lauren’s cat hissing at spot where I couldn’t see anything at all. her cat must have seen something bad.
Sadly, our cat has been re-assigned to the bodega! That poor thing. A doctor kasi told my Ma that cats fur could cause all sorts of infections and asthma. I don’t believe this is true because so many people have cats. And our cat has been with us for a month but none of us got sick anyway! Sorry for turning this into an advice column, but how can I convince my mom to return the cat to the living room where it’s not out of sight that we can all play with it?
I have 2 dogs and lots of African lovebirds. I’m allergic to cats but used to have a Persian.
I just got two hamsters – that’s Berto and Berta – last week. We also have a dog named Vivian (the rage then was Lovers in Paris). We have a long history of dogs, from the first one, named Teenie, to Bulak, to Adobo, to Pocholo, to Peach. Pocholo is in Bulacan now, Peach died three months ago as a puppy.
@Frances- aw bodega? Why don’t you bring your cats to the vet for the usual shots, deworming and even flea protection. Then get a litter box (you can even make one) and buy the kitty litter sand so the cat won’t have toilet accidents inside the house. With all those precautions, I am sure your mom might relent .
@Schumey- I would love to have birds too. Yes, cats are not for everyone especially those allergic to it
@Arbet- Hamsters are cute too. I don’t think they will survive with 2 kitties at home.
no cats in my household as my husband and eldest daughter are allergic to cats. they get asthma from them. we have a lovebird though that likes to perch on my shoulder the moment i get home from work and is all over me until his bedtime.
I love cats and dogs. Way back in college, when I was still asleep, my cat and my dog would lick my feet so I would wake up and my cat would sometimes climb up in my bed and sleep beside me (iningit pa ang aso, he he)…Now, we have 2 cats to keep rats away but we don’t let them inside the house.
i love cats, but lately i’ve been rather taken by this really really sweet black labrador puppy. 😀
I have 3 cats, all adopted. The last addition was living in the storm sewer at the end of my driveway. She was very friendly and walked up to me one day meowing and no doubt looking for a free meal. I posted a notice on a local website for lost pets, but no one responded. I assume she was a “throw away” pet. My other 2 cat’s haven’t haven’t accepted her so she stays outside most of the time. Usually to eat and get out of the weather. I think she is happier outside.
Hi.
Nice blog and well presented. I was just browsing and
came across it.
I grew up with cats myself, and seem to be feeding the
neighbour’s cat more than them somehow (lol).
My own blog is in the wellness health and fitness niche.
Best wishes,
Mark
I love cats but I haven`t my own 🙁