Updated: August 8, 2022 by Kristen Chapple
Have you ever wondered how do cats benefit our health? Beyond the myths and the stories about cats having healing abilities, there are actually some truths hiding behind. It seems that only watching cat videos on YouTube has the power to boost someone’s energy, so it’s no wonder that owning an actual cat brings a lot more benefits to the owners.
Various studies show that owning a cat has a wide range of benefits, from the emotional point of view and general health to the aid they bring on finding a partner.
How Do Cats Benefit Our Health
Researchers have found out that there are a lot of ways in which cats help their owners by making them happier and healthier but here we’ll try to list the most important ones.
Emotional Benefits
Pets in general and cats, in particular, have been known to help their owners get over stressful periods. Evidence shows that cat owners have reduced stress and anxiety levels due to the easier connection they feel with another living creature that doesn’t talk back and doesn’t judge.
From improving the general mood of a person to help with getting over a depression or over a period of loneliness in one’s life, interacting with a cat has a calming effect on our minds, often taking it away from problems and worries and making interaction possible in situations where that’s not possible or easily achievable due to various reasons.
What’s more, owning a cat can help a guy get more attention from women. A study revealed that over 80 percent of women feel more attracted to men who like animals, and up to 90 percent of women who were single said that cat owners are nicer than the other men. So having a cat might help with finding a partner. But don’t take that for granted guys, as the cat won’t do the job for you.
Health Benefits
While most of the emotional benefits translate on a long term into health benefits by lowering stress and anxiety in our lives, we’ll show you the ones that impact our health the most.
Studies from the Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine revealed that more than one-third of the people who participated in their studies reported that their sleep improved when they slept with their cats.
Other studies have shown that children that were less than one year old and were left around cats were less likely to develop allergies later on in life.
We already mentioned that the calming effect that an interaction with a cat has helps reduce stress and anxiety levels, but that’s not everything. Further studies showed that people who had cats for a 10-year period have a 30 percent less risk of dying of a heart attack.
There are countless other benefits for owning a cat, but we offered here the most important ones. So, whatever your reason is, the answer is yes. You should adopt a cat.
