Cats are extremely useful animals. Cat owners live longer and are less likely to get sick, better tolerate stress. Pets save them from natural disasters, help them observe the daily routine and keep order in the house. How do cats manage to do this?
Mystic Guardian
Fans of mysticism believe that cats by the very fact of their presence "ennoble" the atmosphere of the house. In folk beliefs, cats are believed to have a special relationship with the spirits of the house - the brownies. They patronize tailed purrs, and therefore protect the house from troubles and unwanted guests. This is one of the reasons why a cat should be the first to enter a new home.
Parapsychologists also adhere to a similar point of view, only the mechanism of the cat's influence on the space of the apartment from their point of view is arranged differently: it is assumed that cats feel the energy of the surrounding objects and "cleanse" it, and can also neutralize the consequences of interaction with negative biofields. It is also believed that if the owner is sick, the cat can absorb the energy of the disease, thereby alleviating the human condition.
Family doctor
However, not only parapsychologists speak about the therapeutic effect of a cat on a person. Many are convinced that "cat therapy" is an effective thing. Cats treat people - and in several ways at once.
It is believed that the purring of cats affects a person in almost the same way as infrasound, only at other frequencies (4-16 Hz). And this "physical therapy at home" helps to strengthen bones, skin regeneration, and also strengthens the immune system. In addition, when a cat comes to "purr" next to a person, his body adjusts to the rhythm of the purr. As a result, breathing is normalized, stress is relieved, mood is improved, sleep is normalized. The result is an overall health-improving effect.
Secondly, the body temperature of cats is a couple of degrees higher than that of humans. Therefore, when a fluffy lump settles on the chest or stomach, it turns out something like a compress. The cat warms up the sore spots, which really heals.
In recent years, a number of studies have been conducted on the health status of cat owners and the health benefits of cats. And it turned out that cat owners have a 30% lower risk of dying from a heart attack or other diseases of the cardiovascular system than those who do not communicate with cats regularly, they are easier to tolerate diseases and recover from them faster. So it turns out that cats treat human diseases by acting as a general family doctor.
Free psychotherapist
As all the same studies have shown, cat owners also cope better with stress and crisis situations, on average. And this is not surprising - not only does the cat treatment strengthen the body as a whole, communication with these funny animals in itself acts on a person as an antidepressant. Even autistic people communicate with cats, let alone ordinary closed or lonely people. Interaction with a cat allows them to relax, to give free rein to emotions - and this is already good.
Communicating with the cat, watching her antics, stroking the soft fur relaxes, sets you in an optimistic mood, relieves stress. Of all the representatives of the animal world, only dogs have a similar effect on humans. So the benefits of cats for the human psyche are undeniable.
Live security system
Cats are great guards. And, although rescuing from mice and rats for residents of modern cities is often not particularly relevant, cats continue to fight with intruders. They will drive pigeons from the balcony and window sills, prevent stray animals from entering their territory, and some cats even successfully exterminate flies and other insects.
But this is not the only function of cats as a safety system. They are much more sensitive than humans. And, if cats feel that the house is in danger (an approaching earthquake, a gas leak, smoke from the starting fire in a neighboring apartment, etc.) - the cat begins to show strong anxiety and tries to leave the apartment at all costs. Sometimes in such situations, cats wake up sleeping owners - and thereby save their lives.
By the way, according to German gerontologists, cat owners live on average 10 years longer than those who do not keep such animals at home. And, perhaps, it's not only about the healing effect, but also about protection from emergencies.
Persistent alarm clock
Cats are also invaluable helpers for those who have difficulty getting up in the morning. These animals are excellent, and very persistent alarm clocks, and they have a huge amount of means to wake up their owners in their arsenal. If family members get up in the morning at the same time, cats usually quickly get used to the established daily routine and begin active wake-up actions at the same time as the alarm clock, or a couple of minutes ahead of it.
True, the desire of cats to wake their owners in the morning sometimes brings troubles - many cats find it difficult to tell the difference between weekdays and weekends, when they could sleep a little longer. But some still manage to do this - and then the cats wake up the owners in strict accordance with the work or study schedule.
Sanitary control
Having a cat (like a small child) at home often forces the owners of the house to be clean and tidy. Restless animals do not know the command "place", they like to run around the apartment and often bully, dropping dishes or other objects on the floor - or they spoil the papers left on the table. This quickly teaches the owners to put fragile things into place, remove excess from horizontal surfaces, keep balls and threads only in a needlework box, and so on.
And finally, the benefit of the cat is that it is she who is able to put an end to the protracted conflict between men and women regarding the initial position of the toilet seat. Many cats take a great interest in the bubbling water in the toilet … and then it becomes immediately obvious that the toilet seat should be lowered and the lid closed. For purely sanitary reasons. This means that there are fewer quarrels in the family.
