{"id":4754,"date":"2015-06-04T16:41:02","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T21:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tamuvetmed.wpengine.com\/news\/?p=4754"},"modified":"2022-03-11T13:54:07","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T19:54:07","slug":"benefits-of-interacting-with-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vetmed.tamu.edu\/news\/pet-talk\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits of Interacting with Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"http:\/\/tamuvetmed.wpengine.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/05\/20150604-cats-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Young boy hugging his cat. Vintage instagram effect.\" class=\"wp-image-4756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vetmed.tamu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/05\/20150604-cats-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vetmed.tamu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/05\/20150604-cats-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/vetmed.tamu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/05\/20150604-cats.jpg 645w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve all heard the saying, \u201cAn apple a day keeps the doctor away!\u201d But have you ever considered interacting with your pet as another way to prevent doctor visits? Many people are experiencing the social and health benefits of interacting with their four-legged cat and dog friends. The proof is not only evident in happy pet owners\u2019 faces, but also in recent studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Professionals and researchers have found specific benefits in cat ownership. For many people, cats offer social companionship without the fear of judgement. Having a cat around can prevent loneliness and depression and even improve your mood in general. Companionship through a cat is especially beneficial to those who live alone or are widowed. Dr. Jonathon Lidbury, assistant professor in the feline internal medicine department at the Texas A&amp;M College of Veterinary Medicine &amp; Biomedical Sciences, explains the key advantages of owning a cat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCats offer companionship, which is especially beneficial to people who are socially isolated due to various reasons,\u201d he said. \u201cCats also offer stress relief and light exercise if you play with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides social interaction and a reduced risk of suffering from social diseases like depression, cats also offer many health benefits. In fact, the positive emotions you experience from playing or cuddling with your feline can help boost your immune system. Cats can also sense when their owners are sick and often offer them company. This can help you feel better even sooner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although it is common to find someone who is allergic to cats, studies show that young children or infants who are exposed to cats often develop fewer allergies. Early and frequent exposure to cats may also prevent future upper respiratory problems in children as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For many people, interacting with their cat provides a sense of comfort and relief from everyday stress. Caring for another creature and being sensitive to their needs can help distract cat owners from their daily struggles, worries, and negative emotions. By lowering stress levels, cat owners may experience lower blood pressure as well as less anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cats are smart and independent animals that are also naturally clean, making them a great choice for a pet. Combined with their many health benefits, the low maintenance aspect of cat ownership creates a great opportunity for companionship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCats offer a great balance between being easy to take care of but at the same time being very good companions,\u201d Lidbury said. \u201cThey are playful, intelligent and engaging pets that are very fun to take care of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Pet Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine &amp; Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&amp;M University. Stories can be viewed on the web at vetmed.tamu.edu\/pet-talk. Suggestions for future topics may be directed to<\/em>&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:editor@cvm.tamu.edu\"><em>editor@cvm.tamu.edu<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve all heard the saying, \u201cAn apple a day keeps the doctor away!\u201d But have you ever considered interacting with your pet as another way to prevent doctor visits? Many people are experiencing the social and health benefits of interacting with their four-legged cat and dog friends. The proof is not only evident in happy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":4756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"10185,5211,4837,6225,4639,2387","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[13748,13794,258],"class_list":["post-4754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pet-talk","tag-jonathan-lidbury","tag-pet-talk","tag-pet-therapy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Benefits of Interacting with Cats | Pet Talk | VMBS News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Professionals and researchers have found specific benefits in cat ownership. For many, cats offer companionship without the fear of judgement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vetmed.tamu.edu\/news\/pet-talk\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Benefits of Interacting with Cats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019ve all heard the saying, \u201cAn apple a day keeps the doctor away!\u201d But have you ever considered interacting with your pet as another way to prevent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vetmed.tamu.edu\/news\/pet-talk\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VMBS News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/tamuvetmed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-04T21:41:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-11T19:54:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vetmed.tamu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/05\/20150604-cats.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"645\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"430\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tamuvetmed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tamuvetmed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/pet-talk\\\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/pet-talk\\\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Benefits of Interacting with Cats\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-04T21:41:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-11T19:54:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/pet-talk\\\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":470,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/pet-talk\\\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/20150604-cats.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Jonathan Lidbury\",\"pet talk\",\"Pet Therapy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pet Talk\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/pet-talk\\\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/pet-talk\\\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\\\/\",\"name\":\"Benefits of Interacting with Cats | Pet Talk | VMBS News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/pet-talk\\\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/pet-talk\\\/benefits-of-interacting-with-cats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.tamu.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/20150604-cats.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-04T21:41:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-11T19:54:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"Professionals and researchers have found specific benefits in cat ownership. 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