Need to de-stress? Try patting a cat

ANYONE who owns a dog knows they’re a great stress-buster — and there’s lots of evidence to back that up.

A study in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine, for example, showed that five minutes’ stroking a dog, or just having it around, was enough to lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in staff working in A&E.

But what about cats? They seem much more aloof, and that’s one reason they rarely feature in studies looking at stress reduction.

Yet a recent survey of more than 1,200 people in Belgium found that cats are actually very highly rated as a stress-buster, particularly if you are ‘highly stressed’.

I can identify with that. We used to have a Siamese cat called Finn, which lived to the ripe old age of 19. While our dog Tari has always favoured my wife, Clare (she’s the one who feeds her), Finn would seek me out and curl up on my lap, purring happily as he allowed himself to be stroked before heading off — leaving me feeling very happy.

But pat a cat that doesn’t want patting, and it can get quite hissy. When it comes to human-cat interactions, cats have the upper paw.