Do cats help with anxiety and depression?

You may or may not know that September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Mom has a blog about Suicide Prevention. While she doesn't want to busy up my blog about the topic, she did want to explore one question here since it is Suicide Prevention Month. The question is: Do cats help with anxiety and depression?  Why would mom ask that question? You might be surprised how many people struggle with anxiety or depression or both. I bet you know someone who has at one time struggled or may be struggling now with anxiety or depression....

Mom has struggled a bit with depression since our fires in 2012. She's not alone. Millions of Americans suffer from anxiety disorders or depression and sometimes both. Mom started seeing a therapist a few years ago and still sees her regularly. Her therapist says she has "situational depression" caused by the fires. Mom still occasionally has nightmares about fire. While they are few and far in between now, they are still scary when she has them. I used to cuddle with mom at night. Now that I am gone to the Rainbow Bridge I am not there to cuddle and comfort mom when she is feeling down or experiences a nightmare. That brings me to the question.... do cats help relieve depression and anxiety in their humans? Yes! At least I think we do and here's why:

Pets offer unconditional love and acceptance. We cats can help our humans by providing our unconditional love. We love our humans dearly and they love us back. It's a wonderful, uncomplicated love that we look forward to every time our human comes home and that we miss when they are away. Kitty love is purrfect to cure our humans of pain.

Pets offer a soothing presence. Research has shown that pet parents have significantly lower blood pressure and muscle tension than humans that don't have cats or dogs at home.

Pets provide a sense of responsibility. This can be a negative as sometimes just getting out of bed can seem like a chore for someone struggling with depression. However, feeling responsible for something (like the happiness/wellbeing of a furkid) will give your human purpose, which really helps in times of struggle.

Pets provide a distraction. Pets, whether us cats or those annoying doggies, are like riveting movies and books. We take humans out of their heads and into another reality for a few minutes or more - one that involves food, water, afffection, and maybe a head butt or 2 - for as long as we allow. Distraction is an effective therapy for your human. How can they feel bad or sad when you are head butting them or purring in their lap? Us pets trigger "feel good" hormones for our humans which helps them feel less stressed and happier than if we weren't there for them. Depression can sometimes cause humans to feel isolated. We help keep them from completely isolating by being there for them when maybe other humans aren't there to help.

Pets alter human behavior. Imagine this scenario: Our human walks through the door after a long day at work. A million little snafus happened throughout the day that we don't know about but has our human dangerously close to wanting to take it out on someone. We come running to the door and get tangled up in our humans legs, nearly causing her to fall. She kneels to pet us and a smile spreads across her face. Viola! We have altered our humans behavior. Now of course she doesn't know it's because we are hungry and that we are tripping her because our real motive is to get her to feed us. That's our secret! :)

Pets promote touch.  The healing power of touch is undisputed. Research has shown that a 45 minute massage can help our human decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol and optimize their immune system by building white blood cells. Hugging floods the human body with oxytocin, a hormone that reduces stress, and lowers blood pressure and heart rates. It's not surprising then that petting a kitty or doggie can reduce our humans blood pressure and heart rate as well as boost their hormone levels. It's so hard watching from the Rainbow Bridge knowing I can't snuggle with mom and she can't pet me. I loved my couch time with mom! Sisfur Mia loves to hug mom. It's so funny to see her wrap her paws around mom's neck. I wonder if Mia is hugging her or trying to strangle her? Hmm....

Cats (and doggies) have so many health benefits for humans. Since I can't be there for mom I am glad she has Sisfur Mia and Brofur Mosby there to take care of her! They better behave as I am watching over them! Sisfur Mia likes to hug mom and Brofur Mosby likes to hang out on the couch with mom. It does my heart good to see my fursibs being affectionate with mom.

Anxiety, depressiona and suicide prevention are serious topics. If you read this far, thank you! And because today's topic was such a serious one, I want to end this blog post with a funny....

Take care pals (and take care of your humans)!

Love,
Angel CJ

Meowing Diva

Mom says Mia is driving her crazy. She thinks Mia misses me since I have gone OTRB. She wanders around the house meowing in the middle of the night. This is new for Mia. She has never done this before. She certainly didn't do it when I was around. Mom says she is sniffing my beds. (I had some favorite things such as beds that Mia never really took a liking too and mom hasn't gotten rid of.) She's not really playing much either although mom did get her to play a little with the wand toy recently.

Mia the Diva

I have to admit that I never really was buddies with Mia even though she tried to be my buddy. (I was buddies with Cosmo and never really adjusted to Mia whom mom adopted 2 years after losing Cosmo in the fire). It sounds like Mia misses me. What's mom to do? I don't know if mom is ready to adopt a new kitty yet but maybe it would be good for Mia if she did? Is Mia just being a Diva now that she has the house to herself? Or is she ready for a new brofur or sisfur?  Looking out for mom and Mia from the Rainbow Bridge is hard!

Tearful Tuesday

Mom has leaky eyes this week. She lost a friend to suicide a few days ago and it's been hard to cope. It was a sudden loss (aren't all suicides?). This one is tough as this person is the last person you thought would end his own life. He was a firefighter, a father, a friend to many. He posted inspirational quotes and songs on Facebook and even talked a few people out of attempting suicide. He contacted mom after our first fire to ask if we needed anything and were ok. He picked up the phone. Who does that these days? We are so involved in technology and particularly social media we often don't pick up the phone anymore or have face to face conversations. Mom will always remember that he picked up the phone to find out how we were doing. Don't get me wrong, all the Facebook, twitter and blog luv was great but sometimes you need to hear a voice, see someone in person, get a hug. It's no secret mom has struggled since our 2 fires. She has experienced nightmares and some depression as a result. It's tough to ask for help, especially when you don't know how people are going to respond. Mom has lost a few friends because of her struggles and that makes me sad. Friends are supposed to be there for each other - especially in times of need. Us kitties are there for each other. We can be there for our humans too! I'm not much of a lap kitty since the fires. Something has changed in me but I still like to sit next to mom and purr to let her know I luv her. Sisfur Mia isn't a lap kitty really either but she does something really cool, she hugs mom! Yep, that's right, she will climb up on to mom's lap, crawl up real close to her face then wrap her paws around her neck and HUG her. It is the darndest thing to see! Yep... just like in this picture!  You can't see the paws around mom's neck but they are there!

And it's the reason why mom adopted Mia last year. See... mom volunteers at Wayside Waifs and likes to work with the shy kitties to help them get adopted. Mia was one of those shy kitties. When mom opened the kennel door Mia came right to the front of the kennel and put her paws on mom's chest then reached up to hug her. Mom couldn't believe it! She never had a kitty hug her like that before. She knew right then that Mia had chosen her as her new adopted family. That's how Mia came to be my sisfur. Oh Mia's a pain in the rump all right. She chases me around, plays with my toys and eats my food but when she hugs mom... well that's priceless!

Anipals take care of your humans! Whether it's a hug, a hop in the lap for a nap or just sitting next to your human so they can hear you purr.. let them know you luv them especially when you sense they are hurting. A little luv can go a long way to help each other!

Luv,

CJ