Taking a pause between licks, Temujin stares up at me with his
big green eyes, expectantly waiting to see if I’m game for a
petting, or perhaps a game of chase the laser pointer. Maybe, just
maybe, he figures I’ll open up the cat treats again, but instead I
go back to typing.
Taking a pause between licks, Temujin stares up at me with his big green eyes, expectantly waiting to see if I’m game for a petting, or perhaps a game of chase the laser pointer. Maybe, just maybe, he figures I’ll open up the cat treats again, but instead I go back to typing.
Completely unphased by this, he begins to assert his demand for attention, crawling up into my lap and diffidently waiting for me to begin focusing on his royal highness, a process he hopes to expedite by laying across my wrists.
For as many times as I’ve uttered the phrase, “Damned cat,” I’ve also thanked my lucky stars for the wiry orange and white kitten my fiancé picked from a humanesociety display in San Mateo last October.
He’s got a penchance for biting and attacking the feet of anyone unlucky enough to walk by the bed unshod, but petting his luxuriously soft fur and listening to the rhythmic sound of his purrs as I drift off to sleep could not be more relaxing.
Maybe that’s why, 30 seconds after he’s been a little terror, I’m still compelled to whisper, “Good kitty,” as he lays peaceably curled next to me on the sofa, or why I sometimes think of the feel of his silken fur rather than of a relaxing beach during a stressful day, and why I’m completely taken by this little bundle of energy, no matter how brainless he is.
Pets like Temujin have been proven to lower blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides in their owners, as well as decrease feelings of loneliness and increase opportunities for exercise and socialization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and the National Center For Infectious Diseases report, “Healthy Pets, Healthy People.”
Added benefits of pet ownership also exist for seniors, children and people who are experiencing either major life changes or serious diseases, according to the pet health group known as the Delta Society, which collects findings from studies on the benefits of pet ownership from around the world.
These studies have shown pet ownership to reduce the cost of medication and physician-directed care for seniors, increase survival rates in patients suffering complications from heart disease and decrease mental stress. In one study, conducted in 1995, medication costs dropped from an average of $3.80 per patient per day to $1.18 in a study of new nursing homes in New York, Missouri and Texas that incorporated animals and plants into the living environment.
For children, pets in the home have been proven to increase empathy and prosocial behavior, promote nurturing behavior, improve self-esteem and, if present during the first year of life, decrease the incidence of allergies and asthma, according to the Delta Society.
Sounds like the “damned cat” is darned good for me.
