By Steve Dale
Scripps Howard
Sat, May 17 2008 Who needs Prozac when you can have a dog or a cat? Study after study has demonstrated that dogs are good for us. There's lots of evidence that living with dogs impacts health, decreasing blood pressure and adjusting the neurochemical balance in the brain to help us to feel good. But what about cats? The truth is that based on numbers alone, there are more cats than dogs in America (81.7 million pet cats and 72.1 million dogs, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook). So, for the first time, as far as anyone can tell, the potential medical benefits of cats were considered in a University of Minnesota Stroke Research Center study of 4,435 people who were followed for a decade. Cats proved even more beneficial than dogs. People without cats, or who'd never had cats, were at a 40 percent greater risk of dying of a heart attack, and at a 30 percent greater risk of dying of any cardiovascular-related disease. The study showed no such protective benefits for dog owners. Dr. Adnan Qureshi, the study's lead investigator and executive director of the Minneapolis-based Stroke Center, says, "We know that stress and anxiety are factors leading to cardiac disease. If a pet can ameliorate stress and anxiety, clearly having a pet is beneficial. In the past, studies have considered dogs but never cats. This is only one study, but it's a start." Qureshi can't explain why his study, unlike many others, showed no protective value for having a dog. No one knows why people benefit from petting dogs. Probably it's the therapeutic touch; the actual acting of petting combined with a response we receive back in return — a wagging tail and pleasant facial gestures. But cats do something dogs can't: they purr. Perhaps cats' purring has intrinsic medical value to people not yet discovered. Cats purr as a sign of contentment but they also seem to purr as a sort of self-soothing medication. Veterinarians know cats even purr when they're pain and also at the end of life when they're about to be euthanized. Is it possible humans derive an unknown benefit from purring? Qureshi and Dr. Edward Creagan, a consultant on medical oncology and past president of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., are among a growing number of medical experts who are absolutely convinced that cats are as beneficial to people's health as dogs. Scientific documentation aside, there are just too many anecdotal stories to discount them all. Denise McDade, of Sandwich, Ill., rescued a cat she named Maverick, in 2003. Maverick began to wake her in the middle of the night, and each time it turned out that Denise's nose had begun to bleed. Doctors had been grappling with McDade's nose bleeds, and they successfully stop them for a time. However, when the problem seems solved, days or weeks later, Maverick alerts his owner. "During the day, Maverick will even run from another part of the house and begin to scream at me," McDade says. "I know this means my nose has begun bleeding or will start to any second." McDade says she has no idea how her cat is able to predict the bleeding. "I'm just glad because it's easier for me to control the bleeding if I catch it early. So, I feel more at ease. There's no question that Maverick and I have an amazing bond." Qureshi says we're close to the day when doctors may somewhat routinely prescribe, "Get a pet — a dog or a cat" by actually writing these words on a prescription pad. Certainly, there's no side effect to stroking a dog or cat to relieve anxiety. "Insurance should cover all legitimate medical therapies, and it's not so crazy to cover the cost of getting a pet," he said. "The benefits and financial savings for not treating someone who maintains good health far outweigh the costs." nnn Steve Dale welcomes questions/comments from readers. Write to him in care of Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207 or via e-mail at petworld@aol.com Include your name, city and state.
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