FELINE GOOD

Research suggests that cats may make our lives happier and healthier.

There is scientific proof that having a feline friend is actually good for your health and can be just as rewarding and beneficial as any other animal friendship.

Losing someone in your life can be very painful, but one of the best ways of coping is to own a pet. Cats have been shown to help people get over their loss more quickly.

People in mourning report talking to their pet to work out their feelings, since it is often easier to talk to something that won’t respond and can’t judge than to another human being.

Jonathan Rados

Owning any pet is good for your heart. Cats in particular lower your stress level—possibly since they don’t require as much effort as dogs—and lower the amount of anxiety in your life. Petting a cat has a positive calming effect. One study found that over a 10-year period cat owners were less likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than non-cat owners (although this might just be because cat owners are more relaxed and have lower stress in general). Several studies and polls in the UK have found that people (especially women) prefer to sleep with their cats than with their partners and they even report sleeping better with a cat than with a human.

THEIR PURRING HELPS TO HEAL BONES, TENDONS AND MUSCLES

A cat purring is one of the most comforting sounds in the world and while it certainly means your cat is happy and comfortable, the sound has also been long associated with a therapeutic healing ability on human bones and muscle. A cats purr creates vibrations and studies have shown that this has a positive effect on joint mobility after injury, scientists have begun talking about how the cat noise could help humans.

Oleg Ivanov

YOU'LL SLEEP BETTER

As mainly women prefer to sleep with their cats over their partners, a recent study from the was able to confirm those findings, 41 percent of the people in that study indicated that they slept better because of their pet, while only 20 percent said that it led to disturbances!

FEEL GOOD FACTOR

There’s a reason why cat videos are just so popular. That fuzzy feeling you get from watching cats isn’t in your head. A study of over 7,000 people found that watching cat videos boosts viewers’ energy

Adam Kuylenstierna

THEY REDUCE STRESS AND ANXIETY

Having a cat around you can actually trigger the release of calming chemicals in your body which lower your stress and anxiety levels. A simple stroking session is usually enough to make both you and your cat happy. It creates positive emotions and decreases negative feelings. Some people may think watching online cat videos isn’t a serious enough topic for academic research, but the fact is that it’s one of the popular uses of the internet today.

Even if you are watching cat videos on YouTube to procrastinate or while you should be working, the emotional pay-off may actually help people take on tough tasks afterwards.

So no more "crazy cat ladies" thoughts, owning a cat has now become cool. In fact, it turns out that the cats in our lives are doing the opposite of making us crazy. They actually are improving our health!