Living with five cats helps my ticker keeps on ticking

I’ve always been a cat guy. Ever since Little Kitty Foo Foo, my feline companion who inhaled with the rest of us Chocolate--the grand dame during respites from teaching high school in Tennessee in the late ’60s. And while there have been others, none has been with me as long as Chocolate, the grand dame of the Lavender-Mulkey household who is now nearing 20 years of age and from whom I’m learning about mortality.

Chocolate, Kaali, Attabi, Bandit and Desmond are all full-fledged family members, each with his/her role in family dynamics, each with a special place in my heart, each reminding me about my connection with all the creatures of our planet. I know that I frequently become more present, more connected with who I really am when I take time to just be with them. But I had no idea that their presence actually make my ticker tick more effectively. Just check out this excerpt from ABC’s “Can Having a Cat Lower Your Heart Attack Risk?”

Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Stroke Research Center looked at 4,435 people, aged 30 to 75 years, who were participating in ongoing national government health research from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study.

They found that over a 20-year period, those who had never owned a cat had a 40 percent greater risk of death due to heart attack and a 30 percent higher risk of death due to any sort of cardiovascular disease than previous or current cat owners. Researchers found no such protective effects for dog owners.

You can read the whole article at ABC News: Stroke on Your Mind? Stroke Your Feline.

Don’t forget to pet your kitty!

Sunday, March 9th, 2008