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| A bit about our feline overlords from The Conversation: The headline alone makes me wonder if the author actually lives with cats. Because one of the first things they do to our brains is disabuse us of any notion of "owning" them. Cats may have a reputation for independence, but emerging research suggests we share a unique connection with them – fuelled by brain chemistry. As usual, note the language: "emerging research suggests." The author (one Laura Elin Pigott, whose pronouns I'm going to assume based on the name) is careful to hedge her declarations here, but it's easy to slip past that. All I'm saying is that this shouldn't be taken as definitive science, like gravity, relativity, or evolution; but as a description of current research that is still subject to review and confirmation. I'm not saying I think it's wrong, mind you. The main chemical involved is oxytocin, often called the love hormone. Well. Oxytocin has been having a moment this year. I've seen it bandied about quite a bit. As its Wikipedia entry  warns, don't confuse it with oxycontin.That's quite the chemical structure, isn't it? The formula is C43H66N12O12S2 (same source). So yeah, don't be afraid of "chemicals." If you are, there's a chemical regulating that, too. And now studies are showing oxytocin is important for cat-human bonding too. This shouldn't be surprising to any cat person, but as always, it's good to have studies to back it up. Oxytocin also has calming effects in humans and animals, as it suppresses the stress hormone cortisol and activates the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest and digest system) to help the body relax. We all know that pets help us relax (except maybe chihuahuas). It's good to delve into the mechanism. Scientists have long known that friendly interactions trigger oxytocin release in both dogs and their owners, creating a mutual feedback loop of bonding. Until recently, though, not much was known about its effect in cats. Yeah, probably didn't include chihuahuas in that study. Cats are more subtle in showing affection. Yet their owners often report the same warm feelings of companionship and stress relief that dog owners do – and studies are increasingly backing these reports up. Some cats are more subtle in showing affection. Again with "owners." Dogs may have owners, but cats have staff. In that study, women interacted with their cats for a few minutes while scientists measured the owners’ hormone levels. Right, because only women care for cats and only men care for dogs. Snort. Many people find petting a purring cat is soothing, and research indicates it’s not just because of the soft fur. The act of petting and even the sound of purring can trigger oxytocin release in our brains. And what's the stress hormone? Cortisol? Yeah, that's probably what gets triggered in me when a dog won't stop barking. And, to be fair, when the cat's on the table with something fragile near its edge, or when I wake up at 5am to the unmistakable sound of feline gastric distress. One 2002 study found this oxytocin rush from gentle cat contact helps lower cortisol (our stress hormone), which in turn can reduce blood pressure and even pain. I'm not a scientist. I just whistle at its butt as it walks by. And anecdotes aren't science, but this is my blog, so here's one: I used to have a calico cat named Maggie (not to be confused with my current calico, Zoe). Maggie was a very particular cat. Hated everybody and everything except me. Even my first wife, who picked her, couldn't really get along with her, so I got the cat after the divorce. The cat was never cuddly or attention-seeking; she'd occasionally let me pet her, but the only reason I knew she didn't hate me was that she didn't hiss, spit, or run away when I came near, the way she'd do with everyone else in the universe. (Now that I think of it, all of that describes my first wife, too.) One day, I had a massive pain in my neck, so bad I couldn't even get out of bed or roll over, so I just lay there in the most comfortable position I could manage and hoped that, eventually, someone would come by and help. Well, no one did, but Maggie jumped up on the bed, settled down on my upper chest on the side that was in pain, and started purring. I'm not going to claim that it healed me. Time did that, as usual. But she'd never done that before, and to do so on exactly the right spot, and in a way that didn't make the pain worse and maybe even relieved it a bit, well, that was really out of character for her. Toward the end of her life, she mellowed out some and would sit on my lap. Despite her neuroses, she was a good kitty. A February 2025 study found that when owners engaged in relaxed petting, cuddling or cradling of their cats, the owners’ oxytocin tended to rise, and so did the cats’ – if the interaction was not forced on the animal. That's the thing about living with cats: you learn to respect boundaries, if that somehow hadn't been drilled into you at an early age. Maybe humans could learn something from their feline friends on managing attachment styles. The key to bonding with a cat is understanding how they communicate. Isn't that, like, key to bonding with anyone? I don't trust the popular "love language" pop-sci, but communication is kinda important. As always, there's more at the article. No, dogs aren't completely left out of the narrative there, so it's not just about cat people. |
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