And Now, For Something Completely Different
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports in its Lifestyle section: When a dog just won’t do
A new study suggests cat owners are less likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than people who, well, don’t own cats.
And no, dogs don’t do the same trick.
The study, by researchers at the University of Minnesota, found that feline-less people were 30 to 40 percent likelier to die of cardiovascular disease than those with cats.
Yet dog owners had the same rate as non-owners. “No protective effect of dogs as domestic pets was observed,” said the study, which was presented Thursday at the International Stroke Conference in New Orleans.
Don’t let your cats read this or they’ll send you a bill.
5 comments
so, lying on the couch with a purring cat crushing my chest is healthier than taking the dog for a three-mile run?
What about owning cats by proxy? I have daily contact with Stella’s girls, and I feel it does me a world of good. I even take some of the responsibilities of maintaining them from time to time. But they’re not my cats. Does the effect still apply?
My guess is that it deals with the known effect that a purring cat in your lap lowers your blood pressure. They have never published a study on the spiking of blood pressure when you stick your foot in your shoe and discover a hairball.
Trouble is so dumb he has already forwarded the bill on to the insurer, who has taken a cut and forwarded it on to another company for yet another cut in the profits. Plus he’s been told he has to spread his attentions to more humans in order to be more cost-efficient and productive.
And he’s too busy seeing various salespersons selling all sorts of snake oil to give us the appropriate attention.
Thank goodness the dogs are still around to deal with human health issues.
It’s a failure in the education system that they don’t explain that you should get a business degree before you try for a medical degree.
I would think that a lap-sized dog would be as effective as a cat, and perhaps more so, being more human oriented than cats.