Jacob Judicial (@JacobJudicial)

Ancient Remedy to Reduce Stress https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/history/ancient-history/ancient-remedy-to-reduce-stress/ The article pertains mainly to Dogs; BUT, Brave browsers A.I. Leo says: Your real question seems to be: can sleeping with cats produce the same stress-reducing effects as sleeping with dogs? Short answer: largely yes, though the research base is thinner for cats. The mechanisms overlap significantly: Oxytocin up, cortisol down. Petting and snuggling an animal raises oxytocin while lowering cortisol, which also translates into lower blood pressure and better stress coping. This effect is documented for cats as well as dogs 1. Comfort and security at night. In one study, 52% of people who shared a bed with a dog or cat reported some level of comfort and security from it, which matters for people with nighttime anxiety or nightmares 1. Cat-specific bonus: the purr. A cat's purr falls in the 25–150 Hz range, frequencies that overlap with those used therapeutically for pain relief, swelling reduction, and tissue/bone healing. Purring appears to release endorphins in cats and in nearby humans, and lowers stress hormones and blood pressure 2. Even listening to recordings of purrs has been shown to reduce stress and improve mood 3. Baseline physiology. In one stress-task study, cat owners had lower resting heart rate and blood pressure than non-pet owners, stayed calmer during the tasks, and recovered faster physiologically 4. Caveats worth knowing: Cats are crepuscular, so nighttime can be playtime for them. Being woken repeatedly fragments sleep, which increases irritability and reduces restfulness, potentially canceling out the stress benefits 1 5. The direct comparison in the article you cited (dogs vs. human bed partners) is a dog-specific finding; I'm not aware of an equivalent head-to-head cat study. Allergies, litter-box hygiene, and a cat's temperament are practical downsides to weigh. So if you're a cat person, sharing a bed is a reasonable "ancient remedy" too, you're just trading the pack-bond framing for a purring white-noise machine.