The You of My Song: Notes from a Voluntary Exile

(L-R) Gusi, Cha Cha, Loba, Chuf Chuf & Tiquis Miquis

Too Many Cats and Dogs? Impossible!

According to an article in this morning’s Independent, I’m going to live forever. The author, Rebecca Armstrong, in her article, Heal, boy: How Pets Can Keep You Healthy, reveals what researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered:

“After studying nearly 4,500 adults aged between 30 and 75 for 10 years, it was found that cat owners had a 40 per cent lower risk of suffering a fatal heart attack.”

But it’s not just cats. Further along she reveals:

“And in a study published last year, Dr Deborah Wells of Queen’s University Belfast found that dog owners tend to suffer less from ill health, have lower cholesterol, and lower blood pressure. ‘It is possible that dogs can directly promote our well-being by buffering us from stress,’ says Dr Wells.”

So, if every one of our four cats (Mica, Pinky, Elena and Sophie) lowers my fatal heart attack probabilities by 40%, do the math, which is beyond me. Add to this the benefits of being buffered by five dogs, and it’s clear: I’m going to live forever. And that’s not counting Sophie’s four as-yet-unnamed kittens which are still upstairs in the closet. Do you get points for kittens, too?

This article has an added benefit for my overall wellbeing. Now I know what to say to people who are always asking, “Mike, why have you got so many animals?”

“I’m going to live forever.”

But Seriously Folks

In a sidebar which discusses a long list of benefits which pets offer their owners, author George Bull writes:

“Dog owners tend to have lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure, as dogs can reduce the risk of spikes in blood pressure due to stress or tension.

In some cases, the emotional support offered by an animal is greater than that offered by a human. For older people in particular, an animal can fulfil “the need to be needed”.

Owning a pet can improve a person’s chances of survival after a life-threatening illness, by helping to lower blood pressure. Pets can also help speed up rehabilitation following a stroke.

Children with pets have higher levels of self-esteem and function better emotionally than those without, studies have shown. Some teachers have introduced pets into the classroom and children with learning disabilities and behavioural disorders such as autism, for example, show immediate benefits from animal-assisted therapy.

Children who live with a cat or dog in their first years have a lower incidence of hay fever and asthma and are less likely to develop animal-related allergies, or to suffer a bout of gastroenteritis.”

Thank You Elena, For Your Contribution to Immortality