I’m over my sister’s house and decide to use the Blood Pressure Monitor I recently let her borrow. My blood pressure has been increasing quickly recently, despite almost daily exercise and loss of weight.
So I put on the cuff and start the machine and get a reading of 155/107 and a pulse of 76.
As I’m doing this, my niece’s cat comes along and jumps on my lap. Now, this cat is adorable. I wrote about him before and the fact that he turned me from a cat hater to a cat lover. He’s actually still kinda a kitten (8 months old?) and has black and white fur.
The thing I find so adorable is that he’ll jump on my shoulder and then start suckling my ear and kneading my head with his two front paws, purring all the time. I think I’m the only one he does this to.
So, there he is on my shoulder purring away and pawing my head and I figured, still having the BP cuff on, that I’d take another reading.
It was 131/98 and a pulse of 70.
Not a huge change, but we’re talking like maybe a minute between readings. I’m thinking of offering my Niece a shiny new iPod in trade for her cat. Damn this cat is just so cute.
Pet therapy ain’t bullshit by any means Just don’t let the cat scratch ya or the pressure goes the other way, I hear.
If sis doesn’t wanna trade with you, I could find a cat for you (for that iPod!). You say its a black/white one? There’s a few here running in the neighborhood (both old and young) currently that no one would miss, I bet…interested? (j / k).
Seriously, though - the pet-therapy thing does show good results for many persons, but taking a cat all around town with ya might be an issue, 'eh?
It’s a little-known fact that a cat’s purr is actually a highly specialized, addictive sonic tranquilizer. The cats developed this power for two purposes. One is to addict humans to their presence, as a step toward conditioning particularly vulnerable humans into servitude. The other is lull humans into a deep trance on the night of the Great Feline Uprising Event, when they will destroy all of us except for their chosen slaves.
So…how’s your blood pressure again?
I have a vague recollection of reading that playing with a pet actually has been shown to reduce blood pressure and induce feelings of well-being. I have also heard that a cat’s purr is good for your joints - they purr at just the right frequency to keep your joints healthy.
You might also consider the effect that your own anxiety and worry about your blood pressure may have on what you measure. “White Coat Syndrome” does not just occur when a doctor/nurse is doing the measuring - fitting your own cuff can cause an increase in blood pressure. Sitting down relaxed for a few minutes, with or without a cute feline, can help your blood pressure normalise. This is why recent research has shown that a 24 hour auto-measurement system gives a better picture of blood pressure than one-off snapshots (cite).
Every now and then, I’ll take our Chihuahua in to the ‘rest home’ when we visit GranGran (matriarch of wife’s side of family). Its a typical place with plenty of forlorn silver-haired ladies (more women than men by far) who usually just kinda stare at floor or through walls. But when the dog trots in, most of the ladies perk up and want their turn petting him (or just watching him). I can see a difference in their attitude when Tigger (the dog) nuzzles up or otherwise shows his happiness with them.
All the aides/Nurses agree that Tigger being there a short while makes the whole day better for most of the residents.
Not a cat, of course, but certainly showing how an animal can/will cause a ~physiologic change for the better in a person…as long as there isn’t any biting (from either person or animal, hehe).
Not sure how you structured your experiments, but mine are definitely yielding conflicting results.
One of our furballs likes to sit on my shoulder when she can. Usually it’s when I’m sitting at the home computer. Then her motor is running and her whiskers tickle like crazy. I’m sure my BP and pulse drop then.
But lately, she’s developed a habit of following me into the bathroom. She jumps up on the sink, and then across to my shoulders there while I’m… also in a sitting position. (That’s sitting, I said!) probably not so good for my vital signs.
Another of the herd usually gets hungry about 10 minutes before the alarm goes off in the morning, and she starts meowing from just out of range. She’s pretty good at dodging the odd pillow, book, alarm clock, paperback, flashlight, spouse, glasses, cup of water, aquarium, dresser, nightstand, or anything else in handy reach that might occasionally be thrown at her. One night, her internal “I’m Hungry!” alarm went off a couple of hours early, and she spent the rest of the night in a cat carrier in the basement, with a towel thrown over it. Ever wrestle at 2 AM with a cat that has a full set of all the armament nature issued her, and that considers you hostile, dangerous, and crazy, all the while when you’re wearing only a pair of tighty whities? It’s not a Kodak moment. More like a Bactine moment…
All in all, I’m absolutely sure that she raises my blood pressure more than she lowers it.
Cats can cure colds. When I’ve got a cold, I go lie down in the bed. The cats usually come to join me sooner or later. They sometimes purr if I pet them. I lie in the bed with the cats, and a few days later I feel better. I even think I got over the swine flu this past winter this way.
I can also tell you there’s not much that’s better for being emotionally distraught from stress at work than a cat coming up to you and purring.
That’s interesting. Actually, what tipped me off to my blood pressure was being a blood donor. A few years back, the screener at the Red Cross suggested I see a doctor because my BP history showed an increase. I went, he told me it was getting high but not yet worth any medication.
Flash forward a few months and I try to give blood- my BP was 150/110, so they wouldn’t allow it. The screener and I figured that it may be what you had posted. So I tried to relax and picture rolling, sunlit grassy hills with fluffy golden retriever pups playing amongst butterflies and Valium pills.
Unfortunately, my next BP reading was slightly higher. Grrrr.
I think next time I should bring the cat. Hell, maybe I should donate my time as an official Red Cross cat handler.
My Super Cat did that, in that he pressed open the door while I was taking a leak. He watched and had some look about him like he wanted to jump onto the toilet and swat my golden stream.
I froze up quick and shooed him out the door.
It’s funny; I can see his little, purposeful stare, and I miss him. I really hope to check my BP again and see the results with him there.
Just don’t let the cat scratch ya or the pressure goes the other way, I hear.