Curator Cat Considers: The Healing Power of Cats!

Greetings beautiful Felines and Hoomans of Hivelandia! Hope this day finds you happy and healthy!

Taking a little bit of a departure from my usual fare today to talk about the healing power cats as companions... of course — in the interest of transparency and disclosure — this is also my first post to the Natural Medicine Community as part of my ongoing series of articles about "building Community."

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Enjoying a sunny moment by the window

Anyway, we cats have been part of Human lives for a very long time, and we have often been the subject of your worship, even. Those Egyptians even built entire temples for us!

Although we have historically been thought of mostly as useful because we would catch vermin in your farm barns and thus control your "pest problems" in exchange for our keep, there's really much more to cats than rats and mice!

The popular saying goes that "Dog is man's best friend," but where do cats fit in this picture?

I often think the person who coined that phrase was mistaking the word "friend" for "servant;" because cats are generally not recognized as "trainable" the way dogs are. But that doesn't mean we aren't loyal and loving companions!

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"Laser eye cat" having a nap in the Dog's bed!

I suppose it also depends on your perspective: Dogs tend to be great at very tangible things like herding sheep, fetching slippers and dead ducks... we cats excel at more intangible things like knowing when you're not feeling well and need healing vibes.

And we are very good as "Therapy Animals," especially able to give comfort and warmth to the elderly in nursing homes... where we are valued for being quiet and soft, rather than boisterous and enthusiastic. You might argue that's a subjective thing to say, but the proof is in the pudding: Nursing homes that have admitted cats as therapy animals actually often experience a reduction in the volume of medications they needed to dispense."

We're also good for human stress levels and heart wellness!

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Aren't I adorable?

Now, I'm not just "saying that;" in a large longitudinal study started in the 1970s that followed 4,500 men and women for twenty years, those who never had a cat were 40% more likely to die of a heart attack than those who had a cat as a companion pet! Interestingly enough, the researchers found no such correlation with people who kept dogs.

There's also growing evidence that having a purring cat in your lap (or next to you) will substantially reduce your blood pressure. Scientists aren't entirely sure how that works yet, but it is theorized that holding a purring cat reduces stress-related hormones in the blood, leading to lowered blood pressure.

Of course, we should not fail to add that we are awfully cute and soft and cuddly, too! And that has it's own kind of calming and healing effect!

Thanks for visiting!

=^..^=

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Love Cats? Get Involved in Hive's Cat Communties!

If you're a cat lover and often/sometimes post pictures or other content that includes your feline friends, why not become an active part of Hive's growing Cat Communities?

These are some of the more active Cat Communities — why not join them ALL? Remember, you can also "cross-post" your cat posts to them!

HiveCats by @curatorcat is a central "gathering place" for cat content on Hive; promoting the use of the #hivecats tag for feline content!

Cat Snaps by @manorvillemike is a place to post pictures of your cats when you don't have a whole lot to say beyond just sharing your cute photos!

Caturday Community by @saboin is a community where we get to celebrate posts relating to Saturday — aka "Caturday" — our own special day!

Cat Photos by @andrarchy is a "mixed use" cat content community; posts can be just photos or longer, as long as the subject is CATS! It has a lot of subscribers but is not very active.

Cats by @captainklaus (and Sissi!) is another "general" cat content community; it's there, but not very active.

Last, but certainly not least, a special shoutout to the recently formed Hive Pets Community which has become quite active and has quite a bit of cat content!

There are a number of other feline communities listed on Hive, but I am not sharing them for now as they have not had any activity (by their Admins OR users) since the Steem/Hive fork. Updates as they become available!

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I have always had a kitty or two (or up to 20 at one time!) my entire adult life. I cannot envision myself without one.......EVER! Here's to all of the furry little kitties in the world, that they may find themselves in good homes and well taken care of!

I would also go so far as to say, just looking at kitty pictures, has a calming effect as well. Take care @curatorcat and thanks for sharing your insight. Have a purrrrr-fect day!😽

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Lovely fluffy cat! Very cuddly! 🐈🐈😻😻😂

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Thing is cats don't protect you, dogs do, but I can't disagree with you when you say cats are friendly and loving, they very much are. And mine are boisterrous too...I wish they do one tangible thing of protecting you like dogs, but well, you can't have that...

I heard the purrs have good healing powers, not very sure, I get purrs at times, not that often, when cat garu sleeps in my lap, not often.

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Oh, I disagree. I have a Guardian Cat. One time maintenance came into my apartment to fix my sink when I was at work. Maggie and Deidre (since passed), were my two cats at the time. I came home to a note that said I was going to have to lock my cat in the bedroom if I wanted him to fix my sink.
The office was still open, so I ran down and asked the super, which cat? Because both of them generally hid when anyone was over. The tortie or the tabby? She said the tortie (that's Maggie).
Apparently, she was growling and hissing at him doing a standoff in the front hallway, and he came in and was like, "OK, nice kitty, I'm just going to fix the sink." So when he was ass up under the bathroom sink, she came in and batted him on the ass!
Mind you, Maggie is declawed in the front (I did not do it, I adopted her from the shelter that way and didn't even know until she had been here a few weeks), so she didn't scratch him, she just beat his butt.
Ever since, the rule is that I have to be home for maintenance, because I have an Attack Cat. :D

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Wow... yeah cats attack when threatened, atleast they growl, but say you need protection for yourself, your home, dogs I thought protect, cats run and hide.

HA... MAggie is some cat... she will make a great gaurdian cat. But from a strangers point of you, I will be afraid to go near a cat, it might bite, but a cat coming and beating you on the butt, that's very unique!!

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What a lovely post, and such a handsome kitten! I've never owned any pets, but I can vouch for the enormous healing energy of animals in a living space. It's not just their capacity to feel when we need help, it's their playfulness, their constant connection with the Present Moment which can teach us so much. Blessings to you and your lovely cat doctor!

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You've been curated by @drrune for Natural Medicine's curation project aimed at supporting a spiritual life, including gratitude and kindness practices, yoga & all kinds of meditation, shadow work and living a life of meaning.
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When I read this statement

the researchers found no such correlation with people who kept dogs.

I thought "dogs take years off of our lives" and got a chuckle.

I agree. I don't know how I would have survived this year without my pets. Nice post!

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Thank you so much @curatorcat for sharing about all those cat communities!
I did not imagine that there were so many and without a doubt I will subscribe to all of them!!!
I am a lover of cats, of all animals, but especially cats and I love being able to share about them as they are always in my life.

Add that your posts are great!

Greetings and see you through the cats :)

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Selfies with Yuan 3.jpg

Yuan certainly dispenses a healthy dose of purrs direct to my cranium on the regular. Purr therapy. :)

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