University students with the right attitude benefit from cats on campus

Although I don't think this study is particularly useful or enlightening, I believe that it is worth reporting it so here goes. The scientists decided that most studies about the benefits of companion animals to university students concerned dogs (83%) so they wanted to do some work on cats to see how university students responded. Could they respond positively to the presence of domestic cats on campus? Could cats benefit university students?

Yes, is the answer if they have a sufficient degree of emotionality and the right attitude! 👍✔️💓.

Student benefiting from a ginger tabby cat. Image: Pixabay.

They found in simple terms that the student has to have the right attitude to benefit. In short, if a university student has the following attributes they respond positively to a visitation from a cat on campus at university:

• The student is female.
• The student is open to a dog visitation program.
• The student is a cat owner.

In other words, we are talking about students who already like companion animals, in this case cats and dogs. They like dogs because they are open to a dog visitation program.

In addition, it appears that they decided that females have the right emotionality to respond to the presence of cats on campus.

Patricia Pendry, the co-author of the study report, said:

"Anecdotally, we've always been told that cat people are different from dog people, and that most students are not interested in interacting with cats. Our results revealed that students are interested in interacting with cats and that this interest may be driven by personality traits."

Further:

"Some people came in and made an immediate beeline for cats and others for dogs. I was pleasantly surprised by how many people were interested in interacting with cats, which made me interested in learning more about why they made those choices."

And:

"Our study shows that we may be able to reach a larger audience by offering interventions that include dogs and cats. People who are on the higher end of the emotionality trait may be more likely to participate and benefit from these interactions. We're looking for ways to help more people reduce their stress levels. Adding cats may be another way to reach a broader audience."

Conversely, students who have the following attributes did not respond positively to the presence of cats and campus:

• Those with a cat allergy.
• Those with a cat phobia.
• Those who are dog owners.
• And those who thought that interacting with a cat was risky.

I don't think that tells us much! 😎.

Build a bond with your cat with a baby voice?

A lot of cat owners, I suspect mainly women, like to speak to their cat companion with a baby voice. It is entirely understandable indeed normal. And often people relate to their companion cat as a baby or a toddler, so it all adds up.

The Times newspaper reports on a study which they say found that talking to your cat in a silly voice helps you to bond and communicate with your cat companion.

Alia Butt and her white Persian cat. Image: Instagram.

They suggest that cats are notably less responsive when you don't put on a baby voice. But I think this report is incorrect. I'll tell you why.

The scientists decided that the cats that they assessed responded to their owner's baby voice. But they did not respond to their owner when they spoke in a normal voice. On this basis they decided that the baby voice is more effective in eliciting a feline response.

That is an error in my view. It is because the cat has become habituated to listening to their owner speaking in a baby voice that they respond to it. And they respond to the voice because they link their owner with nice things: food being given to them and cuddles, security and warmth and all the other things that domestic cats like.

This is a cat forming an association between a baby voice and nice things because the owner speaks in a baby voice and provides those nice things.

It is not about the baby voice per se encouraging a feline response.

The point is this, it doesn't matter how the owner speaks to their cat provided it is melodious, pleasant and warm and friendly. It is just that the cat will link that sound with their "surrogate mother" (the human caregiver).

That linkage is the key one. It is how a human caregiver can call their domestic cat to come to them. They are familiar with that sound, and they are familiar with the friendliness of their human owner and the benefits that he or she brings. That's the reward and cats are motivated by rewards like any other sentient being.

As the link described is not present in a stranger, domestic cats do not respond to strangers saying the same things.

And I believe that The Times author is reporting on this incorrectly in my view. Although they do add, correctly, that the scientists who carried out the study suggested that the response is not down to the tone of the voice but the fact that the cat came to associate their owner speaking that way with good things. That is what I am saying.

The study is published in the journal Animal Cognition. They write what all cat lovers already understand, namely that "Cats, who were not so long ago considered as independent and ungrateful creatures, are in fact very well capable of creating and fostering attachment bonds with humans." Domestic cats today are sociable creatures thanks to 10k years of domestication.

RELATED: Domestic cats’ desire to touch tells us that they are sociable.

They analysed the responses of 16 cats who were played recordings. Some recordings involved their owner talking normally in "adult-directed speech". Some involved other people using cat directed speech and some were of their owner talking to them in the usual way which means in baby talk.

They report that there was a spike in responsiveness when cats listen to baby talk from their owner. Yes, we know why, and I have banged on about that above for far too long.

Uncontrolled sibling breeding evident in this black cat brigade

The problem of uncontrolled breeding of unowned (and owned cats regrettably) is very evident in this picture of a group of black cats in the US on a country road.  They all look the same down to the spot of white on their chest on some individuals. 

RELATED: How fast do cats breed?

They are all closely related, parents and siblings.

The capacity of the domestic cat and domestic cats turned stray and feral to procreate is one of the big challenges of humankind. 

RELATED: Female feral cats avoid inbreeding in colonies.

Uncontrolled breeding in a colony of feral cats all of which look the same or very similar. Image: see embossed credit.

Apparently, we are not entirely capable of controlling it despite widespread spaying and neutering. 

A failure to sterilise is the cause of cat hoarders ending up in a massive mess and cruelly neglecting their cats. The opposite is achieved with well manages TNR programs supported by the local authority.

The benefits of controlling cat procreation are seen in TNR.

A tiny minority of cat people believe that a female cat needs to have one litter before feeling whole. This single incorrect superstition is the cause of hundreds of thousands of unwanted cats leading to many feral cats and in turn plenty of feline misery.

Some human thoughts are really silly and dangerous.

There are some interesting and technical downsides to universal spaying of female cats and neutering of male cats.

The most docile and friendliest cats are going to be captured and neutered while the wildest and meanest avoid people and are harder to capture and sterilise. This could lead to pushing the cat's evolution away from where we want it: more adoptable cats.

Also, if there were 100% sterilisation and no breeders the domestic cat would eventually become extinct. Not much chance of that bearing in mind that there are an estimated up to 500 million domestic, stray and feral cats on the planet.

Ingrid Newkirk, the co-founder of PETA would probably like the gradual extinction of the domestic cat as she is firmly against cat domestication. 

Click on this link to read four of her quotes and some comments on them.

Peeing too often due to an enlarged prostate can be alleviated by losing weight

I am an old man (almost 74). I am pretty fit but like all men I have the desire to pee more often than I used to. It is due to an enlarged prostate which seems to affect almost all men of my age.

I have worked on changing my diet for the past 8 years. Yes, it takes a lot of self-discipline and a long time (for me) to stabilise one's weight when you get old because of a lifetime of eating habits based on a higher metabolic rate. Metabolism slows but many old people eat the same amount as they did when much younger. 

By 'diet' I mean a wholesale change to one's eating habits permanently. This is not a flash in the pan fad diet. And it accompanies a lifestyle change too.

Note: I know that this is not about cats. Well, it is indirectly. If you are ill because you are overweight, you are less effective as a cat caregiver. And if you have to get up all the time at night to have a pee you disturb you cat who is on the bed with you!

There, I have linked the page to cats ✔️👍.

Good BMI to help men pee less. Image: MikeB.

Result: weight gain and for men a pot belly. I don't have a pot belly and I have a good BMI thanks to those 8 years of diet change 😎. That is not intended to be a boast. It is just a fact.

But I still decided to lose some weight and when I did, I found that I have the desire to pee less often. It was almost like going back to my old self. Well, not quite. I believe, now, that it pays to be thin in old age. The benefits are for all to see.

You have to really get rid of the belly fat which is mighty hard because old men are meant to have some belly fat, but it needs to be reduced to the smallest amount possible consistent with not being anorexic!!

Anyway, I looked up the possible link between losing weight and shrinking the prostate and peeing less. 

There is a study on this. Probably many. What better authority than the Prostate Cancer Foundation in New Zealand for some info on this. They say the following: 

"A study published in the Journal of Urology found that overweight men, especially men with a high amount of abdominal fat, have an increased risk of BPH. If you are looking to shrink the prostate, losing weight can help you reduce your prostate size and help relieve annoying and frustrating urinary symptoms."

If you don't believe me, please look it up yourself.

The benefits of losing weight and maintaining a good BMI are legendary. There are so many benefits. But sleeping through the night without the desire to pee is a wonderful thing. And avoiding type 2 diabetes is no mean benefit. And what about high blood pressure. That goes too. Mine is 120 over 70.

Both the last 2 health problems have many ancillary health problems, many severe.

And having a good BMI means you can walk more and because you can walk more you are more likely to lose weight and feel better mentally. It is an upward spiral. The opposite is equally true.

But this is about urinary tract and bowl function. 

I am not saying that losing weight always results in peeing normally for all men. I am just saying there is a link, and it may apply to you.

I recommend trying it. Be prepared for a hard slog of diet change. My diet now is unrecognisable compared to what it was 8 years ago. 

And I stopped drinking alcohol 8 years ago too. Completely stopped. That makes losing weight much easier.

Also, obesity is a risk factor for the development of prostate cancer (odds ratio 1.097–2.47).  The list goes on....

Cuddled cat asks for more kisses and gets them. Warm relationship.

A video which confirms (if you need it) that cats ask for kisses and cuddles. Well, they ask for stuff that they like, warm human behaviour and things that pleases them like favourite food treats. That's the function of the infinitely variable meow. The video provides one example.

Cat asks for more kisses and gets them. Screenshot.

I love this relationship. There is a hell of a lot of warmth and a wonderful understanding between cat and human.

You can tell that they understand each other because there is great communication between them. 

Thie couple are 'talking' to each other through their actions and vocalisations.

Please note that these embedded video stop working sometimes. I don't control them. If it has stopped: apologies. It was nice!!

What is this cat wearing, I wonder? It looks like he is dressed up. Not sure about that. He is a ginger tabby. They are nearly always males and I hear nothing but good reports on the ginger tabby personality.

Ginger Cat Personality