Are Dogs or Cats Better as Emotional Therapy? Science Doesn’t Know (But I Do)
The Internet is going bonkers for this new video/ad from SoulPancake, the Rainn Wilson–affiliated production company that loves to perform social experiments on the general public. In the three-minute spot, a bunch of allegedly highly stressed people in Los Angeles hang out in a glass box, listening to headphones the yellow of the Tidy Cats kitty litter label, when in from multiple little entrances parades a trail of kittens. Delight—and, presumably, relaxation—ensues.
Sounds like an ideal situation. Unless you’re allergic to cats.
I find it hard to believe that the participants in this “experiment’’ had no idea what they were getting into, that no pet allergy survey was administered before hand. There’s no way a brand would place unknowing subjects, their stress levels already skyrocketing, in a glass box with animals that may cause hives and asthma.
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But I digress. The idea of stress-relieving kitten therapy isn’t a new one. Iris Grace, an autistic 5-year-old from the UK, paints absolutely beautiful abstract paintings alongside her faithful Maine coon cat, Thula. Studley, a regular at a psychiatric unit at a hospital in Washington state, was deemed ASPCA’s 2014 Cat of the Year. There are many other cats lending their paws and hours to therapy units across the country.
Usually, though, it’s dogs, in all their big-eyed, slobbery, brainlessly faithful glory, that are more commonly linked to therapies for PTSD and emotional disorders. Other animals are occasionally studied—horses and fish come up quite often, too—but is there any divide between the effectiveness of one type of animal versus another? Or do we just find comfort in soft, warm, living creatures that aren’t humans? And who is better off? The cats or the dogs? Does it come down to personal preference (and perhaps allergies), or is there some scientific evidence that one species is more beneficial to humans than the other?
The benefits of dog therapy, it turns out, have been far more extensively researched. Dogs reduce anxiety levels among females shown “traumatic’’ film clip! Dogs improve oxytocin levels in vets with PTSD! Dogs help avoidant personality-type children become more social!
Yet in all my searching—all 20 minutes of it, spanning Google, Eureka Alert, and PubMed—I was unable to find a study truly focused on the soul-soothing benefits of owning, or at least stroking, a cat. Is science really so prejudiced against felines? Or are savvy, kitty-loving scientists keeping their efficacy a closely held secret?
Until science gets its act together, I suppose the best we can do is a Tidy Cats-sponsored “experiment’’ that showcases, in the most contrived way possible, the healing benefits of multiple kittens, all of whom will eventually need to use cat litter.
Also, it’s cute. Watch it here.
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