If a cat owns you, you know felines can calm stress and bring tranquility to the people who love them. One recent study concentrates on this power, revealing people with high emotional drives tend to be drawn to cats, and these strong feelers would better benefit from their inclusion in animal therapy programs.

In the journal Anthrozoös, the study points out that most of these “Pet Your Stress Away” events only include dogs. Researchers found those with high emotionality expressed interest in attending animal assistance therapy if cats were included. The study also concluded a greater number of people could be reached by adding cats to these stress-release events. And helping more people find better mental health is always a win.

Emotions and Cats Seem to Mix

When lead author Joni Delanoeije of the Belgian university KU Leuven and co-author Patricia Pendry, a professor at Washington State University’s