9 studies that prove cats make the best pets

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By Jessica Booth, INSIDER

Some people think cats are snobby or unfriendly.

While cats are extremely hard to study, researchers are making progress.

Recent studies suggest that cats make great companions and pets.

Cats purr at a frequency that could benefit your health and love their owners just as much as dogs do.

Cats tend to have a bad reputation. Some people assume they're snobby, unfriendly, completely uninterested in their human owners, and prone to scratching or biting.

But anyone who loves or owns cats knows that this couldn't be further from the truth. While there has been significantly more research done on dogs than cats because they are harder to study, scientists are finally starting to change that. 

Cats are attached to their owners just like dogs are, researchers say.

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A 2019 study suggests that cats do bond with their humans as their caregivers.

The study, also conducted by Oregon State University and published in the journal "Current Biology," looked at a total of 70 cats. The cats were put in a room with their owners for two minutes, then left alone for two minutes before the owners returned. 64% of the cats displayed what the researchers classified as "secure attachment" to their owners.

"There's long been a biased way of thinking that all cats behave this way. But the majority of cats use their owner as a source of security," Kristyn Vitale, a lead researcher in the study, told NBC. "Your cat is depending on you to feel secure when they are stressed out."

Cats may love human interaction more than they love food.

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A lot of people may joke that cats only care about their owners when they want to eat, but a 2017 study suggests otherwise.  Researchers from Oregon State University looked at the preferences of cats and their findings suggest cats actually enjoy interacting with humans more than food.

The study, published in the journal "Behavioural Processes," tested both pets and shelter cats (around 55 in total) to see if they would prefer to interact with food, toys, scent, or social interaction with humans like petting or playing.

Social interaction was the activity most preferred by cats across both groups, according to the researchers, followed by food.

One study found a correlation between cat owners and a lower risk of heart attack or stroke.

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A 2009 study published in the "Journal of Vascular and Interventional Neurology" looked at over 4,000 people, about half of whom were either current or former cat owners and half of whom had never owned a cat.

The researchers found that there was a correlation between owning a cat and reduced stress levels. Cat owners had an overall 30% lower risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke compared to those who did not own a cat and that was even taking into account factors such as smoking, diabetes, heart health, and cholesterol levels.

Cats recognize their names just like dogs do, according to a 2019 study.

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A 2019 study, published in "Scientific Reports," looked at 78 cats to see if they could distinguish their names from other similar-sounding words, and found it even happens if a stranger is calling them.

Researchers recorded cat owners saying five different words at cat cafés in Japan. Four were general nouns that sounded similar to the cat's name, and one was the cat's name. In one of the four experiments, they used strangers for the recordings instead of the owners.

They then studied the cats to see how they responded to each word and found a  significant difference in the way cats responded to their own names.

The bond between a cat and its owner can be similar to the bond in a human relationship, according to one study.

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If you've ever felt like your cat is more like family than like a pet, you're not alone. A  2011 study from the University of Vienna found that the relationship between cats and humans can mirror the relationship between two humans.

Reachers analyzed the interactions between 41 cats and their owners and found that they strongly influenced each other, sometimes even controlling each other's behavior. They said that the cats seemed to remember when their owner did something nice and would return that favor at a later time.

Of course, this sample size is very small, so the researchers' conclusions are definitely deserving of further testing. 

Cats may even start to reflect your personality, one study said.

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Just like parenting a child, research done by the University of Lincoln and Nottingham Trent University in 2019 found that an owner's personality can affect the personality of their cat.

Researchers looked at more than 3,000 UK-based cat owners and said that owners with high levels of neuroticism could lead to cats with behavioral problems, whereas the more conscientiousness an owner was, the less their cat would display anxious or aggressive behaviors.

"Many owners consider their pets as a family member, forming close social bonds with them," Dr. Lauren Finka, one of the researchers, said, according to Phys.org. "It's therefore no wonder our pets could be affected by the way we interact with and manage them, and that both these factors are in turn influenced by our personality differences."

Cats may understand how you're feeling, according to a small 2015 study.

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In 2015, Research from  Research from Oakland University, Michigan, studied 12 cats and their owners and found that cats behaved differently when their owners were smiling compared to when they were. When their owners were smiling, the cats were more likely to display positive behaviors like purring, rubbing against their owners, or sitting in their lap.

Replicating the same test with cats around strangers, it was a different story: the animals acted the same way, whether the stranger was visibly happy or sad.

Though 12 is a small sample size, the researchers said that it could show that cats are able to read facial expressions and learn what they mean over time.

Even just watching cat videos could be good for you.

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Need even more proof that cats are amazing? You may not even need to be around them to experience their feel-good effects.

A 2015 study in the "Computers in Human Behavior" journal looked at nearly 7,000 people and found that watching cute and funny cat videos online positively influenced their moods.

Out of the 7,000 people, about 36% described themselves as "cat people," while about 60% said they liked both cats and dogs. After watching the videos, the majority of respondents said they experienced positive emotions and even said they had more energy.

And if that's what happens when you watch a video, imagine what would happen if you adopted one of these furry friends.

Even just watching cat videos could be good for you.

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Need even more proof that cats are amazing? You may not even need to be around them to experience their feel-good effects.

A  2015 study in the "Computers in Human Behavior" journal looked at nearly 7,000 people and found that watching cute and funny cat videos online positively influenced their moods.

Out of the 7,000 people, about 36% described themselves as "cat people," while about 60% said they liked both cats and dogs. After watching the videos, the majority of respondents said they experienced positive emotions and even said they had more energy.

And if that's what happens when you watch a video, imagine what would happen if you adopted one of these furry friends.