Kitty & the Art of Cardio Maintenance

(via abc.com)

"Researchers at the University of Minnesota's Stroke Research Center looked at 4,435 people, aged 30 to 75 years, who were participating in ongoing national government health research from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study.

They found that over a 20-year period, those who had never owned a cat had a 40 percent greater risk of death due to heart attack and a 30 percent higher risk of death due to any sort of cardiovascular disease than previous or current cat owners. Researchers found no such protective effects for dog owners."

"Although the researchers weren't able to pinpoint the reason why cat owners would experience these heart benefits, Qureshi believes it might have something to do with the ability of cats to lower stress and anxiety in their owners."

so cats do serve a purpose.
sheesh, I could have told them that.
(no disrespect to Fido, there. good boy.)