Why does our blood pressure rise when talking to a person but fall when talking to our cat?

We know that studies tell us that talking to our cat is more relaxing than speaking with another person.  Our blood pressure and heart rate normally increases during conversations with other people while both heart rate and pressure decrease when we speak to our cat.  Why is this?  There is quite a stark difference.

Communicating with your cat

The difference may exist because when people are talking to another person they anticipate that they are being judged or evaluated in what they are saying, which places demands upon them.  This probably increases the level of adrenaline in the blood stream which in turn increases the heart rate and pressure.

People do not have this perception and feeling when they’re talking to their cat.  We know it but this confirms the simple fact that our cat is not judging us but accepts us exactly as we are. In return, all good cat caretakers accept their cat exactly as they are. This is a very relaxing interaction and humans should learn from it. That said many human-to-human relationships have this level of trust and acceptance.

Being judged or not is one the great differences between interacting with a cat and a person and it is a major reason why many people prefer to do the former than the latter.

8 thoughts on “Why does our blood pressure rise when talking to a person but fall when talking to our cat?”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. I think it’s because if a cat likes or dislikes you they don’t try to hide it. Humans judge one another, often unfairly, and will lie and conceal to try to get an advantage. Cats are pretty straightforward.

    Then too, with those cute faces, big ears and large eyes, cats might just awaken a protective instinct in us, like babies. We relax around cats, unless we’ve had a bad experience with them.

    Reply
    • A good point Serbella. It is even more than our cat not judging us it is that we are protective towards them and this is a natural maternal/paternal emotion which is nice.

      Reply
      • Thanks, Michael. What seals the deal is the fact that cats meow only at us. They don’t meow at each other. That soft, high-pitched voice (or the even more devastating silent meow) and they’ve got us. I for one welcome our feline overlords.

        Reply
  3. My take is that a lot of people don’t interact honestly and cats do. Cats have no hidden agendas. They don’t lie or deceive.

    Reply

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