Scientists have discovered a surprising key to staying happy: cats!
Researchers from Kyoto University found that spending time with your feline can produce a measurable boost to mood and wellbeing.
However, just having a cat in the house isn't enough to get the happiness–boosting effects.
The researchers discovered that people who spend more time physically close to their cats had more positive moods than other cat owners.
Meanwhile, other factors, such as how long owners had lived with their cat, weren't actually associated with mood improvements.
This suggests that the quality of the relationship that owners have with their furry friends is what really makes the difference.
Lead author Dr Saho Takagi, a cat expert from Kyoto University, told the Daily Mail: 'We found that spending time close to the cat in daily life was associated with higher vigour scores in owners.
'I think many cat owners are familiar with the sense of comfort and peace they feel when their cat climbs onto their lap seeking affection; they start to pet it, and the cat begins purring contentedly.'
By fitting Bluetooth trackers to housecats, researchers found that onwers who spend more time phyiscally close to their felines experienced better moods and more energy. Pictured: One of the cats involved in the study
Although many pet owners will attest to the life–changing benefits of cat ownership, the scientific evidence is decidedly more mixed.
In fact, Dr Takagi points out that some studies suggest that keeping a cat can actually leave owners more stressed out.
In their new paper, published in the journal iScience, the researchers conducted a one–month study of the daily lives of a group of 29 cats and their 19 owners.
The cats were fitted with small Bluetooth beacons attached to their collars so that they could measure how much time they spent physically close to their owners.
The owners also filled out questionnaires to assess how their moods changed over the month.
Dr Takagi says: 'We found that spending time close to the cat in daily life was associated with higher vigour scores in owners.'
Since the data only showed a correlation, the researchers can't be sure whether cats make their owners feel more vigorous or if more energetic people spend more time with their cats.
However, the longer people had owned their cat, the higher their negative mood tended to be.
Scientists found that pet owners' intuition is right: spending time close to your cat really does boost your mood
Dr Takagi says: 'Although this is also a correlation, it suggests that simply keeping a cat may not be enough to bring health benefits. We think the quality of the interaction, meaning how owners interact with their cats, may matter more than ownership itself.'
The researchers also wanted to know whether there was a deeper emotional connection between cats and their owners at the biological level.
This physiological connection between pet and owner has been studied in the past, but mainly in dogs.
Cats, having descended from solitary animals, are generally thought to be 'independent and aloof ', so scientists hadn't thought that the same depth of emotional link would exist.
To see if that reputation is deserved, the researchers tested owners and their cats for levels of the hormones cortisol and oxytocin.
Cortisol is often referred to as the stress hormone, and tends to increase in concentration when people are unhappy or under strain.
Researchers also measured the cat and owner's oxytocin (OT) and cortisol levels, showing that happier cats meant happier owners
Researchers found that cats' levels of oxytocin, often known as the 'love hormone', were more closely linked to their owners' moods than the humans' own hormone balance
Oxytocin, on the other hand, is sometimes called the 'love hormone' since it plays a key role in driving social bonding, trust and intimacy.
Surprisingly, this revealed a strong connection between a cat's hormone levels and those of their owners.
When a cat had a higher level of oxytocin, their owners tended to have elevated levels as well, while also showing lower levels of cortisol and fewer negative feelings.
In fact, cats' levels of oxytocin were more closely linked to their owner's moods than the humans' own hormone balance.
'Oxytocin is a hormone involved in the formation of mother–infant bonds, so our results raise the possibility that a similar affiliative bond exists between humans and cats,' says Dr Takagi.
'Oxytocin is released through affiliative interactions such as stroking, so it may be that owners who frequently stroke their cats feel less negative.'
HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR CAT? THE SECRET SIGNALS FELINES GIVE THEIR OWNERS
Cats are often branded aloof and solitary creatures who spend their days plotting their human owner's demise, but such characterisations could not be further from the truth.
In fact, our feline friends constantly communicate their feelings of affection to us, whether it be through their whiskers, tail, face or body language.
In her eye-opening new book Kitty Language: An Illustrated Guide to Understanding Your Cat, author Lili Chin - with the help of animal behaviourists - explains how to interpret your pet's movements.
Below are some of the most common behaviours and what they could signal.
Our feline friends constantly communicate their feelings of affection to us, whether it be through their whiskers, tail, face or body language