If you have a cat, you likely know just how special the bond between human and feline friends can be. My little black kitty, Poe—named after the Gothic horror writer, of course—certainly boosts my mood (when he’s not being a complete a**, that is).
The same is true for many pet owners: According to a recent study published in iScience, A Cell Press Journal, the oxytocin levels of humans and their cats appear to rise and fall in sync. In other words, their moods and hormones affect each other. And before now, there’s been little research into this topic.
“Cats are among the world’s most popular companion animals,” the study summary reads. However, “Owner-pet hormonal synchrony is documented in dogs but untested in cats.”
The researchers set out to change this.
The Chemical Connection Between Cats and Their Owners
In their study, the researchers measured oxytocin and cortisol in 19 owners and 29 pet cats over the span of one month. Then, they examined the owner’s mood and the owner-cat proximity to determine a potential connection.
“Owner and cat oxytocin were positively associated, whereas their cortisol concentrations showed little association,” the researchers found. “Higher cat oxytocin was linked to lower owner cortisol and less negative mood, while higher owner cortisol was linked to more negative mood.”
According to the study, the closer the cats were to their owners, the stronger the oxytocin link. Additionally, owners experienced better moods when their cats had higher oxytocin (feel-good love hormone) and lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels. However, when the cats’ oxytocin levels dropped and cortisol rose, owners seemed to mirror it in their own moods.
Study Limitations
This research suggests a clear chemical link between the mood, stress, and hormonal markers of humans and their cats. However, the study does have its limitations. For example, who’s to say the cat’s hormone levels aren’t influenced by their owners’ moods, but not the opposite?
“One major question about this study—one that the authors did not aim to address—is about who influences whom,” Bence Nanay, Ph.D., wrote in his Psychology Today article on the topic. “Is it that the cat’s happiness makes us happy? Or is it the other way round, and the cat feels whether we are stressed? Or maybe both? These questions will, no doubt, be addressed in future research.”
Now, I’m no scientist…just a writer who spends more time with her beloved cat than with her own friends. But I can attest that Poe triggers a calming sense of comfort and love whenever in my presence. I’m not so sure I do the same for him, with my otherwise frantic and overwhelmed nature (especially when I’m forcing cuddles on him). But hey, one can hope.
Either way, I’ll be paying closer attention to my own moods and their impacts on my little guy. Surely, my stress-induced groaning and late-night sob sessions aren’t helping him chill. But then again, neither are my energetic chit-chatting and loud cheering during Dancing With the Stars. If anything, my happiness seems to irritate him more. His name is Poe, after all.
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