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When I was pregnant and had severe morning sickness (at any time of the day), Tigger lay across my abdomen and PURRED the nausea away. Also, whenever any of us is ill, Tuxedo and his mother Mia (Mama Mia!) always take shifts lying beside us in bed until we're well. Olinka will also do the same, as long as we don't toss & turn too much. Whenever my daughter cries, Mia runs to her and "kisses" her on the face with her little nose. As soon as her hand touches Mia's fur, Emma stops crying - even when she was tiny. There's a great healing energy in cats, as there is in many people. I think cats know how to "tap the source" more instinctively than we do - they also don't have all that sugar and caffeine & stuff we ingest blocking whatever signals need to be sent! But there has been research done with blood pressure, which I'm sure you've read - petting your cat lowers both your blood pressure and your cat's, too. (Maybe THAT's why mine is so low!)
After Tigger died, an elderly gentleman inquired after Tigger. When I explained he had become ill and died, the man unashamedly burst into tears. He told me that after he had had a stroke, he had tried to walk with his walker, but was very discouraged. Every morning, Tigger would meet him in front of our house and walk with him. At first, it was slow going, but Tigger kept sitting and waiting, looking up with his big green eyes to encourage the man. The man kept walking every day, with Tigger beside him. It took a long time, but soon the man had graduated to a cane, and was walking without support when I saw him. He had missed Tigger's company for the past several days, and hadn't known he was gone. I couldn't stop crying when I heard this. We two strangers held each other, sobbing, then he thanked me for sharing Tigger with him.
How could I explain that Tigger seemed to feel it was his civic duty to visit all the needy folk on our block? That when he came home smelling of cigars, I knew he had been with the recently widowed gentleman around the corner. Or when he wasn't hungry for dinner, the gentle and lonely woman across the way had stuffed him with fresh beef while he kept her company.
My cats now are not the mind readers Tigger was, but they all have a special way of knowing there's pain, and love enough to want to help heal it.
Not exactly stuff scientific studies are made of, but there it is.
Editor's note:
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