The Purr-fect Silver Lining

All over the country, animal shelters are reporting significant upswings in the numbers of animals they’ve been able to adopt out or place in foster homes. And why not? With COVID-19 keeping people at home and practicing social distancing, many are finding now is the purr-fect time to bring a pet into their homes. 

The East Bay SPCA is hosting Clear the Shelters the entire month of August with donations matched and reduced to waived fees for select animals. 

With anxiety high during this uncertain time, Cal State East Bay Lecturer of Psychology Gretchen Reevy says a cat might be particularly helpful and your furry friend could actually benefit from your anxiety. 

Reevy and Mikel Delgado from UC Davis co-authored a study that finds that

the more neurotic and anxious cat owners are, the more trust and affection they have for their cat. The study was published in the journal Anthrozoös.

The team conducted an online, anonymous survey of 1,239 cat owners. Eighty-seven percent of the respondents were female. The survey asked the cat owners questions about their own personality traits — with an emphasis on their tendency to experience feelings such as anxiety, anger, frustration, and a depressed mood. There were also questions about how worthy people felt of their cat’s love, how available and trustworthy they felt their cat was, and their general feelings of affection toward their cat.

It turns out higher scores on neuroticism and anxiety could benefit a relationship with one’s cat.

Reevy and Delgado embarked on this study to understand what can help people have a better bond with their pets. A lot of that can be influenced by human behavior and personality.

“Pets have become more important than ever while people are sheltering-in-place during the pandemic,” Delgado said. “We want all of these shelter-in-place adoptions to lead to permanent homes for the pets who are adopted, and we know that the failure of an owner to bond with their cat can put cats at risk of being relinquished to an animal shelter.”

Reevy said it’s important to understand that our personalities can impact how we bond with our pets. 

“Cats can be wonderful companions and sources of comfort, and it looks like a person’s personality affects their tendency to appreciate, enjoy and hopefully benefit emotionally from a relationship with a cat,” Reevy said.