The cat, man's ancestral companion, has always been adored by stressed city-dwellers in need of nature, and even more today (#confinement). Careless and elegant, this miniature feline fascinates us. And what to say when we find her warm little body after a long day of work. We then stick our head on his "ventrounet", and there, the magic operates. The purring of the cat has a real soporific power. A few vibrations and we calm down. Cat friends, this phenomenon has a name: the "purring therapy ". This controlled designation comes from a Toulouse veterinarian, Jean-Yves Gauchet, who claims the paternity of this therapy in France, according to Le Monde. He assures us that the purring "soothes " and acts like "a drug without side effects ". It would allow us to fight effectively against stress, but also temporary insomnia. Some even claim that it would heal faster in the presence of the animal, and that it would cure hypertension. In fact, in some hospitals, patients are even allowed to sleep with their cats!
# 1 A feeling of pleasure
Our kitties emit low frequency sounds, between 20 and 50 hertz, which would be perceived by Pacini's corpuscles. These are nerve endings located under our skin and sensitive to vibrations. And thanks to these receptors, there would be a transmission of a certain sensation of pleasure to the brain, which would help it to release "hormones of happiness" (endorphin, serotonin, dopamine).
# 2 feel reassured
Purring vibrations appear when the animal feels strong emotions, fears or contentment. This allows him to calm down and reassure the cats around him. Jean-Yves Gauchet affirms, in numerous interviews, that this reassuring effect would be the same for us, via various testimonies collected.
# 3 heal wounds
Véronique Aïache, French journalist specializing in health, supports an American study carried out in the 1960s. The analysis would have shown that a cat recovers faster than another animal thanks to purring. Based on this data, she therefore asserts that these purring vibrations have been reproduced by physiotherapists to accelerate bone healing in humans, as Le Monde reminds us.
In 2013, an American Heart Association opinion concluded that having a pet would reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Today, with the boom in ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response), a multitude of purring recordings are being broadcast on the internet. The goal ? Better sleep and relax. So convinced?