New Pets Every Wednesday
THIS WEEK
Meet Foster - "The Ranch Cat" of the Week!
This is Foster from the Humane Society of North Texas. He is a 3 month old tabby kitten and available for adoption TODAY! Call 817-332-HSNT for more details on how you can give Foster a great new home.
Shoot an e-mail to: Thawleyhsnt@SBCGlobal.net
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INTERESTING FACT...
J.S.J. Odendaal and R.A. Meintjes of Pretoria's Life Sciences Institute measured the blood levels of endorphins, oxytocin, prolactin, B-phenylethylamine and dopamine -- the chemicals of relaxation and pleasure -- and cortisol, the stress hormone, in both people and dogs before and after they interacted affectionately.
They compared levels of the neurochemicals three times: after people petted their own dogs, petted unfamiliar dogs and after they sat quietly and read a book.
In both humans and dogs, those chemicals of pleasure rose after five to 24 minutes of petting. In addition, the people's cortisol levels fell as they enjoyed their pets. The dogs' cortisol remained the same, probably because they found this new environment interesting and fun.
The increase in oxytocin was higher in the experimental group where people interacted with their own dogs.
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