Pet Briefs

Center for Lost Pets reunites pets, owners

The Center for Lost Pets, a Web-based service, is offering free help for people who have lost or found a pet.

Through the website, an owner can go to a central location for help in finding a missing pet or help in locating the owner of an animal that has been found. The site is a searchable database for specific animals and offers advice for owners whose pets can't be found on it. Visit www.thecenterforlostpets.com to register for the free service.

Cats may purr to your heart's content

We know that pets are beneficial to our health. In some cases, the source of the benefits is obvious. You walk a dog for two miles, you'll be in better shape.

But some of the reported benefits are baffling.

A 10-year study at the University of Minnesota Stroke Center found that cat owners were 40 percent less likely to have heart attacks than non-cat owners.

Could a cat's purr be the reason? "Cats will purr when they're content, but also they'll purr when they're about to be euthanized. It's thought they purr to communicate with their kittens," says author and animal behavior consultant Steve Dale. "It's thought to be a calming mechanism.

"If that's the case ... maybe there's a fallout and there's another mammal species, us, that's impacted."

In another study, conducted at Kean University in New Jersey, subjects watched a "Lassie" movie. Their levels of cortisol, a chemical associated with stress, were checked before and after the film, and showed a decline after the movie.

This animal connection, Dale explained, "alters our neurochemistry. ... The scientists are discovering there really is a difference here."