Listen to this interesting article! University Students Interested in Stress-Reducing Cats While a number of universities offer students opportunities to play with dogs as a way to reduce stress, little is known about whether cats could help in the same way. So researchers from the US and Belgium surveyed more than 1,400 students and staff from 19 Belgian universities to see how interested they would be in on-campus cat visiting programs. Participants were asked seven questions about a possible cat program, including whether they would like to have a cat on campus, if they would find it relaxing, whether they would visit the cat, and whether they would recommend a cat program to other universities. They gave each idea a score out of five. The average total score was 3.8 in favor of a campus cat. The researchers found that the people with the most positive feelings about a cat program were women, cat owners, people who were more emotional, and — perhaps surprisingly — people who were interested in dog programs. The study authors said that previous research has shown that emotional people are more likely to have strong relationships with animals. However, dog owners, as well as people who were afraid of or allergic to cats, were found to be less interested in a cat program. Some also worried that having a cat on campus would be risky. According to the researchers, the aim of the study was to find more ways to help people feel less stressed. They believe cats can help, since including both cats and dogs in these stress-reducing programs could encourage more people to take part, and cats would need less training than dogs to help.