Science continues to confirm what we see signs of by living with our pets every day: they pick up on our stress and deal with it similarly to how we do. The article cites that not all of this is bad: by being so in tune with their owners, pets can alert us when something is about to occur - like some dogs do when predicting a seizure or smelling cancer.
For the day-to-day stressors, a recent study on rats confirmed that animals look to "comfort foods" - those foods containing fat and sugar - when stressed more than those rats who are not stressed.
"In general, the more intelligent an animal is, the more psychological stress it can undergo," said James Morrisey, a veterinarian at the College of Veterinary Medicine of Cornell University in New York. "The less you're thinking about things, the less psychological stress you can potentially be under."
This is a fascinating article with lots of examples of how different animals cope with stress and where those stressors come from.
Read full article: MSNBC
