Female cows may be preferred over male cows for cuddling therapy

Cows used in human therapy programs may prefer to interact with girls and women over men, a small study suggests.

Animal-assisted therapy programs typically involve dogs, rabbits, and horses, but recently “cow cuddling” has become popular to reduce stress and loneliness.

To learn more about the potential benefits of cows in animal therapy programs, Catherine Compitus New York University and colleagues Sonya Bierbauer The West Point Military Academy invited 11 people (five women, five men, and one girl) ranging in age from 13 to 79 to spend at least 45 minutes with two castrated Holstein male cows. Compitas, a small rescue farm in Goshen, New York, was raising the two bulls, both around 1 year old, that had been orphaned as newborns on a dairy farm.

The pair gave each volunteer a brush and a bag of treats, and while respecting the animals’ choice to interact with them, they trained a steer (like a “toy poodle,” according to Kompitas) in their home’s enclosure. (behave) and ask them to touch you.

Immediately after spending time with the steers, participants completed a 24-item survey describing their interaction with the steers and how they felt about the experience.

All but one of the participants reported spending most of their time in the enclosure near the bulls, observing, petting, talking to them, and taking photos with them. Overall, they felt that the animals initiated non-threatening interactions with the bulls, sniffing and licking them, mooing and “mooing” them, and accepting food.

Women and girls reported that the steers were more likely to lick, accept food, and respond to training. The men also described mostly positive interactions, but thought the steers sometimes behaved aggressively.

However, women and girls reported kissing the steers twice as often as men, which may have influenced the results. Women and girls also spent significantly more time playing with and taking pictures with the steers, and overall reported somewhat more positive interactions with the steers.

“Did the men interact with the cows? Of course they enjoyed it and reported that they enjoyed it,” Compitus says. “But for some reason, the women seemed to enjoy it more, and the cows seemed to enjoy it more.”

More research is needed, but Compitas thinks the cows may have sensed differences in personality between the sexes. “Maybe the cows sensed that the females were more caring and so elicited more attention from them?” Compitas says. “That’s something we need to look into further.”