8 Reasons Pets are Beneficial to Your Health

We all love having a pet as part of our family. Not only are they a friend and beloved companion but they also play an important role in both our physical and mental health. Here are 8 of the best reasons why pets are beneficial to your health.

1. Pets Keep You Active

Now, this is a really obvious one, four legged friends help you to stay active, particularly if you have a dog. They should be taken out for a walk twice a day, so you can guarantee that you will get the recommended amount of daily exercise simply by properly caring for your dog. This not only keeps you fit and at a healthy weight, but regular exercise also improves mental health. This is particularly important as you get older. Research has shown that elderly people who take regular dog walks, walk at a faster pace than those who don’t have a dog, and that they are generally more mobile.

2. Pets Help to Relive Stress

When we spend time with our pets, our cortisol levels (the hormone released when we are stressed) are decreased and, just by looking at our pets, oxytocin is released which gives us feelings of delight.

Cats are especially good at helping us reduce stress levels. A study carried out by Cats Protection collected data from 500 cat owners over the age of 55. Out of these people, 82% said that their cat helped them to reduce their stress levels, 62% said that their cats reduced their feelings of loneliness, and 75% revealed that they sometimes prefer to share with their cat more than a human close to them.

3. Pets Can Reduce Your Risk of Allergies

Yes, a number of people are allergic to pet hair, but this may not have developed if they had had a pet from a young age. Having a pet in our household as we grow up can help us to develop better immunity to allergens, and it has even been found that simply stroking a pet can increase our antibody levels.

4. Pets Help to Maintain Heart Health

Not only can pets help to lower cholesterol as they keep us active, but they can also help to reduce our risk of heart failure. Simply stroking a pet, or even being in the presence of a pet, can maintain a healthy heart rate and blood pressure.

Reports have shown that people who have a dog but otherwise live alone have a 33% reduced risk of death and an 11% reduced risk of heart disease than people who live completely alone.

5. Pets Create Social Interaction

Pets help to create friendships between humans. When you go for a dog walk you will often find yourself engaging in more social contact with other dog owners, who would otherwise be strangers, than with non-dog owners. Let’s face it, generally pet owners will find they have more to talk to each other about as they instantly have something in common, the love for their pet!

6. Pets Help Children to Develop

The University of Leicester conducted a study on the effects of pets on children in pet-owning families. They found that children aged between 0 and 6 will develop better social skills, speech and co-ordination, and they will have more confidence than children growing up in non-pet households.

Another study looked at 600 children between the ages of 3 and 18, with data collected over 5 years. This study found that the children who had pets coped better with life when struck with setbacks, such as learning difficulties or divorce, than the children who did not have pets.

Pets have also been found to enhance social skills in children with autism as the pets can help the children to learn how to interact properly with others.

7. Pets Reduce Loneliness

Owning a pet means that you always have someone who depends on you for everything they need, whether it be love, entertainment, exercise, or food. This is an important factor for reducing feelings of loneliness.

Pets like cats are particularly important for people who are housebound. They might not have a lot of human interaction, but they will always have a valuable companion by their side to keep them company when they most need it.

8. Pets Help People with Mental Illness

People suffering with dementia have been shown to have improved symptoms when they regularly interact with animals. When frequently visited by dogs, cats, and/or rabbits, their mobility can improve, self-esteem levels can increase, their sense of loneliness is reduced, and depression and stress levels are lowered. This is so important for people who are at such a social distance from other people, animals can really bring joy to those who have lost their mental health.

Pets and animals bring so much happiness into our lives and there are so many health benefits for us that come along with them. When you look after a pet, it looks after you.