There\u2019s no shortage of good news\u00a0 about the effect of pets on human health. Many articles present\u00a0 pet ownership as a key to heart health, social support, and long\u00a0 life; and many people do get a pet\u2014or urge their aging parents\u00a0 to get one\u2014for the health benefits.<\/p>\n
In one study in 2003,\u00a0 researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo found\u00a0 that married couples who owned pets had a lower heart rate and blood pressure\u2014whether at rest or when undergoing stressful\u00a0 tests\u2014than those without pets.<\/p>\n
Last May 2004 at a seminar in Portugal,\u00a0 the Federation of European Companion Animal Veterinary Surgeons emphasized the many health benefits of pet ownership. But they also alluded to some negatives.
\nWe can look at both sides of the question in this article.<\/p>\n
The health benefits of pet ownership\u00a0 are manifest for people who like animals, and most of us do\u2014at\u00a0 least friendly, clean, nonthreatening animals. Dogs and cats are\u00a0 generally more affectionate and entertaining as pets than, say,\u00a0 fish or birds or ferrets, though many delight in those animals,\u00a0 too.<\/p>\n
A dog is generally the most responsive pet, and walking a\u00a0 dog provides exercise benefits at both ends of the leash. (City\u00a0 people have been known to walk their cats, but it\u2019s not as good a workout.)<\/p>\n
Dogs and cats promote human contact\u2014you communicate with other pet owners. Boy-meets-girl-via-dog is a\u00a0 film clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Besides that, a pet gives you something\u00a0 to care for and thus provides some structure for your life\u2014you\u00a0 have to set out the food, visit the vet, clean the cage, empty\u00a0 the litter, and so on.<\/p>\n
A pet often takes center stage at family\u00a0 gatherings, easing tensions and\/or providing an immediate conversational\u00a0 outlet. And, of course, dogs can be trained for useful work\u2014aiding\u00a0 the visually impaired, for example. Even the most pampered cat\u00a0 can help rid your home of mice.<\/p>\n
Pets also have a calming effect on most\u00a0 people. Nursing homes now arrange for pets to visit residents,\u00a0 and some facilities keep pets on the premises.<\/p>\n
Even the government\u00a0 approves of pets\u2014the National Institutes of Health conducted\u00a0 a workshop almost 20 years ago on the health benefits of pets and\u00a0 pet-facilitated therapy (PFT). Conclusion: these benefits exist, particularly for the elderly.<\/p>\n
Continued in The Power of Pawsitive Thinking Part<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s no shortage of good news\u00a0 about the effect of pets on human health. Many articles present\u00a0 pet ownership as a key to heart health, social support, and long\u00a0 life; and many people do get a pet\u2014or urge their aging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pets-and-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guru-goddess.com\/petgoddess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guru-goddess.com\/petgoddess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guru-goddess.com\/petgoddess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guru-goddess.com\/petgoddess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guru-goddess.com\/petgoddess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/guru-goddess.com\/petgoddess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guru-goddess.com\/petgoddess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guru-goddess.com\/petgoddess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guru-goddess.com\/petgoddess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}