Lifestyle
Ten reasons why having a pet is good for your health
Find out why furbabies can help improve your mental health and overall wellbeing.
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Having a furry companion, be it a dog, cat or even a rabbit can do wonders for your mental health, which became particularly evident during lockdown.
Around 90% of British pet owners said that owning a pet made them feel mentally healthier in a survey done last year. Cat and rabbit owners were slightly behind at 85% and 81% respectively.
Pets have such a positive impact on their owners and studies have found that they can do so much more than we think. Here are ten reasons from Marltons about why we need pets:
- They understand more than you think: dogs are able to understand a range of words we often use and can interpret our tone of voice, body language and gestures to try to gauge what we are thinking and feeling.
- Our body physically responds to interaction with pets: studies have found that touching a friendly pet can lead to lowered blood pressure, slower heart rate and relaxed muscle tension – all signs of reduced stress.
- Playing with pets calms you down: be it throwing a ball in the garden for your dog or watching your cat chase it’s favourite mouse toy around the house – playing with a pet can elevate levels of serotonin and dopamine, which act to calm and relax you.
- Emotional therapy and prevents loneliness: Pets fulfill the basic human need for love, touch and affection. Emotional support dogs are being recognised as a vital part of mental health treatment. Infact, pet owners tend to be less likely to suffer from depression
- Mental and physical companion for elderly: Pets prove to be a lifeline to encourage social interaction and are regularly used in alternative therapies in the treatment of depression, and even more complex therapies related to Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.
- Good for your heart: Pet owners tend to have lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels (indicators of heart disease) and heart attack patients with pets survive longer.
- Ease pain and suffering: Pets are used to help children with cancer deal with pain and anxiety.
- Help you achieve mindfulness: Having a reason to ‘paws’ for thought gives people a much-needed sense of purpose.
- Behaviour therapy: Even hardened criminals show long-term changes in their behaviour after interacting with pets, as many of them experience mutual affection for the first time.
- Encourage social interaction: Birds are a lovely companion for the elderly, as they give them someone to talk to and care for and can assist in keeping the mind sharp.