Is there a furry friend curled up beside you or sitting in your lap? If you’re one of the 25million people in the country who have a pet at home, this article is for you. And if you belong to the large group of people who don’t have a pet at their house, you must read the article because you’re going to learn something very amazing about pets. You may not be familiar with the potential physical and mental health benefits of pets. But millions of pet owners are a good source to realize the benefits associated with keeping pets in your house.
Studies show that keeping a pet at home brings a lot of responsibilities related to pets but modern research suggests that keeping pets at home is associated with many physical and mental health benefits. They say that being a pet owner makes you mentally relax and you enjoy the companionship that cannot be achieved with any other person. However, the important thing for the relationship between you and your pet is about the effects of pets on human health. Researchers have suggested that the effects of pets on your physical or mental health are observational, meaning they show a bond between the two factors rather than a cause-and-effect relationship. They call it “the pet effect”.
In addition, the bond between you and your pet depends on the factors jotted below:
- How attached you feel to them.
- How much care you have for them.
- Personality features of your pet.
- How much you expend on them.
- How much time you spend with them.
- How they play a role in reducing your stress level.
- How they affect your lonely nature.
However, beside all the above factors, the one that is the most concerning is, the benefits associated with ownership of a pet are potential. This means pets do not benefit all people equally but they benefit some people more than others. Studies also have revealed that for some people pets are not beneficial for their mental health. They even impact their mental peace negatively by increasing their stress or depression. In some cases, pets are observed as a problematic factor i a household as they cause allergies.
Therefore, it is recommended by the mental health experts that before adopting a pet as your home companion you must be sure that you don’t have any health condition including allergies.
Here are some tips for you to understand how “the pet effect” can benefit you and other people.
Things to Ponder before Getting a Pet
Pet ownership is not a simple thing. It is a multitasking responsibility that you have to perform for years. Whenever you decide to make a commitment with a furry friend, please ask some questions to yourself:
1. Why do I need a pet? This “why” will help you to find out the actual reason to become a pet owner. This may also help you decide whether a pet will match your lifestyle or not. The answer of this question can clear the nature of the relationship you and your pet will have. You may understand pets’ role in life, like whether you want to cuddle with them or want to sit peacefully beside you when you want to relax after work.
2. Will you make your relationship enjoyable or will your pet feel happy with you? This question will make up your decision on what type of pet you want. For example, do you want a dog that always barks in past years or acts that licks your feet? Do you want to have a baby pet that needs you every time you feel hungry or go potty or you like to have an old well-trained pet.
3. Do I have my own house or a rental residence? This question will give you a chance to realize whether you’re free to keep a pet at home or have any restrictions as a rented one. Because if you live in a rented house you need approval from the house owner.
4. Do I provide constant care to my pet? You know pets demand lifetime care. No doubt it’s a tough job and only a person can do it if it actually has a true love for animals. This will help you decide that if you have courage to ,make a lifetime commitment with your pet.
5. Can I have enough money to fulfill all need of the furry creature? Owning a pet is associated with a lot of expenditures including the cost of their adoption, licensing, pet sitting, traveling, food, grooming, supplies, medications, and training fees. If you have money to bear all these expenditures, go get yours.
6. Do my other household members agree to being a pet at home? This question needs clarification on behalf of your family members. This means whether you’re taking all the responsibilities of a loner or going to share them with a family member? Do they have any allergy complications? Are there more animals at your home?
Potential Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Pets
Having a pet can boost your well-being and reduce the risk of developing certain health conditions. Some often are jotted below:
Reduce Allergies
All kinds of pets like cats and dogs bring different types of bacteria in your home in the form of dander, endotoxins, saliva and more. They contain all types of potential allergens. The pets also tend to desensitize you and your family members to these allergens. Studies suggest that keeping cats pets helps prevent asthma while owning dogs as pets at your home increases the risk of asthma. This means it depends on what type of animal you have that what type of allergens are getting into your home. However, modern research has shown that the young children always benefit from pets associated with the improvement in their immune system strength.
According to a 2009 study, young babies exposed to pets like dogs and cats have lower risk of developing certain allergies and asthma.
Promote Emotional Well-Being
Your furry friend is your best companion who not only shares room with you but also provides you company with your emotional ups and downs. It is the one who observes all your inner feelings that you can;t show the outside world and people. Therefore, pets get attached to their owner deeply.
According to studies, owning a pet impacts your personality in a complicated way. This companionship affects your feelings. If you have a strong interaction with your pet, your negative emotions will fade away soon. When you pet them or talk to them, a positive emotional bond develops between both of you that is not only good for the pet but also makes you emotionally strong and independent. Studies suggest that people who live with their pets are more satisfied with their lives than those who don’t have pets. But studies also support the theory that owning a pet doesn’t have a link with other measures of well-being like satisfaction of their needs or mood regulation.
In addition, a 2022 strides revealed that there’s no link between self-satisfaction or owning a pet at all. The evedene was found that supported the theory that having a pet can increase the emotional stress due to increased burden of taking care of a pet all time. Thus the results of studies are not well defined. These mixed results make a confusion in your mind about the potential physical and mental benefits of pets. More research is needed to verify the reality.
Encourage Exercise
Exercise is the most effective way to incorporate physical activity in your life routine. Long term health benefits are linked with moderate physical activity. If you have a canine companion, your exercise routine may be more regular and consistent than those who don’t have pets as compassion. No doubt this information is not true in all cases but exercise shares many health benefits for this is true. For example walking is associated with a wide range of physical and mental health benefits, including:
- Prevention of age-related diseases.
- Promoted mental capability.
- Stress reduction.
- Improved cognitive abilities.
- Pro-aging effects at the cellular level.
- Reduced risk of heart disease, mental conditions and diabetes.
- Longevity.
Companionship
As a true pet lover you consider your pet as a family member. This is the deep attachment between you and your furry friend. Studies show that having a relationship with a canine creature helps boost your self-esteem and encourages you to make social bonds with others. This may reduce loneliness in people.
Boost Feel-Good Hormones
Petting your furry skin, stroking your poet or scratching your dog’s ear boost a type of happiness in you. Your pet also enjoys this feeling of touching and patting. They consider it a gesture of care and love from their owner. However, research has suggested that patting your pets boost some beneficial hormones in your body. There are feel-good hormones that boost happiness and relaxation in your body and mind. More strides are found that support the idea that patting your dog increases the release of oxytocin hormone and inhibits the production of stress hormones.
According to a small study, people attached with their pets were found with reduced cortisol levels. Researchers say that patting your four-legged may boost endorphins hormone which helps decrease feelings of depression, social isolation, anxiety, stress and loneliness.
Boost Social Interactions
Walking with your pet has potential physical and mental health benefits, including boosted social interactions with other people even with strangers. All animals share this property but well-trained animals can help more than untraced or leash trained. When you talk to your dog casually during a walk it boosts the ability to interact with other people more easily and without any hesitation. Having interactions with other people is associated with many physical and mental health benefits that help you live a happy and prolonged life.
Reduction in Stress
Ong interactions with a furry four-legged companion boost a bonding hormone in you. Petting and prolonged eye contact are also linked with increased levels of oxytocin and endorphin that decreases stress level. Researchers concluded after a study involving digs that interaction with dogs help reduce cortisol hormone. Another study suggested that striking animals help reduce your heart, palpitations and blood pressure. Just looking at your pet is associated with mental well-being. Even watching animals read videos like fish, monkeys, bears or birds can help reduce stress at the moment.
Improves Brain Health
Owning a pet has been linked with improved physical health but do you know that having a pet also promotes your brain health. Studies suggest that people living with pets were studied through cognitive testing and brain imaging, the results found that pet owners have better focus and attention abilities. They have remembered stirs and events more accurately than those who don’t love to keep pets at their home. Pet owners showed higher processing speed compared with non-pet owners. When noticed to choose pets for this purpose, the dogs come at first position because they have particular effects on promoting your brain health. According to research, being a pet owner makes it possible to reduce cognitive decline by age 15 years.
Lowers the Risk of Heart Disease and High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is a leading cause of heart disease. Strides showed that people living with their pets have depressed risk of developing heart related disease and high blood pressure. High blood pressure is not dangerous for your blood vessels and vital organs but it also increases the risk of kidney disease, stroke, diabetes and heart disease.
In addition, some studies also suggest that managing your srs by making a companionship with a cat or dog helps reduce heart health risks. The mixed type of research results are not enough to conclude the results. We need more authentic research in this regard.
Conclusion
Owing a pet links with many potential physical and mental health benefits. Your pet helps reduce the risk of many health complications,including heredias, high blood pressure, stress, depression and mental retardation. Companionship with a four-legged is associated with mental advancements and cognitive sharpness. However, research about these benefits have mixed results. So it is necessary to look for some factors that can impact your physical and mental health before having a pet at home.
