Benefits of having a pet: A review from the science

Since ancient times, animals have been companions to humans as shown in historical Egyptian records which provided credits for domesticating African wild cats for approximately 4200 years. Early reports which indicated pet benefits have mentioned different perspectives: they have served as protectors (dogs protect against wolves and bears) and hunting partners (as alternatives to other humans for interaction).

Recently, animal companionship has been referred to as being together, bread and eating together. Indeed, staying next to pets while their soft furry rumbles has been an effective solution for daily stressors. This is true for millions of pet lovers who indicated significant improvements in their psychological, social and physiological health worldwide. In this article, we underscored the results of scientific studies regarding the benefits of owning a pet.

Pet benefits for the psychological and social health

An early study carried out in the 1990s in the United Kingdom showed that dog and cat ownership among people who had not recently owned a pet was associated with improvements in psychological well-being, exercise levels and self-esteem. These measures were assessed before owning a pet and six and ten months later (Serpell 1991). Another study in the United States showed that the benefits of having a pet have extended to reducing stress and the effects of major adverse life events and reducing the levels of chemicals associated with anxiety compared to non-owners. These findings have been explained by several mechanisms. For instance, patting a dog may decrease the blood pressure of hypertensive people. The same results are apparent by watching fish swim freely and peacefully in an aquarium (Siegel 1990).

Pet benefits for the older adults

Interestingly, the benefits of owning a pet are more evident among the elderly. Actually, childhood experience of pet ownership is associated with high levels of sociality later in the old life. The rates of exercise are more pronounced among dog owners, where studies have revealed that dog walkers are more likely to meet the walking targets within 3 years than non-dog owners (Thorpe 2006). Having pets was also associated with fewer sedentary events and long walking times in another study conducted in UK among people aged 65 years or older (Dall 2017). A large-sized study of community-dwelling Japanese older adults has emphasized pet benefits since dog and cat ownership were independently associated with better walking activities and higher motor fitness indices, as well as higher levels of social interaction with neighbors and lower levels of social isolation (Taniguchi 2018).

Conclusion

Collectively, for a number of years, having a pet have a lot of benefits which range from physiological advantages, such as blood pressure control and decreasing the levels of anxiety and stress, and improved psychological health by decreasing depression and increasing social interaction activities. Accordingly, there are multiple benefits of having a pet that might be considered for health practitioners, particularly those in the psychology niche.

References

Dall, P. M., Ellis, S. L. H., Ellis, B. M., Grant, P. M., Colyer, A., Gee, N. R., … & Mills, D. S. (2017). The influence of dog ownership on objective measures of free-living physical activity and sedentary behaviour in community-dwelling older adults: A longitudinal case-controlled study. BMC public health, 17(1), 1-9.

Serpell, J. (1991). Beneficial effects of pet ownership on some aspects of human health and behaviour. Journal of the royal society of medicine, 84(12), 717-720.

Siegel, J. M. (1990). Stressful life events and use of physician services among the elderly: the moderating role of pet ownership. Journal of personality and social psychology, 58(6), 1081.

Taniguchi, Y., Seino, S., Nishi, M., Tomine, Y., Tanaka, I., Yokoyama, Y., … & Shinkai, S. (2018). Physical, social, and psychological characteristics of community-dwelling elderly Japanese dog and cat owners. PloS one, 13(11), e0206399.

Thorpe, R. J., Simonsick, E. M., Brach, J. S., Ayonayon, H., Satterfield, S., Harris, T. B., … & Health, Aging and Body Composition Study. (2006). Dog ownership, walking behavior, and maintained mobility in late life. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 54(9), 1419-1424.