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It’s something I grew up thinking, and I don’t even remember where I first heard the idea: pets improve your health. They’re especially good for the elderly or others living alone. Pets give you someone to care about and look after, bringing additional purpose and companionship to your life.
Some recent medical studies, however, indicate that owning pets might have a more direct effect on our health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim that pet ownership can decrease our blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride. Their studies also indicate that rates of stress, loneliness, and depression are lower among pet owners, and that dog owners in particular exercise more.
That last bit might explain another health-related pet ownership finding. The Gettysburg Times reports on a 1995 study in the American Journal of Cardiology, which found that dog owners especially had a higher likelihood of surviving after a heart attack. That’s not the only study with similar findings: many have reported that dog/pet owners survive longer after heart attacks than people without pets. The lower rates of cholesterol/triglyceride could contribute to this.
A University of Buffalo study on blood pressure focused on a group of stockbrokers, all with high blood pressure. Dog and cat owners involved in the study had lower blood pressure in stressful situations than those that didn’t have pets.
The examples just keep coming. A 2004 study presented at the 10th International Conference of Human-Animal Interaction found that pet owners made 15-20 percent lower doctor trips each year, people who visit the doctor the least are those who continuously own pets, and the second healthiest group in the study were those who got a pet during its course. Even some health insurance companies are now offering slightly lower rates to pet owners, because pet ownership increases activity and health.
Like I intimated above, I think all of this hinges on a certain fact: people who own pets are more likely to be more active. It’s not like pets excrete some magical substance that keeps us healthier. Dog owners in particular are just more likely to be the active type, because dogs often require a more active lifestyle. Even people who might not be naturally active might be forced to become so because of their dog.
Thus pets contribute both to active lifestyles and better mental health. Obviously there are some ways in which pet ownership can be detrimental to health: allergies, litter, and all the gross things into which dogs get. But it sounds like overall, the positives outweigh the negatives.
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