Key Takeaways (TL;DR):
- Spending time with pets lowers cortisol and heart rate, reducing a person’s risk of heart disease and stroke.
- Pets offer humans comfort and routine, while dog walks foster social interaction and community trust, while improving one’s health and longevity.
- Caring for pets can boost children’s self-esteem, ease loneliness, and helps kids with ADHD or diabetes build social and discipline skills.
- Exposure to pets in infancy can reduce lifelong asthma and allergy risks, though pets can still trigger allergies for some individuals.
- Although pets can interrupt sleep, introduce diseases, or cause injuries, many of the ways that pets reshape our daily lives can support positive health outcomes.
Most people who have pets love them like family. Pets can support our physical and mental health in meaningful ways, but they also have the potential to cause illness or unexpected injuries.
Despite the downsides, the benefits of having pets can far outweigh the risks, especially for individuals with health issues. Read on to learn more about how pets can enrich our lives and our health.
Mental health benefits for adults
Stress relief
For anyone who has gazed into the eyes of a devoted dog, felt calmed by petting a purring cat, or even quietly watched fish swimming in a tank, the pets’ stress-relieving powers are no surprise.
One study found that during a stress test, being with an unfamiliar dog can reduce heart rate and cortisol levels more than having a friend present.
And reduced cortisol is associated with improved blood pressure and lipid profiles, lowering your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Emotional support
Adults who live alone, the elderly, and people who are dealing with mental health issues like depression or anxiety also receive an emotional boost from animal companionship.
Comfort and safety
Older pet owners reported in a survey that pets:
- provide comfort and safety
- offer purposeful routine and structure, and
- add meaning to life.
Connection to community
Pets can also facilitate social interaction. Daily dog walks inevitably result in social interactions with neighbors and other dog owners that can grow from casual interactions into friendships.
An Australian study found pet owners scored higher on social capital and civic engagement scales, meaning they felt more trust and connection to their communities.
Developmental benefits for children
For children, caring for pets can have profound developmental benefits. A 2015 diabetes study found that tweens who cared for fish were more disciplined checking their blood sugar levels.
Reading stories to a therapy dog has shown to help children with ADHD improve social skills. In another study, children on the autism spectrum were calmer and had less social anxiety while playing with guinea pigs.
A systematic review of the research on pets and child development found evidence for a wide range of emotional health benefits from childhood pet ownership, especially in the areas of self-esteem and loneliness.
Mental health risks of pets
Being in a caregiving role for a pet with health problems can create stress.
Expensive veterinary bills may cause financial strain, and caring for pets with medical needs can result in the same burnout often experienced by caregivers of human relatives.
Busy or inexperienced pet owners may feel guilt or anxiety about meeting their pet’s needs appropriately, or become frustrated by an animal’s behavioral problems.
In addition, when a pet dies or must be relinquished due to changing life circumstances, experiencing grief is common.
Physical health benefits of pets
Exercise
Pets – especially dogs – can help improve your physical health. On average, dog owners walk 22 minutes more per day than people who don’t have a dog.
People who often get much more exercise while spending time with their dog include:
- Apartment dwellers
- Owners who take their pet running or hiking, or
- Those who engage in canine sports like agility or frisbee.
Improved health and longevity
Even keeping small pets can result in increased movement through pet interactions and care such as cleaning litter boxes, tanks, or cages.
Increased physical activity, combined with pets’ stress-relieving powers, have been linked to improved cardiovascular health and even increased longevity in humans.
Reduced allergies
Evidence suggests that keeping pets may protect children from developing respiratory problems.
One study linked exposure to dogs in infancy with reduced lifelong likelihood of asthma. Another found that children with pets – mammals or birds – had lower incidence of allergies than children without pets.
Physical health risks
Allergens
Despite the evidence mentioned above, the data on allergies are not conclusive, and other studies have linked pets – especially cats – to higher rates of allergies and asthma in some people.
Animal diseases
Aside from allergens, pets can infect their owners with zoonotic diseases, which are infectious diseases passed from animals to humans. Examples range from the fungus ringworm, which is easily treated, to life-threatening conditions such as rabies.
Exotic pets can transmit unique zoonotic diseases, such as parrot fever and salmonella. Anyone considering adopting an exotic pet should research the relevant zoonotic diseases and how to prevent getting them.
More commonly, cats and dogs can introduce fleas and ticks into the home, which themselves can carry and transmit diseases to pets and humans.
Cat scratch fever is a bacterial disease that causes flu-like symptoms in humans but does not affect the infected feline. In addition, cats can be asymptomatic carriers of the parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis, which can be life-threatening for immunocompromised humans and can cause birth defects if contracted during pregnancy.
Scratches and bites
Scratches and bites are painful and can become infected. However, declawing cats is strongly opposed by the ASPCA and has been banned in several countries.
It is also important to know that even gentle dogs will bite under stress. Pet owners must learn humane methods of handling pets to prevent bites and correct bad behavior.
Injuries
Pets can also be the indirect cause of injury. Children, older adults, and owners of large dogs are at higher risk of falling when the dog suddenly lunges on their leash or leaps up in greeting you or a guest.
And many cat owners have been tripped by a cat running between their legs at feeding time, or unexpectedly being underfoot.
Reducing the risk of disease from pets
Regular preventive veterinary care, especially for pets that go outside, will eliminate most of the disease risks mentioned above.
But it’s important to avoid direct contact with pet waste – use a glove, a plastic bag, or a pooper scooper – to minimize contact with feces.
And always practice good hygiene when handling pets or their food. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water afterwards or use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol to help prevent the potential spread of disease to humans.
Do pets help or hurt a person’s sleep?
Some people are comforted by the presence of a cat at the foot of the bed, or the security of having a dog in the house. But for others, co-sleeping with pets results in fragmented sleep that can have serious health impacts.
Aging pets and puppies may need to be let out in the middle of the night, while cats of all ages are infamous for 5 a.m. wake-up calls looking for breakfast.
To encourage a good night’s sleep for all, it’s important for pet owners to provide comfortable sleeping conditions for both the human and animal residents of their household, and to maintain a regular feeding schedule.
In conclusion
For pet owners, some lifestyle adjustments required to accommodate a pet’s needs may be challenging. But many of the ways that pets reshape our daily lives can support good health.
If your family is considering getting a pet, your WWMG primary care provider can help evaluate how a pet might affect family members with existing health conditions like compromised immunity. They can also help you understand the risks of zoonotic diseases.
If you’re already a pet parent to a furry friend or two, your family members with allergies can turn to WWMG’s allergy clinic for medication or immunotherapy to help all of your humans and pets live comfortably together.
With realistic expectations and the right support, our pets can be active partners in helping us live happier, healthier, longer, and more connected lives.