Having a pet at home can be a lot of joy. However, there is more to it than just good time. Pets can affect their owner’s health. They can encourage us to exercise more and spend more time outdoors. They can also reduce our sense of loneliness, charge us with positive emotions, and decrease our chances of depression or anxiety. Thus, animals can affect both the mental and physical health of their owners. In fact, there are way more reasons to have pets at your home than to avoid them. They are not just equal family members but your at-home healers if you let them. Let’s see some of the main effects that pets can have on human health.
Dog owners exercise more
It should come as no surprise that dog owners tend to live more energetic lives. These days people tend to spend the majority of their days sitting, whether it’s an office or home, in front of the TV. However, an active lifestyle is the best precaution against all kinds of serious health issues, including heart diseases, diabetes, and more. So, all those long walks on fresh air can’t go unnoticed to your health. Of course, whether to go to the park or to have a brief walk around the neighborhood depends on the owner of the dog, as well as on the breed. However, it is a well-researched fact that dog owners, in general, tend to live longer lives than people who never had a dog.
People with dogs at home have lesser risks of getting heart attacks or strokes. They also tend to recover from illnesses faster. Whether it is so due to the long walks they need to endure every day or the positive energy of their pets, science can’t tell yet. Perhaps, it is both. Thus, as a pet owner, you should never forget about your dog’s health. Try buying only top rated dog products to make your pup happy and well.
Pets are good for your mental health
Daily interactions with pets can improve your mental state. This fact shouldn’t come as a surprise. You don’t need to be a scientist to see how your mood suddenly rises when you see a puppy or kitten. Your mood goes even higher when you get to interact with your or even someone else’s pet. However, we are not talking just about the health benefits of smiling, though they do have a great effect on us. Surrounding yourself with positive energy does great things to our health. A good mood can reduce our blood pressure and stress levels. It can also increase the serotonin dopamines in your blood and decrease cholesterol.
Moreover, pet owners are less prone to suffering from loneliness, which can play a major factor in developing a depressing state. Pets often take the role of comforters and stress relievers. Just their presence helps people to get over the hardships and stress. The reduction of stress, in its turn, helps improve sleep quality, balances appetite, increases energy levels, and more. Animals can give back a lot of love if you show it first.
A warning tail
Despite animals being so good for your physical and mental health, you shouldn’t forget about basic safety measures when it comes to interactions with pets. First, don’t let small children younger than five years old interact with amphibians, turtles, and baby chicks. These animals can look cute to kids, though they carry a lot of illnesses and bacteria that young organisms didn’t learn to resist yet. Some adults with chronic conditions should also vary from getting in close contact with these animals.
Also, adults and children are not safe from getting an infection from a pet, even if it is a well-cared pet. So, it is important to avoid any direct contact with a pet’s saliva or waste. These are the places where you are more likely to catch a disease. However, just being reasonable with how you approach a pet and creating boundaries should keep you safe.
The bottom line
As you can see, dogs, cats, or any other animal you chose to have as your pet, can be more than an adorable ball of fur. They actually have the power to make our lives much better. No wonder we have a huge level of appreciation for our pets. Of course, we spend hours reading wysong uretic cat food reviews, or picking the right dog food, or researching with pet toys are the healthiest. Being grateful and affectionate towards another living creature is a blessing on its own. This feeling alone can make us better and happier people. And everyone knows happy people live the longest.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
