There are a lot of reasons why people keep pets. However, top on the list is companionship. Asides from companionship, there are a lot of benefits in keeping pets. As an example, having a pet keeps older adults more invested in life, particularly when they leave alone. They help to counter loneliness and also helps to help focus on what’s happening around you. It’s important to know that there is no perfect pet for anyone. Some people like animals such as dogs, rabbits, cats, while some people like to keep animals that a lot of people would not be comfortable having them, such as snakes, pigs, lions and so on. It’s perfectly fine to keep whatever animal you like as pet, as long as your safety, and that of the public is guaranteed. This piece would focus on the various benefits of having a pet in your life.
What Are The Benefits Of Having A Pet In Your Life?
- They help to keep you fit: One of the importance of having a pet in your life, is that they help their owners to keep fit, happy, and healthy. If you’re someone that thinks you need to exercise more or walk more around your neighborhood, then it’d be best to get a pet.
An ideal pet to get is a dog. One of the things you would be forced to do, as a dog owner, is that you’d have to walk your dog. Your dog would drag you out the front door, and also make you walk with fast paces, especially when walking them around. With a dog as a pet, you don’t require a personal trainer. Your dog would do all the drilling for you.
- Pets help to cure loneliness: One of the reasons why a lot of people get pets is so they won’t lonely. This is more ideal for individuals that lives alone, or if your partner works different shift patterns to you. Examples of pets to get in this case includes dog, cat.
Your pet would be at home waiting for you, even after a long day. Asides from waiting for you at home, they’d also be happy to have you back at home. They would lend you an ear to listen to how your day went, and they’d always be ready for a cuddle on your couch.
- They help to reduce stress: People are now busier, as compared to some years back. There are more cars, more deadlines to meet, more patients in the hospital, and so on. All these and more increases the stress level of people. Modern life is stressful and can heighten people’s anxiety. This is why it would be advisable to get a pet, especially when you realize that you’re under a lot of stress. Pets have a way of helping their owners relax. Stroking your dog or cat, or just watching your pig run around in your yard can make your worries melt away. Some studies have shown that pet owners generally do have low blood pressure as compared to others. In addition, they also tend to have a low cholesterol and triglyceride level, as compared to people who don’t own pets. The implication of this is those pet owners have a reduced risk of developing heart diseases such as a heart attack, later in life.
- Pets can help you make more friends: What a lot of people don’t realize is that there is such thing as a pet owner community, and they’re usually very friendly to one another.
As an example, fellow dog owners would stop to talk to you about your dog, while walking your dog in the park, or on the road. Having a pet is an excellent way of meeting new people, and bond within a short period of time, especially individuals that are not too good at socializing. In fact, some pet owners have met their significant other just by owning a pet. You never know, this might just happen to you.
- Having a pet can help improve the immune system: One of the things that put people off about owning pets, is that they get dirty, and also brings all sorts of dirt into the home. This can be quite irritating. However, there is an upside to this. These germs can help boost your immunity to illnesses such as a cold. Research carried in the past has shown that babies that live with a dog tend to have fewer infections, and are usually healthier than those who don’t keep pets.
- They can help to prevent your children from developing allergies: Although owning a pet isn’t a guarantee that your children would develop an allergy, but studies have shown that keeping pets can help to stop the development of specific allergies. However, it’s important to know that you shouldn’t keep pets if you have an allergy to them. As an illustration, asthmatic patients shouldn’t keep animals that have furs or wools, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, as their body furs or wools may trigger an episode.
- Keeping a pet helps to teach kids to be responsible: Most parents must, at some point in their life, heard their kids ask if they can have a puppy, hamster or a pony. Kids generally love animals. Pets can actually help kids learn a lot of things, and also help them to become responsible. In addition, pets can teach kids a lot of skills, especially when it comes to things such as cleaning out the cage, grooming and learning tricks, and most importantly nurturing and empathy skills, which would be vital for them later in life.
- They give us a sense of security: There are some pets that are used primarily for the purpose of security. Dogs are mostly used for this purpose. These types of dog are usually huge, and aggressive. These types of dog are capable of attacking intruders, or people they are not familiar with. However, these types of dogs can easily go rogue, so they usually need to be trained and regularly tamed, to get the best out of them. They also need to be well trained, so that they’d be obedient, and not attack friends of the owner, or kids.
References
Benefits of dog ownership to human health. (2007). Veterinary Record, 160(7), pp.209-209.
Iazzetti, L. (1998). Anticipatory guidance: Having a dog in the family. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 12(2), pp.73-79.
Orritt, R. (2014). Dog ownership has unknown risks but known health benefits: we need evidence-based policy. BMJ, 349(jul17 7), pp.g4081-g4081.