What Your Pets Can Do for Your Health and Happiness

These days, stress seems to impact us all, and it can affect us physically by increasing our blood pressure, giving us headaches, or resulting in depression. Loneliness, isolation, and vulnerability are all common feelings brought on by stress.

Tests have shown that owning a pet can help people attain a better level of physical health. Petting your animal, be it dog, cat, rabbit, or ferret, can lower your heart rate and blood pressure, and even promote healing.

Pets can help us in other ways too. They help us to relax and focus on things other than our personal problems. No matter how depressed we might be, and no matter how much we want to curl up in bed and stay there for a day, our pets can coax us out of it – even if only to feed them or let them outside.

Pets fulfill the natural craving we have for emotional relationships. Whenever we do something for another living thing, we feel better about ourselves. Here are some of the many ways pets provide us with comfort, care, and happiness:

Pets Are a Cure for Loneliness

Pets can help us to feel less lonely and isolated. Feeling needed also works to foster positive feelings. Ask the many elderly citizens or people living alone. Pets give a sense of purpose; they always need something – food, a walk, a pet, or a kind word – and they are always appreciative.

And as an added benefit, if you take your dog for a walk through the neighborhood or to a dog park, it is more than likely that another pet owner or passerby will stop to chat with you. Studies have shown that people walking with a dog talk to new people far more often than those without pets.

Coming home to your pet also gives you something to look forward to. Dogs may score highest in "greetings," but most pets are delighted to see their owners walk through the door and will show it in their own way. If you have a pet, you are never alone.

Animals Give Love Unconditionally

If you love your pet, that love comes back to you tenfold. And it is love of the best kind – unconditional and enduring. No matter your appearance or personality, your pet will love you for life, seeking not much more than food, a warm place to sleep, and an affectionate touch.

Pets Provide Physical Contact

When your purring cat sits cuddled in your lap, all is right with the world. Cuddling and stroking your pet are good for you, and they can help you forget about a bad day at work or those bills piling up. Your bird perched on your shoulder, your puppy licking your face, or stroking your horse's mane help to promote a sense of pleasure and calmness.

You Can Talk to Your Pet About Anything

It's a known fact that talking things out relieves a lot of internal pressure, but just having someone to talk to makes a difference too. Share your thoughts, feelings, troubles, worries – or say something stupid – and your pet will still love you no matter what. And you may find that by talking things out, you come up with your solutions to your problems.

Pets Offer a Sense of Security

Certain animals promote a sense of safety. Your dog will bark to warn you of impending danger, and even your cat will wake you if there is smoke in the house. But the sense of having someone with you is often enough to make you feel less anxious and more secure.

A Pet Is a Great Exercise Partner

If your pet needs to be walked every day, you'll be exercising – whether you want to or not. Walking with your dog also helps you to deal with the physical stress you have acquired throughout your day. It gives you an opportunity to get outside, clear your head, breathe the fresh air, and step away from the computer.

The Human-Animal Bond

The strength of the human-animal bond is not a myth. Although life with a pet is not always easy, the joy of pet ownership can be a wonderful experience. A snuggle from your cat or a slurpy kiss from your dog promotes happy feelings and creates a human/animal bond that can last for years to come.