A pet is a loyal friend. You may not have noticed but you may have positive feelings when you are around a pet. Spending time with your pet can have a high impact on your health and your mood. Pets are one of the best ways to fight back against stress.

You can learn how your pet can improve your health.

 Impact on Your Heart

Having a pet may reduce your risk of heart disease. If you have a dog you need to take it out for a walk or at least to go to the bathroom. This can help increase your activity and lower your blood pressure. Studies have shown that heart attack survivors who owned a dog lived longer than people that did not have a pet.

 Reduce Stress

Petting an animal makes the animal happy and makes you feel good. This can help lower blood pressure levels and help the body release an important hormone for relaxation. This will reduce the levels of the stress hormone in the body.

 Improve Socialization

People that have pets especially dogs are able to be more social and connect with others than people that do not have pets. Humans need social interaction by nature and pets can help with this. When a person is walking their dog outside, others are more comfortable to start up a conversation.

 Improve Mood

People that have pets are generally happier. According to recent studies they are also more trusting and not lonely than people that do not have pets. Pets are good company. While they may not be able to speak they are able to communicate.

A pet can give a person a sense of belonging and for some people a sense of family. They can have someone to care for and this gives meaning to their life.

These are some ways that your pet can improve your health. A pet is a good company and they will love you no matter how bad or a day you are having or the mood you are in.

Do Pets Make People Healthier?

It is a topic that most people will not think about.

People have had pets since the cavemen and wolves teamed up to help each other.

The wolf had somewhere safe to sleep, and the caveman had a warning system.

And a helper when it came to hunting and protecting their clan.

Today, dogs of hundreds of species, most originating directly from those cave-sharing wolves. They also help the disabled and the lonely to get through life with companionship and love.

Disabled people, like myself, use dogs as a means to make us get up, to go outside to play with and exercise them.

Without dogs, we stay at home and read or watch television.

As it can be too painful to go out for a walk, to a restaurant or a movie.

Companion dogs, aid dogs, and guide dogs all have their specific. And different roles to play in helping people who can not help themselves.

Or who are all alone in this world.  A reason to get up, get dressed and go outside is what they give us.

Aside from unlimited love and protection. Dogs can and will warn us when there is someone trying to get into our homes.

Or just when someone is approaching our homes.  They tell us when other animals are on our property.

and warn other dogs outside that they had better get off of our property.

Dogs give people of all stripes an unconditional love that has no bounds.

They gladly give their lives in protecting us, and all they ask for is a warm home.

Food when they are hungry and water when they are thirsty.

And to return the love that they so willingly bestow upon us.

They even teach us that there is more to life than to sit around the home and feel pity for ourselves.

The Saint Louis School of Medicine did a study that concluded that elderly people in homes for the aged felt much better.

With a visit from a pet than they did from a visit by people alone.

People with animals in their lives tend to walk more often and for longer periods of time.

They take their pets to parks, to lakes and rivers to swim and play, and in so doing make themselves happier and healthier.

People who really love their pets will feed themselves more, skipping fewer meals.

As they need the energy to care for the pets that give so much love and companionship to them.

Pets give is warm feelings, and in return, those warm feelings help our health.

It has been proven that petting a puppy gives a human a serotonin surge, a physiological response that aids in positive emotions.

According to a University of Missouri, professor of nursing and veterinary medicine had a group of people play with either robot dogs or live dogs.

The levels of serotonin and prolactin, the “feel good” hormones in people’s brains, was greatly elevated in the people.

Who played with the live animals compared to those who played with the robot dogs.

The conclusion was that pets give us feel-good emotions.

And these feel-good emotions help our minds and our bodies in positive ways.

One thing that really defines our love and commitment to our pets is that we allow our children into our bedrooms to sleep with us. Until they are 3 to 6 years old.

However, we allow our pets to stay in our beds with us until they lose control of their bowels and bladders.

Another well-proven aspect of having pets is that they make people happier.

Pets also help children to prevent allergies to animals later in life.

As they are exposed to their hairs and oils (the most common allergy reactors), which prevents allergies as the children get older.

When living alone, as compared to living with pets, people tend to be more lonely.

And thus more depressed, as compared to people living with pets, who tend to be happier.

And get laughs from, and play with their pets.  Simply watching your pet play with their toys.

Or even better yet, your two pets interacting with each other. They will give the pet owner a laugh or two every now and then.

And everyone knows that laughter is the best medicine!

When we lose a family member or loved one, our pets will even console us. And give us that extra boost we need to get on with our lives.

Pets lessen the effects of loneliness and depression, simply by needing our care and attention.

We need to walk them and take them to the dog park, where we interact with other people in the same situation as we are.

Pets can also act as an introduction service with other people, which can lead to friendships, companionship and more.

Having pets has been proven to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, making them better than a pill prescribed by a doctor, as pets have fewer side effects.

Nobody wants to be alone in this world, and some people prefer the companionship of pets over that of most people.

Don’t get me wrong here, people need other people, but pets are a special case.

They give us unconditional love, are waiting for us with bated breath while we are separated.

And we look forward to getting back home to our pets when we have to leave them to go to medical appointments.

People with arthritis get beneficial therapy from petting pets.

The simple act of rubbing our pets behind the ears, or stroking their fur gives a therapeutic benefit.

Happiness is another benefit of owning pets, as they play and make us laugh.

Cuddle and make us comfortable and happy.  Pets seem to have more of a beneficial effect on us than most medicines d.

And they have little side-effects, like having to pick up after them.

And then there are blind people, who can not get around without their guide dogs.

Which are, in effect, still pets.  Blind people who have guide dogs tend to get more exercise than the blind people who rely on their canes and other people to get around.

The benefits of exercise cannot be refuted in the health of people. And our pets force us to get that exercise that we so badly need.

The fresh air, the sights and the socializing with other pet owners do so much good for the health of pet owners.

If you are alone in life, a pet can make the difference between living, and be living from day to day.