Did you know that keeping a pet is good for you?!

Having a pet keeps you healthier both in mind and body - it's a fact!

There are many ways in which pets help to improve our lives emotionally and psychologically - some of these are more obvious than others, of course - they give us companionship and offer us their unconditional love!

• It has been shown that they help us to have a better sense of psychological 'well-being' and to enable us to cope more effectively in stressful situations.

• Children who grow up in a home environment where there is contact with pets tend to develop more caring behaviour which will carry though into their adult lives.

• We also know that children who have pets in their family are more likely to be able to cope better when faced with the serious illness or death of a parent.

• Pets, clearly, can help reduce feelings of loneliness - following the loss of a spouse, or with special animal-assisted therapy for residents in long-term care facilities, for example.

• Pets can provide a whole host of opportunities for increased social contact -enabling people to meet and get to know others who have interests and enthusiasms in common - dog training classes, agility clubs, shows, etc. or just simply out for a walk in the park!

On the health front there have been shown to be lots of 'positives' from keeping a pet as well - in terms of general health, dogs create opportunities for increased exercise and, therefore, improved fitness (without having to go to the gym on a sunny afternoon!!). We pet owners tend to suffer less from minor illnesses such as coughs and colds - this may be because of beneficial effects on our immune system which fights off infection. There is a whole lot more too...

• Having a pet encourages lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels in our blood, which we know is likely to reduce risk of such conditions as 'heart attack' and stroke.

• They help us to maintain a lower blood pressure when compared to people without pets. They actually help improve survival time in patients that have had a 'heart attack'.

• Senior citizens may benefit particularly from continuing to keep a companion animal into their later years - it helps them to maintain a higher level of activity for longer. It has been shown that seniors with pets visit their doctor less often than non-pet owners, and are more likely to cope with stressful events without entering the healthcare system.

Some of this, you might think, is just common sense! But there may be some points here which you did not know or have stimulated your curiosity to find out more about how pets can influence our health and state of mind... if so here are some references where you should find more interesting information:

Healthy Pets for Healthy People
Delta Society - www.delta.society.org - Healthy Reasons to Have a Pet, Health Benefits of Animals
www.cdc.gov/healthypets/index.htm