The Health Benefits Seniors Gain By Having A Pet
As we have seen in other articles posted before, pets have a good way of treating symptoms stemming from psychological and mental disorders. While not a direct medication or drug, pets ease the symptoms of their human companions. The elderly are no exception. This article intends to look at the specific ways pets can be of help to seniors.
Pets can lower blood pressure and stress levels
As you get older, it is typical for seniors to get higher blood pressure. Sure, you could be prescribed thousands of medication to help combat this. Or you could find a pet that can act as your companion.
According to the Center of Disease Control and the American Heart Association, owning a pet can lower blood pressure, cholesterol, stress, and triglyceride levels in seniors. This is not directly correlated with having more exercise, but rather the actual owning of a pet leads to people having lower levels than the non-owners.
21% fewer visits to the doctor
To go along with the above facts, if you have lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, you are more likely going to feel better and your body is going to function better. Apart from scheduled visits, seniors who own pets are less likely to visit doctors than non-pet owners. Also, if we take into account lowered stress levels, seniors would benefit greatly as they would not have to worry so much about minor inconveniences.
Offer Companionship
People come. People go. Often, seniors see a lot of people exit from their lives and are sometimes left with nobody around. Having a pet become a companion is becoming more and more commonplace.
Loneliness is a terrible feeling. Just the simple fact of knowing that somebody is there can alter your mood drastically. Pets often fill the void of a friend or a loved one who has gone away. And knowing that pets are quick to show their love and usually always happy, they provide not only a body, but a smiling face. They become a ray of light through the clouds and a companion when you most need.
Easier to go out and talk to people
Pets are a great way for a senior, or any other person, to increase social interaction. With the increasing amount of places that pets are allowed, it seems like a no brainer for a senior to own a pet. Taking a pet along to a social gathering is a great way to break the ice. For seniors, there may be gatherings or special events where it may be hard to meet new people. Having a companion with you make a great talking point and provides everybody a chance to meet you.
Seniors become more active
Not only can a pet increase the opportunity for meeting new people, but having an animal around means that the senior is probably going to be more active. Dogs need to be walk. Cats need to be played with. Pets in general need to be let free from time to time. This requires that their owner needs to go out and exercise.
Not only is there obvious physical benefit from exercising, but there are mental health and psychological benefits correlated with increasing exercise.
Seniors take better care of themselves
We have already covered bases that say that seniors have physical and mental health benefits from pet ownership. But having pets is somewhat of a chore and requires some sort of routine. Structuring a plan to take care of your pet that you are able to carefully plan and take care of yourself. A person with a pet starts to help with a person’s time management, scheduling how things are to be done and when to be done. This translates to a person’s non-pet life, where you have to plan which moves to make and when. Seniors often start to take better care of themselves in all aspects of life when a pet is introduced.
Sense of security
We talk about pets offering companionship. Well we also know that pets offer security of their owners. We know that seniors may encounter health problems at any time. Animals are keen to their owners and are quick to react when something happens. A pet can alert somebody of a physical problem with their senior owner or protect them from danger. Pets are very useful as a security measure for seniors.
These are some reasons why seniors benefit from having pets around, aside from their unconditional love and affection. If you are in need or know somebody in need of an emotional support animal, Emotional Support Animal Co is ready to help you.