Do Pets Affect Your Health?

Make an informed decision about pet ownership by understanding that, while a pet improves mental health, it may affect your physical health in positive and negative ways. Consider this when discussing getting a cat or dog with your family; pets help keep you in shape and expose your household to disease and allergens at the same time.

Mental Health

• Affectionate and joyous when you return home, pets lift your spirits and ensure you never come back to an empty house. They offer constant companionship, which is especially important for the elderly and the disabled who have limited human contact, and keep their owners' from being sad due to loneliness. Even though they take up a lot of time, money and attention, pets repay you with unconditional love that positively affects your mental health.

Heart Health

• Playing with your pets gives them an outlet for their energy and strengthens your heart. Walking your dog several times a day is beneficial to your health, regardless of current physical fitness level. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) held a conference in 2008 where leading experts in the study of human-animal bonds shared findings that showed a correlation between pet ownership and heart health. A study funded by NIH showed that regardless of severity, victims of heart attacks who owned dogs were more likely to be alive than their dog-less counterparts.

Allergens

• Before committing to owning pets, remember that animal dander and hair cause allergic reactions in some people. Studies, however, show that families who are not allergy-prone may see lower chances of their children having allergies in their first year when raised around pets. James E. Gern, M.D., reported in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology that infants had stronger immune responses when raised around a cat or dog.

Disease

• Spread between domestic animals and humans, zoonosis commonly comes from cats. However, dogs can still infect their owners through fecal matter and oral contact. People with a compromised immune system due to illness, age or pregnancy may show symptoms of infection if they come in contact with a sick animal. Pet owners who have strong immune systems combat exposure to zoonosis with no ill effects. Proper hygiene and pet care prevent the transmission of diseases to humans and even those in the at-risk category may safely own pets.