We all know how much love and joy our pets bring us, and it seems science has recognising just how much of a positive impact our pets have on our lives.
How do dogs help us live longer?
A study published in Scientific Reports highlights that dog owners have a significantly lower risk of death due to cardiovascular disease, as well as death due to other causes. This was particularly clear with dog owners who live alone. The study focused on 3.4 million men and women between the ages of 40-80 and the findings were pretty incredible:
People who lived alone with a dog had a 36% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease-relate death than people who lived alone without a dog. Let’s also take into account the fact that dog owners are likely to be more active, due to the need to walk their dogs. This not only aids in the general wellbeing of a dog owner but also boosts the parasympathetic nervous system, too.
How do cats help us live longer?
While there hasn’t been a study of the same depth into the impact of cats on the life expectancy of their owners, there is a wealth of research into the hugely therapeutic quality cats bring to our lives. A 2008 report on a much smaller scale study to the Swedish one into dog owners highlighted cats similarly reduced the risk of death due to cardiovascular diseases in their owners.
Research also indicates that cats are a great source of companionship and motivation for their owners, and they also help reduce anxiety and stress. In fact, the frequency cats’ purrs reach is said to promote healing in both cats and humans – a truly incredible fact. This is one of the many reasons they are used as therapy animals in nursing homes and hospitals.
We can thank science for these brilliant facts, but when it comes down to it, the truth of the matter is that we knew all along just how important our pets are to our quality of life! You just haver to read some of our For Better Humans stories to agree.