We always try to remind you to be good with animals and how animals can be good for us too. The samples we took were mostly wild animals distant from our lives, like rhinoceros, whales, jellyfish, or maybe sloths.
But we seemed to forget about the closest animals we can be kind to: our pets. In fact, our pets can do us good too. Our pets can benefit us a lot, and even though the benefits they can give to us is not like saving us from global warming or climate change, but they are not less important!
First thing to note is, pets are highly dependent on us to survive, be healthy, and happy. But don’t you know that we all depend on them just as much? Here in this article we will show you how pets can change your life into a better condition.
Source Of Entertainment
Global warming, climate change, melting icebergs, and adult responsibilities are stressing us a lot, right? That’s why we need something that can reduce our stress level, a kind of source of entertainment that’s always there for us.
Having a pet is the answer for this, no matter what kind of pet it is. Imagine coming home from work to a hug from your golden retriever, or having your cat rubs itself to your feet, or maybe a deep intense stare of your goldfish behind the glass.
No matter what kind of pet you have, having them welcoming you at the front door gives a slight moment of happiness. Well, that slight happiness you get from your pet is actually a scientific thing. That bounding moment actually triggers your brain to produce oxytocin, the feel-good hormone.
In addition, responding to their nice behavior has been proven to be able to reduce stress-hormone level, cortisol. With lesser stress-hormone and more feel-good hormone, having a pet simply makes your life in this cruel world feels easier.
Feeling the urge to get a pet? You don’t need to rush it, because adopting a pet needs some preparations. Meanwhile, researchers found out that you can just watch videos of pets to get the same effects, even though having a real pet will boost your mental health.
Kill Silence
Silence indeed kills, but owning a pet can easily kill the silence. A pet is the most loyal company you can have. Even though your cats love to wander around the block but they will always come back to your arms at the end of the day.
Loneliness is heavily linked with depression, while the presence of a pet will likely help you to get rid of loneliness instantly. You can talk to them anytime, you can simply play with them, and they can accompany you anywhere you go.
Loneliness is also linked with anxiety, and the presence of pets in your house can help you overcome this too. With their 24/7 presence around you, you will more likely get more peace of mind, because your pets will never leave you no matter who you are. (In fact, humans are the ones who abandon their pets)
Thus, the presence of pet will more likely bring you to more stable mental state. Mental illness is one of the biggest cause of physical disease, which means that having a pet will help you to avoid more mental illnesses that result in physical disease.
The problem is, such kind of mental illnesses may also happen to animals that don’t get enough attention from their owners. So, interacting with your pet is actually a mental and physical win-win solution. Take good care of your pet and they will take good care of yourself.
Barking Heartily
Another benefit of having a pet, especially a dog, has been proven to increase your cardiovascular health. Researchers found that average dog owners are getting 30 additional minutes of exercise a day. Even 0 plus 30 is still 30, right?
The reason is because a dog requires to be walked and played with several times a day. Although it seems simple, but walking a block or two with your dog once a day and playing chase with them is counted as physical exercise.
Another research found that owning a dog, and taking good care of it, can give greatly reduce your risk of getting coronary artery disease. Their presence has also been linked to lower cholesterol level and more stable heart rate and blood pressure.
But does it only apply to dogs? No, you can also get those benefits from having other kinds of pet that doesn’t require being in a cage or container. However, you might need to obey their demand for physical activities.
In example, playing chase with cats or horse is able to give you the same benefits. Dogs are special, since at some level they can express their emotion. Cats and horses are not that good in communicating their emotion, but believe us they also have the needs for physical activities with us as much as we do with them.
Better Social Life
Try to walk your dog in a park and make a note each time someone call it a good boy. Or show the picture of your cute rabbit wearing a ribbon and see how many people are ‘aww’-ing to it. Yes, pets can be good topic for conversation with other people too.
An article in BBC stated that being a dog owner indirectly tells everyone around that you are trustworthy. The reason is because dogs can sense if you are a trustworthy person or not. Thus, showing that your dog trusts you can increase your social status too.
Not only those mentioned above, even if you are already in a relationship or being surrounded with good people, the presence of a dog or a cat can improve your relationship with your loved ones. The reason is because people with pets show higher self-esteem.
With higher self-esteem, we are less fearful to get close to other people. This way, we can gain their trust easier and maintain the bond we have already made with them because we show our trust to them first.
“In summary, pets can serve as important sources of social support, providing many positive psychological and physical benefits for their owners,” said the researchers. Are you now thinking of getting a pet, or spending more time to play with your pet after reading this article? Good.
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