Your pets gift you more benefits than you ever imagined

Pets are great companions to humans. Be it a cat or dog, having a furry buddy at your home assures you and your family a lot of health and social benefits. There are various physical, mental and emotional advantages as well, right from loyal security, better socialisation to even lowering a person’s risk of heart attack or detecting cancer early.

What comes as a surprise is that a pet at your home can significantly reduce the likelihood of children developing allergies by as much as 33 per cent, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison pediatrician James E. Gern’s research studies. So much so, his research, which was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – categorically spells out that children exposed early on to animals tend to develop stronger immune systems.

You might be knowing this benefit already. Pets help us relax and serve as great stress-busters. Some heart-related studies conducted on pet parents by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the United States have proven that pet owners exhibit decreased blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels. All these factors have a lot of bearing on one’s risk of getting a heart attack.

Even those who have already experienced a heart attack tend to have better recovery rates, if they happen to be owning a cat or a dog. These benefits are thought to be connected with pets’ tendency to help reduce or, at least, control their owners’ overall stress levels.

Dogs have an immaculate sense of smell, so sharp that they can even detect the occurrence of cancer in their human buddies. There are several cases in which pet owners were saved by their dogs, after the latter were constantly pawing at, sniffing or even licking a tumour hidden underneath the skin.

Pets have a huge role to play in bettering your socialisation skills, especially when you bump into and talk to other pet owners. Having a pet is a great way to meet new people and create bonds quickly, especially if you are a reserved person.

All breeds of dogs need regular, daily walks in order to stay happy and healthy, very much like their human counterparts. Dog owners who walk their dogs daily are less likely to be obese than others who don’t or non-dog owners.