{"id":1185,"date":"2016-07-21T19:52:11","date_gmt":"2016-07-21T23:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.freedomshowers.com\/?p=1185"},"modified":"2023-05-18T16:05:45","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T20:05:45","slug":"benefits-pets-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/benefits-pets-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Benefits of Owning Pets for Seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><strong>&#8220;<span style=\"color: #286cba;\">No outfit is complete without a little cat hair<\/span>.&#8221; &#8220;<span style=\"color: #286cba;\">Dogs aren&#8217;t our whole lives, but they make our lives whole<\/span>.&#8221; I could go on and on with famous quotes about our furry friends, there&#8217;s no shortage of love and you can&#8217;t go more than a few minutes on the internet without running into a cute puppy video or a cat in a peculiar pose. We&#8217;re not complaining. Heck, this is a post about pets after all.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No one would argue that having a pet adds joy to any household. Pets give unconditional love (even if our cats don&#8217;t always show it) and the silly things they do make us laugh just when we need it. A pet can be the perfect companion, especially for seniors living their golden years.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a list of reasons why seniors should have a pet (not that you really need another reason):<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #286cba;\">Improved Health<\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Many studies have shown that owning a pet\u201a and specifically\u201a the act of petting a cat or dog on a regular basis\u201a lowers blood pressure. In a <span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/blog\/a-dog-could-be-your-hearts-best-friend-201305226291\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2001 study of individuals<\/a><\/span> with high blood pressure, half of the participants received a dog or cat, the other half of the group didn&#8217;t. As you guessed, the group with a pet had significantly lower blood pressure after 6 months.\u00a0Another study showed that patients recovering from joint-replacement surgery required <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2014\/08\/140807180314.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #286cba;\">28% less pain<\/span><\/a> medication if they saw a therapy dog daily.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #286cba;\">Lower Depression<\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Pets keep seniors company\u201a fighting loneliness and depression. Talking to pets can cheer you up\u201a or they&#8217;ll do something so laughable just when you needed to smile. They love you unconditionally and seem to have a sixth sense of when you&#8217;re down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #286cba;\">Increased Social Interactions<\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Having a pet is a great topic of conversation. Pet lovers love nothing more than talking about their furry friend. At the dog park, dogs run around and play with one another, almost forcing their owners to make new friends. It\u2019s also been found that seniors with pets are more involved in their community\u201a smile and talk more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #286cba;\">Responsibility and Routine<\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>As people age they generally shed certain social roles. For instance, once you retire or your children leave home, going to work and child rearing are no longer part of your identity. Humans seem to have an undying need for a purpose and taking care of a pet is a great one. Elderly persons with pets feel needed by their furry friends\u201a and will more often stick to a regular routine themselves out of a sense of responsibility to their pets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #286cba;\">Exercise<\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Interacting and playing with your cat or dog adds that little bit of extra physical activity our bodies desire. Dogs need to be walked daily\u201a giving seniors a good reason to get out for a stroll. Even the necessary bending down to feed and clean up after any pet is good to keep the joints moving. A <span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba;\" href=\"https:\/\/newsinhealth.nih.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study of 2,000 adults<\/a><\/span> discovered that adults who regularly walked their dog had a significantly lower chance of obesity compared to adults without a dog.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #286cba;\">Security<\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Because of their heightened sense of hearing and smell\u201a animals are more alert than humans and are quick to indicate when someone is just outside. Sometimes that\u2019s a bark\u201a or running to the door\u201a sometimes that\u2019s just them lifting their head and looking in the direction of the noise. This can be a great indicator for elderly\u00a0individuals who may have lost some of their hearing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #286cba;\">Happiness<\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>There is no doubt elderly pet owners are happier overall than those without a four-legged companion. Cats and dogs are entertaining, loving, and often hilarious. Pets give seniors a sense of purpose and provide nonjudgmental acceptance. Also\u201a when seniors adopt older pets that need a home\u201a they are providing a loving home for a dog or cat also looking to enjoy their golden years. That\u2019s a win-win.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>On your<\/em><strong> left<\/strong><em> is a snapshot of our little one having a nap (she&#8217;s 11 and her name is Pumpkin), and on your <\/em><strong>right<\/strong>,\u00a0<em>we have our Accessibility Professional&#8217;s kitty mascot Tartan:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Snapchat-1146156098003086766-e1469143372570.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1196\" src=\"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Snapchat-1146156098003086766-e1469143372570.jpg\" alt=\"Pumpkin\" width=\"271\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Snapchat-1146156098003086766-e1469143372570.jpg 713w, https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Snapchat-1146156098003086766-e1469143372570-230x300.jpg 230w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 271px) 100vw, 271px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160326_152840853-e1469143553553.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1197\" src=\"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160326_152840853-e1469143553553.jpg\" alt=\"Tartan\" width=\"224\" height=\"353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160326_152840853-e1469143553553.jpg 1299w, https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160326_152840853-e1469143553553-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160326_152840853-e1469143553553-768x1211.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160326_152840853-e1469143553553-649x1024.jpg 649w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thanks again for reading! Do you have a furry friend? We\u2019d love to see a picture and know their name. Please comment below, we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n<p><em>If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook or Twitter below<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>P.S.<\/strong> <span style=\"color: #286cba;\">We\u2019d love to meet you on <strong><u><a style=\"color: #286cba;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FreedomShowers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter here<\/a><\/u>\u00a0<\/strong>or on\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #286cba;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Accessibility-Professionals-Inc-198494526882839\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook here<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;No outfit is complete without a little cat hair.&#8221; &#8220;Dogs aren&#8217;t our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.&#8221; I could go on and on with famous quotes about our furry friends, there&#8217;s no shortage of love and you can&#8217;t go more than a few minutes on the internet without running into a cute [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[98,142],"tags":[114,112,113],"class_list":["post-1185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle-for-aging-in-place","category-health-and-well-being-for-aging-americans","tag-elderly-pets","tag-pets","tag-seniors-pets"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1185"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7718,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions\/7718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}