Pets For Seniors

The latest in health studies verifies that seniors with pets live longer, healthier and happier lives. We all know how captivating it is to watch a litter of puppies romp and play, to watch a kitten chase a fly, to hold and stroke a soft purring cat or walk a happy dog in the park are all positive life affirming activities a lot of seniors are missing out on at a time in their lives when friend and family become fewer and harder to come by.

In May of 1999, the Journal of American Geriatrics Society reported that seniors living on their own with their pet were physically and mentally healthier than others without a pet. At a senior residential home called, Eden Alternative, they provided over 100 birds, cats and dogs as well as an outdoor area dedicated to rabbits and chickens. They report a 15 percent decrease in the mortality rate when compared to the nursing homes that didn't allow animals, over a five year study.

The gist of the study comes down to “the need to be needed”. Pets need to be fed, walked and groomed. Just the act of caring for an animal is reason to get up the morning and create a viable routine for their lives. Having to be available to let the pet in and out is beneficial, if only, for the cardiovascular system. There is a comfort and pride in being needed. There is also a comfort in touching a pet: stroking and holding an animal provides the physical touch that often many in older age, find missing in their lives. Something they love, they can hold and touch, a pet is an interactive companion and a support. Many elderly have no other regular contacts with the world due to physical limitations and a pet works as a buffer from social isolation.

Animals help keep people’s minds off their problems. We all know someone in our family who is never able to focus on anything but a health PROBLEM or their family PROBLEM ....ugh. A pet gives focus outside of the elderly person often shrinking world. Just as when we become parents for the first time, the focus is suddenly off of everything negative and all energy becomes focused; our only reason for being alive, on our new innocent charge. Many elderly pet owners are more vital because they have a pet; just the acts of feeding, grooming, walking, cleaning up after and generally enjoying them, keeps older people feeling physically vital and feeling more fulfilled. For many older people, there is no one that truly knows them anymore, especially those who live into ripe old age; widowed, children gone, family gone, a pet is their familiar face, their family, their care giver and their only love left.