5 Amazing Reasons to Pet (or Own) a Pet

• “Psychosocial and psychophysiological effects of human-animal interactions: the possible role of oxytocin,” Frontiers in Psychology, July 2012. In this review, researchers analyzed 69 studies on the effects of human-animal interactions, including animal-assisted therapy and pet ownership, on social interactions and on physical and mental health. The combined results showed evidence of positive effects such as improvement of social behaviors and mood; reduction in heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels; and improvement of mental and physical health. The researchers suggest that many of these effects could be related to the release of oxytocin from physical contact with animals. Read the full review.

• “The Brain and Social Connectedness: GCBH Recommendations on Social Engagement and Brain Health,” Global Council on Brain Health, 2017. This report summarizes expert consensus, based on available scientific evidence, about the importance of social engagement in maintaining thinking skills and slowing cognitive decline as people age and provides 12 recommendations to optimize and promote social connections. The authors acknowledge that pets can provide a form of social support and facilitate interactions with other people. Read the full report.

• "Physical activity, weight status, and neighborhood characteristics of dog walkers," Preventive Medicine, September 2008. In this study, researchers recorded the daily minutes of moderate to vigorous activity of 2,199 participants (20 to 65) over the course of a week. They found that a higher proportion of participants who walked their dogs met the national recommended amount of physical activity and that there were fewer obese dog walkers compared with people who did not have dogs or who did not walk their dogs. Though the study provides some evidence that dog walking could be a strategy for promoting physical activity, the researchers point out that dog walkers were more likely to live in highly walkable neighborhoods and that dog owners had higher incomes and were more likely to be white. Read a summary of the study. (A fee is required to access the full study.)

• “Pets and Human Health in Germany and Australia: National Longitudinal Results,” Social Indicators Research, May 2006. This study combines data from general population surveys conducted in Australia (1,246 respondents) and Germany (9,723 respondents) about pet ownership and health. The researchers found that the healthiest population group in both countries (people who made the fewest doctor visits) was people who currently had a pet and had owned it for at least five years. Read a summary of the study. (A fee is required to access the full study.)

• "Pets' Impact on Your Patients' Health: Leveraging Benefits and Mitigating Risk," Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, July 2015. In this review, researchers lay out research demonstrating potential health benefits and risks of having pets. The potential benefits include enhancing feelings of happiness and security and facilitating social connections; encouraging regular exercise and healthy eating patterns; motivating people to quit smoking for their pet’s health; and helping with treatment plans for physical and mental health conditions. The potential risks include transmitting zoonotic diseases, causing injury and draining financial, social and emotional resources. Read the full review.

• “Pet ownership and cardiovascular risk reduction: Supporting evidence, conflicting data and underlying mechanisms,” Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology, August 2011. In this review, researchers analyzed multiple studies about the effects of pet ownership on cardiovascular risk. Some studies show that dog owners are less sedentary, have lower blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides, and have improved survival after a heart attack than non-pet owners, but there is conflicting data for each of these factors. Read a summary of the review. (A fee is required to access the full review.)

• "Animal companions and one-year survival of patients after discharge from a coronary care unit," Public Health Reports, July-August 1980. In this study, researchers examined the relationship between pet ownership and one-year survival in 92 patients (ages 37 to 79) who had been hospitalized with a heart attack or symptoms of coronary heart disease. The researchers found that patients who had one or more pets had a better one-year survival rate than patients without pets. Though the researchers accounted for many variables, they suggest that this association could be due to differences in personality or social condition between people who have pets and people who don’t. Read the full study.

• “The Impact of Sustained Ownership of a Pet on Cognitive Health: A Population-Based Study,” Journal of Aging and Health, August 2022. In this study, researchers compared measures of cognitive function with pet ownership data in 1,369 U.S. adults older than 50. They found that participants over 65 who owned a pet for more than five years demonstrated higher cognitive scores than non-pet owners, but there was no significant difference in cognitive scores under 65, suggesting that sustained pet ownership could mitigate some loss of cognitive function in older adults. Read a summary of the study. (A fee is required to access the full study.)

• “A long-term study of elderly people in nursing homes with visiting and resident dogs,” Applied Animal Behaviour Science, April 1996. In this study, researchers examined the effects of dog visits on 95 residents at three nursing homes. The strongest effect was seen at the nursing home given a resident dog, where tension, confusion, depression and fatigue decreased in elderly residents and vigor increased. Similar, though less significant, trends were seen at the nursing homes where a dog visited once per week or a researcher without an animal visited once per week. Read a summary of the study. (A fee is required to access the full study.)