The Power of Pets
Anyone who has a pet knows about the power of pets. They are mood boosters, help keep us healthy, and they hold us accountable.
Mood-Boosting Pet Power
Having pets around can lower stress, heart rate, and blood pressure. They can increase the presence of the feel-good hormone oxytocin, offer unconditional love, companionship, and lots of fun.
You have no doubt felt the joy of being greeted with a wagging tail, or a loving leg nuzzle. The pleasure you experience with such a greeting boosts your mood and changes your body chemistry.
These interactions additionally have the benefit of lowering the blood pressure of your pet too. So, it’s a win, win for both you and your pet!
Companion Health Benefits
While a pet is an irreplaceable companion, your dog or cat can also be one of the best motivators for getting you out and living an active, healthy life.
For this reason, research studies have found that people who have a pet have healthier hearts, stay home sick less often, make fewer visits to the doctor, get more exercise, and are less depressed.
Dogs need to be walked, and most cats need to be stimulated. So, get out and walk Fido. Make him your exercise buddy. Jogging, hiking, swimming, playing fetch, and even biking are all fantastic activities to do with your dog.
Fun Fact: Mental stimulation from exercising helps quiet dogs who woof, yap and yowl excessively to communicate.
Similarly, get Mr. Whiskers moving too. Although tossing around a catnip mouse is not cardio for you, any time you spend standing instead of sitting is a plus!
Pet Accountability
Even if you’ve had the worst day in the world, your pet still expects you to greet them, pet them and feed them. It might seem like they are being selfish, but you’ve trained them to respond to you at certain times of the day. So, you are accountable to them regardless of how awful your day was.
To tell the truth, being held accountable to your pet can set your day right again. Routines and commitment are as beneficial to you as they are to your pet.
Lastly, your accountable for your pets’ health and well-being. Our pets cannot drive, nor can they use a phone so it’s our responsibility to plan their vet visits to keep them healthy and pawfect!
A Ponder from the Author about, ‘The Power of Pets’
When writing this post, I thought to myself wouldn’t it be great if I could interview a pet to get their perspective on themselves and their humans!
Sadly, I could not so I did the next best thing, I asked Christy from the Canadian Career Academy on behalf of her feline, Scully.
And so, here are the answers to my burning pet questions. Enjoy!
An Interview with Scully the cat
Q. If you were a celebrity, who would you be and why?
Q. How old are you Scully, and what breed are you?
Q. Did your owner choose you or did you choose him?
Q. What emotional support do you provide your owner, Scully?
Q. Where do you think your owners go when they leave the house?
I do worry about them when they leave, I always think they will never return. Sometimes I scold them by meowing ‘never leave again’. But so far, it hasn’t worked.
Q. When you’re alone at home, what is your favourite pastime?
This Interview for ‘The Power of Pets’ post is going great!
Q. Do you look away when your owner wants to take a selfie with you?
Q. By the way, why do squirrels distract you?
Q. Scully, is there anything your owners do that you wish you could?
Q. Long days on a sunny windowsill or playing with catnip, which do you prefer?
Q. Finally, on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your animal-human bond?
Post Contributors – Christy Thurgood and Scully, the cat.
“Pets do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.” – Orhan Pamuk
For some professional insight into pets, please follow the link to The Frequency Podcast Network ‘How 2 Dog’
