Having a pet is good for your health

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 04 Jul 2004 - 24:00 PDT

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Pets are good for your health, apparently. A cuddly cat, a loving dog: Some people are so attached to their pets you'd think they were part of the family. Well, as any pet owner will tell you, they are! But unlike relationships with human family members, which can sometimes be difficult and a source of stress, owning a pet can significantly improve overall health and reduce risk of disease. "The benefits of pet ownership are real -- physically, mentally and psychosocially," confirms Dr. Daniel Joffe, a Calgary veterinarian who specializes in companion animals.

Dr. Joffe points out that pet therapy or what is known in medical circles as "Animal Assisted Therapy" (AAT) has been shown in dozens of studies to reduce loneliness and improve health in many different kinds of patients.

THE BENEFITS OF PET THERAPY

Research into animal assisted therapy (AAT) has revealed that pets and patients are a health-boosting combination. Dr. Joffe's review of the medical literature, including the Journal of Gerontology Medical Sciences, Nursing Clinics of North America, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, the Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine, Holistic Nursing Practice, and the American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias, has revealed that pet therapy has the following benefits:

-- It can increase social interaction among patients in a long-stay psychiatric population.

-- In a nursing home or residential care center, even patients who are usually withdrawn like to pat, talk to and even walk a pet. This not only gets them out and about and talking to other people, it also provides opportunities for physical and recreational therapy.

-- Companion animals are good company for orthopedic patients who may not be very mobile as a result of a broken limb or a back problem, for instance.

-- When patients with dementia are given AAT, they become less agitated and more interested in social interaction.

-- In patients with HIV/AIDS, AAT can help prevent or combat loneliness and depression and increase feelings of happiness. AAT with a cat can complement supportive relationships with family and friends.

IS YOUR PET VOLUNTEER MATERIAL?

So maybe you're the proud owner of a cute kitten or pup. You think he or she would make a great pet therapy candidate, so you just look up the number of the nearest nursing home and head on over, right? Wrong!

First you need to enroll in a well-structured program such as St. John Ambulance Canada, which has Pet Therapy programs across Canada. Through the St. John Ambulance Canada Dog Therapy Program, more than 2,500 volunteers and their dogs are brought together with 30,000 people isolated from the community.

If your dog is of sound temperament, chances are he or she can become a therapy dog, especially if he or she demonstrates capabilities such as:

-- Accepting a friendly stranger

-- Sitting politely for petting

-- Walking on a loose leash

-- Walking through a crowd (including wheelchairs)

-- Sitting on command/staying in place

-- Reacting well to another dog or to distractions such as noise or a jogger

"A well-run [pet] visitation program involves people to screen pets, validate their health certificates and monitor 'risk management' on an ongoing basis," points out Dr. Joffe, who is a member of the Pet Access League Society (PALS), a Calgary-based organization which also provides screening and training for animals to be used in pet therapy. When pets aren't screened or monitored, they can be a source of "zoonotic" or infectious disease passed from animals to humans. While the risk of this kind of disease in pet visitation programs is very low, these risks can be minimized even further with good practices and a bit of common sense.

"You can't say, 'Oh, my Aunt has a nice dog. I'm going to take him to the hospital,' " explains Dr. Joffe. All it takes, he adds, is a couple of problems and "it can blow all your good intentions out of the water." Still, says Dr. Joffe, "in my opinion, the benefits of pet therapy are great and far outweigh the risks."

DO'S AND DON'TS OF PET THERAPY

Dr. Joffe recommends the following for introducing a pet into a Pet Therapy program:

-- Don't take kittens or puppies that have not been fully immunized and that may not be fully trained into a health care facility.

-- Don't take pets fed a raw diet (raw meat, raw eggs or unpasteurized dairy products) into a health care facility. They can be a source of salmonella, bacteria found in uncooked meats and other unprocessed foods that could put someone with a suppressed immune system -- including cancer patients, HIV/AIDS patients and the elderly -- at risk of infection.

-- Don't take a pet with an uneven temperament into a health care facility. It could bite or scratch someone.

-- Don't leave a pet to roam free outdoors where they can hunt, eat garbage and animal feces.

-- Do provide a pet with clean water at all times so it doesn't drink out of toilets.

-- Do give a pet therapy pet good quality commercial food.

-- Do have your pet examined regularly by a veterinarian to make sure that all vaccinations are up to date and that the animal is free of worms and parasites.

WHEN YOU CAN'T MANAGE AN ANIMAL...

Elderly people living alone or in a long-term care facility often feel isolated and suffer from loneliness and depression. Having an animal in their lives can change all that. Sometimes, however, having an animal around isn't always practical, and in the case of someone with Alzheimer's disease, may even put the animal's well-being at risk.

Now, researchers at the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine in West Lafayette, Indiana, may have hit on a solution.

Remember Tamagochi and Furby, those cuddly battery-powered pets that would respond to your care?

Now, they're testing AIBO, a robotic dog, to see if this man-made creature can provide the same kind of physiological, cognitive and emotional benefits to the elderly as real animals do. AIBO will be paired with an older adult who lives alone and will use a journal to track daily activities, social interaction and so on, with the cyber-pooch in tow. (Source: Robotic Pets and the Elderly, Purdue University)

Will he be as loyal and loving a companion as the real thing? Will he confer the same health benefits on his elderly master or mistress? Hopefully. But one thing we know for sure: Stooping and scooping just got a whole lot easier!

CANADIAN HEALTH NETWORK