EvyJo Compton
Reporter
Pets are synonymous with cute, cuddly, and expensive. It takes a lot of hard work and money to properly care for a pet, but the rewards are great. Pets can relieve stress, boost immune systems, improve emotional and heart health, and keep their owners safe when necessary.
Pet ownership is a long-term commitment and investment. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), there are six things that need to be done to properly care for a pet.
The AVMA states that the first step is to commit. This means choosing the pet that fits your lifestyle and needs appropriately and taking care to have only the number of pets that you can financially take care of.
The second step of proper pet ownership is to invest. Making sure pets are up to date on vaccinations, deworming, ear mites, farrier care, and what not.. The AVMA suggests having a backup of money for if or when an emergency with the pet happens.
Obey is the third step. Taking care of your pets’ needs, keeping up to date with and following local, state and federal laws, and making sure that the pet doesn’t become feral or stray, are all parts of the third step.
The fourth step of properly caring for a pet is to identify it. Proper identification is necessary to make sure that in the case of an accident, the pet can be returned to its owner. To do this, the AVMA suggests microchipping, collar tags, tattooing, and keeping the pet’s registration up to date in the county and state that the pet resides in.
The AVMA states that the fifth step is to limit. Limiting refers to keeping the population of pets down. The AVMA suggests keeping the pets spayed or neutered, or properly maintaining a breeding regiment.
The final step is to prepare. According to the AVMA, to prepare means to keep an emergency kit, making plans for when or if the owner can no longer care for the pet, and finally, consulting a veterinarian whenever there is a medical decline in the animal.
When pets are properly cared for it can become expensive. According to moneyunder30.com, a cat will cost roughly one thousand dollars during the first year of ownership, and a dog will cost roughly $1,250. On the big animal side, moneycrashers.com states that the average cost of a horse per year is almost four thousand dollars.
There are several benefits to owning pets. Some of these include better physical health such as less allergies, better emotional health, and less stress.
‘Readers Digest’ states that one of the biggest benefits to owning pets is that having pets will make you less lonely. Rd.com states that older adults who had pets were 36% less likely to report being lonely than those who did not have pets.
According to chopra.com, another benefit to having pets is the relief of stress that pets bring. Chopra.com refers to a study where they surveyed people who had dogs at home, people who brought their dogs to work, and people who didn’t have dogs at all. The results of the survey showed that those who brought their dogs to work had less stress than those who left their dogs at home, or those who didn’t have dogs at all. When those owners who brought their dogs to work, left their dogs at home, an increase of stress was reported.
Having a pet, such as a dog, can make a person feel more secure and safe. Petcube.com states that dogs especially have been known to act as a guard when a home is broken into or the owners are put in a potentially dangerous situation, and this knowledge lets people who own dogs sleep a little bit more soundly at night.
Chopra.com refers to another study that found that those who own pets are more emotionally healthy than those who do not. Those owners who had pets were seen to be more extroverted, and less fearful than those who did not have pets. Pets have also been used in pet therapy in which the patient receives time with a pet to help with emotional disorders.
Healthfitnessrevolution.com states that those who own cats are less likely to have a stroke than those who do not own cats. Cat owners are less likely to have a stroke possibly due to the low maintenance of cats and the calming presence that cats bring.
This website also states that those who own pets are 30 to 40 percent less likely to have a heart attack than those who do not have any pets. This is possibly due to the lower levels of triglycerides and cholesterol that occur due to owning pets.
Animalplanet.com refers to a study that shows that cuddling pets is actually found to reduce allergies. The study found that having a pet in the home can reduce a child’s chance of getting allergies of up to 33 percent.
Pets can be expensive, and their care can be hard work, but the pros outweigh the cons when the pet is properly taken care of.
