# Hello pet. Heal me! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-pet-heal-me/199677 "2003-09-05T06:24:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SkyBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@SkyBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkyBum)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-pet-heal-me/199677/1 "2003-09-05T06:24:08Z")
I suppose there is plenty of room here for skeptics, but I have to admit that [this](http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-09-02-pet-benefits_x.htm) seems like an interesting possibility. I have heard it said many times that people with pets may live longer (although it must be tough to back that statement up…) > [@](#): > > Pet owners often say their dogs, cats and other animal companions make them feel better, and there’s a growing body of science to back that up, says epidemiologist Maryellen Elcock of the Delta Society, a national non-profit that trains therapy animals for schools, libraries and health facilities. > > Recent studies show pet owners live longer and are less lonely than non-pet owners; children in households with pets have higher self-esteem; and heart patients with pets have lower mortality rates. “The connection between humans and animals is a physiological effect, a measurable effect” that results in better overall health, Elcock says. Something worth pondering, either way. I’d love to hear what ya’ll think about this. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-pet-heal-me/199677/2 "2003-09-05T07:39:21Z")
I don’t have a pet, but sometimes when I’m feeling particularly stressed out, I daydream about petting and playing with a dog or cat. It really does make me feel better. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-pet-heal-me/199677/3 "2003-09-05T07:59:03Z")
It is not uncommon to have a “ward dog” for people recovering from or living with illnesses. Interacting with animals such as cats and dogs lowers the blood pressure among other things. The japanese have released a robotic “pet-seal” that gives the same effect, especially to patients with dementia who have a harder time diferentiating between a real and not-real pet. The robotic pets are obviously also non-allergenic and will stay still as required etc. ---
**Author:** ![SkyBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@SkyBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkyBum)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-pet-heal-me/199677/4 "2003-09-06T00:36:11Z")
I just think it’s kind of cool when science begins to back up things which seem a bit off the wall at first glance. I have seen a lot of science going into previously unknown territory lately. I don’t necessarily buy all of it but I do have an open mind about such things… Pets are pretty cool. It’s nice to see them getting the credit they deserve. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-pet-heal-me/199677/5 "2003-09-06T00:52:39Z")
Several years ago I went through some severe depression. I credit my four goldfish in helping me get through each day. Of all the pets I’ve had, they were the ones who have left the biggest impression on me. I had them for four to six years and I still miss them even now. The power to heal comes in all shapes and sizes. ---
**Author:** ![Sinshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sinshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinshine)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-pet-heal-me/199677/6 "2003-09-06T03:28:51Z")
Mixed reactions to the thought that my cat might heal. On the harmful hand, she insists on sleeping on my legs in a way that cuts off the circulation. Every. Damn. Night. And she thinks an appropriate way to welcome me home is to trip me every few steps until I come to a dead stop and pick her up. However, I had a back spasm a few weeks ago which woke me up in a degree of pain I hope never to recall clearly. While I was trying to figure out what was wrong (sleepy me thought the place was being burgled, actually), and then what to do about it (eventually concluded that **if** I could move, I would go get a heating pad) she climbed aboard, turned herself in three circles, and then lay down, purring louder than I have heard her do in a long time. Once I got over wanting to kill her for walking on my spasming back, I realized that she was vibrating her body heat directly into the offending muscles. Maybe she **was** trying to help, after all. ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-pet-heal-me/199677/7 "2003-09-06T04:42:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Recent studies show pet owners live longer and are less lonely than non-pet owners; children in households with pets have higher self-esteem; cause and effect people! cause and effect! seems like if this is true, that the more reasonable answer is “people that are dieing don’t buy new pets”. if I have late stage AIDS and a bad case of cancer I am not gonna go buy a cat. and if I beat by kids I am not going to give them a goldfish. I would really think they are switching the cause and effect. people that own pets probobly do live longer, because people in worse situations have statisticly less pets. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-pet-heal-me/199677/8 "2003-09-06T04:52:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlofcreamcheese \* > \*\*cause and effect people! cause and effect! > > seems like if this is true, that the more reasonable answer is “people that are dieing don’t buy new pets”. if I have late stage AIDS and a bad case of cancer I am not gonna go buy a cat. and if I beat by kids I am not going to give them a goldfish. > > I would really think they are switching the cause and effect. people that own pets probobly do live longer, because people in worse situations have statisticly less pets. \*\* We’re not playing with YOU anymore. Heh. 😃 [http://www.angelfire.com/film/merla/merlas\_cat.jpg](http://www.angelfire.com/film/merla/merlas_cat.jpg) As much as I’d like to claim him, that is Merla’s cat, not mine. ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-pet-heal-me/199677/9 "2003-09-06T06:05:02Z")
I’d die without my cats… much as they drive me nuts sometimes. When I am totally mired in depression they are there giving me love, whiskers in the ears at 3 am and the obligatory wet nose on an unsuspecting body part at any time:D I told my boyfriend , who is now my husband, never, never, never try to make me chose between my cats and him because I couldn’t promise to chose him. And much as he fusses about them when I had three die in one summer he drug me out to a barn and made me pick two of the kits to bring home again.