There is a myriad of reasons why sharing your heart, your life, and your home with an animal, regardless of whether you have a pair of budgies, binkying bunnies or a cat or a dog, and many such benefits are related to improving both your physical and emotional health.

So, with this in mind, here is how owning a pet makes you healthier!

Owning a Pet Boosts Your Happiness Levels

First and foremost, the overarching benefit of owning a pet is that this sense of purpose and responsibility can quite literally boost your mood and enable you to live in the moment. 

Pets of all shapes and sizes provide companionship, and the sense of fulfillment you get, especially having rescued your loving animal rather than buying from a breeder, makes a huge difference to your levels of self-worth. 

Owning a Pet Makes You More Aware of Your Body’s Needs 

Another key advantage to owning a pet, in terms of your health and wellbeing, is related to the simple fact that you will naturally become more aware of when they are showing signs of illness or seem to be in pain. 

This intuitive behavior only improves over time, and you will start to learn not only about the species of your animal but you will also be more aware of how directly a small injury or circumstance can drastically decrease mobility and enjoyment in your own pet. 

Moreover, taking your animal to a qualified and reputable vet, such as saltwateranimalhospital.com (which has a base in Normandy Park, WA) on a regular basis for check-ups will remind you of the importance of doing the same yourself. 

Owning a Pet Gets You Moving!

Obviously, if you are a proud dog owner, then you will already be aware of the increased amount of physical exercise you will undergo each and every day on the morning and evening dog walks, but even smaller animals can mean you are more active and therefore healthier. 

Even the simple fact that if you periodically experience times of low mood and find it harder to get out of bed in the morning, you now need to take care of your rabbits, feed them, clean out their litter trays, and spend quality interaction time, which will create a necessity to get up and start your day. 

Owning a Pet Can Lower Your Risk of Heart Attack 

Finally, an entirely more practical link between owning an animal and your own personal health levels is that pets are believed to lower cholesterol levels and additionally can help to lower blood pressure readings. 

This applies to everyone; however, if you are someone who is considered to be at a higher risk of suffering a heart attack or indeed living with hypertension, owning a pet can have an even more positive impact. 

Another pertinent point to make is that, as of a study conducted by the NIH, people who either own a pet or undertake animal therapy generally require the use of a lower volume of pain medication than those who do not.