Pets and The Elderly

In recent years, as the quality of life has improved, so has the average life expectancy of people living in this country. Nowadays, older people are considerably more active than in previous generations and are finding that there is much to be enjoyed during the years of retirement.

Most old people still live in their own homes and a large proportion of them live alone. The most immediate advantage that pets offer to these people is companionship and this is all the more important when so much human contact is through the medium of technology, the phone, the radio and television, and with relatives often living hundred of miles away. The actual extent of loneliness in a busy world can be enormous but this can be significantly reduced by owning a pet.

A dog can make the elderly feel safer alone at home and any pet can help in preventing the onset of mental confusion. At the simplest level, feeding the pet can remind the owner to feed him or herself.

Another physical advantage that is often overlooked is that elderly people may keep their homes warmer for the sake of their pet than they would do if they lived alone, so keeping themselves warm. Even the smallest dog requires some exercise which should ensure that an older person goes out at least once a day, helping them to keep active. A pet can open up a whole new world for an older person and can give them a new appetite for life.

Obviously, the elderly should only undertake keeping the sort of pet that they can reasonably expect to look after. For most of them, a large dog would be out of the question but with even the smallest animal, the element of exercise can be vital to the owner. Even feeding a caged bird helps to exercise the shoulder muscles and stroking a cat can be beneficial to the chair-bound.

A pet can help to alleviate the problems of disability and infirmity by taking the person’s mind off the affliction and it can also provide a distraction from depression or bereavement.

The very real advantages of pet ownership to the elderly are more widely recognised today and there are more and more schemes around the world for putting pets together with the elderly to improve the quality of their lives. A recent study in this country examined the effect of giving pet budgies to elderly people living on their own. What the study showed was that the pleasure that the birds gave to the owners amounted almost to a new lease of life. The participants quickly formed a very strong attachment to their pets and the presence of the birds made the owner more popular with young visitors. The study proved conclusively the value of these pets for the elderly in a very noticeable way – the birds proved to be far more rewarding companions than the one-way dialogue with the television. In short, pets have an enormous role to play in the later life of most people …. and the improvement in the quality of life that pets offer can be seen in the physical health and stability of the owner as much as in their emotional satisfaction.