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<\/p>\nIf you’ve ever wondered if pet ownership is good for your health, it’s true-and science can prove it. (As if you needed one more reason to get that puppy or kitten.) <\/p>\n
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Owning a pet can help reduce the risk of things like cardiovascular disease<\/a>, and in general, can help reduce overall mortality compared to non-pet owners. Pet ownership can also increase physical activity, reduce stress levels, and help you be more connected to your community. Here’s how having a pet can help you live longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A study showing the correlation between pet ownership and cardiovascular risk<\/a> suggests that owning a pet, especially one that needs to be walked such as a dog, can help maintain a healthy weight. The odds of obtaining the recommended exercise are greater when you have a pet, plus you get to spend time in nature, which also can help increase longevity. <\/p>\n Pet owners who took their pets for walks and met the recommended threshold for physical activity were 57-77% more likely than non-pet owners to do so. Remember, this exercise also helps your pet and can directly impact their happiness as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The rise in emotional support animals-remember emotional support peacocks<\/a>?-is no wonder, given that pets can help greatly reduce stress<\/a>, especially for those who might be clinically anxious. Decreased emotional stress can result in reduced heart rates and blood pressure.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Finally, pets can also help you feel more connected to your pet and the outside world. Pet owners reap the benefits of connecting with their animals<\/a>, such as trust, empathy, a decrease in aggression, and a positive mood. Pet owners also get out and about on walks or to maintenance appointments, making it more likely for owners to be social. Loneliness<\/a>, unfortunately, can contribute to mortality. Having a pet not only has the owner beholden to looking after something other than themselves, but it also gives people-especially older adults who are more prone to loneliness-a sense of purpose.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While pet ownership comes with a lot of responsibilities, it can also help decrease mortality and improve quality of life-maybe just the encouragement you need to bring another furry friend home.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Owning a pet can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, which can prolong your lifespan. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Untitled-design-40.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2360"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2584,"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360\/revisions\/2584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ladderlife.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Pet ownership can increase physical activity\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n
Pet ownership can decrease stress<\/b><\/h2>\n
Pet ownership can help you feel more connected<\/b><\/h2>\n