Three Practical and Everyday Benefits of Keeping a Pet (Includes Pest Control)

In a season when many people are locked down or working from home, what keeps your heart warm and lights up your mood? This is a perfect question for those who are just alone and COVID news makes it all the colder.

But sure enough, for those with pets, a home even without family does feel a little warm. Pets tend to make their owners active, happy and even contribute to home safety by keeping rodents away. Here’s more about this:

Helps you get the necessary physical activity

Pets have been keeping human beings healthy for a long time. They’ve achieved this by making you chase after them, picking up that toy that they left on the floor. Though these are just passive ways. For more intentional owners it’s been the morning jogs with them and just a few minutes of play in the yard.

One study showed that dog owners were 54% more likely to get the recommended physical activity than non-owners.1 Dog owners tend to have lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which could be thanks to the daily walks and playing fetch in the backyard.  Other research has indicated that the simple act of stroking a pet can help lower those levels as well.2 These benefits are not unique to dogs and cats. Even watching fish in an aquarium can help reduce muscle tension and lower pulse rate.3

The exercise you get from owning a pet has been linked to living a longer life and prolongs the ability of elderly individuals to perform basic functions, such as climbing stairs, bending, kneeling, preparing meals, bathing, and dressing oneself. Pet owners over age 65 make 30% fewer doctor visits than those without pets. Read more from Cantata Health…

They make you happy!

YouTube reveals a lot about people by watching their patterns. And one thing is that a lot of people love pet videos. They just ooze happiness. And if that is from videos alone, imagine what they do for those who are with them at home.

Pets — furry, feathered, and otherwise — have proven to lower stress and depression. Stroking your cat or giving your dog a well-deserved belly rub can lower your blood pressure and make you calmer. And playing with your pet can enhance the feel-good chemicals in your brain (serotonin and dopamine).

In fact, a study by the National Institutes for Health found that people with pets recover from stressful situations / experiences faster than they would with partners, friends, and family (possibly due to increased oxytocin: the social bonding hormone that spikes with pets). Read more from Friday Health Plans…

They can keep rodents away

Now think about this extra benefit. You not only get healthy and happy but a big chunk of your rodent problem is sorted out. Cats eat rodents and rodents keep away from homes with cats. It’s an old trick that has always carried the day.

Yes, cats keep mice away, at least to a degree. Although your pet cat may seem like an unlikely predator, he is more than capable of keeping away or even killing mice. In fact, one of the foundations of the human-cat partnership is the latter’s ability to exterminate rodents.

If you look back at the history of the domestic cat’s history, you will see that the relationship between people and felines started when humans began farming. With a steady supply of food came different animals that took advantage. When people learned how to farm grains and other crops, mice and rats began following humans that now lived in larger communities.

It did not take long before cats followed suit. Unlike other domesticated animals, cats went to communities and interacted with people voluntarily as they pursued their primary prey – rodents. Read more from Animal Path…

But say you have a bigger rodent problem and you just don’t know what to do. Or you are even allergic to cats. Did you know you can invite a rodent control company into your home to get rid of the rats? Now you know. In Maryland, you can call the Backyard Bug Patrol team right now and we will come right away.