Guest guest Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Before we became a professional animal act, we learned our trade by doing pet therapy at nursing homes. Pets make a difference in these people's bleak lives! I do not know how I could ever live without our pet pigs....they make the RA tolerable. There is a half hour show on them today on Animal Planet at 2:30 PM ET (see footer). Pris Animal Planet's PET STORY features 30 minutes of Valentine's Performing Pigs Nov. 4, 2:30 PM ET. www.valentinesperformingpigs.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 I think it is very interesting and on topic. I have 4 pet dogs, 2 pet cats and 1 service dog. My service dog is a rescue and she has been trained to pick things off the floor for me when I drop them. She is small but will stand on her hind legs and will place objects such as keys, pens, pencils, mail, paper, screw drivers, straps to my purse, etc... in the palm of my hand. She is very helpful and having her with me has given me more freedom. If I drop me keys now I don't spend 10 minutes trying to pick them up - my Holly is right there for me. Pets, even those who are not service dogs, add so much to our lives and make our lives better and healthier! - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 I would caution you that anyone who does not really like pets, and who is not willing to care for them properly(in the house rather than tied or penned in the yard), pay the vet bills for appropriate care, and do what is necessary to keep them healthy and happy, has no business getting a pet. I agree totally with this article and the research, but being in Chihuahua rescue, we take dogs every week who were purchased because someone mistakenly thought they "cured" asthma and selfishly got a Chihuahua to cure themselves. Several years later the dog is in horrible condition, untrained, and they are trying to dump it into rescue. Please, if you love dogs and cats, get one, but be willing to do what it takes to care for them, including training, walking, playing, etc. and get your pet because you love it, not because you want to feel better physically. Also, be aware that you are making a commitment for the life of the pet, not just until it's too much trouble to care for. ----- Original Message ----- From: Rue Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 9:01 AM Subject: Pet Power I got this as an email from a friend. I though I would pass it alongto you. I realize it may be a bit off topic in a way, but I think it is worth reading. RuePET POWERA few weeks ago, I saw a TV interview with Bernie Siegel, MD, founderof Exceptional Cancer Patients (ECaP), an advocacy group for peoplefacing cancer and other chronic illnesses, in which he discussed theeffects of pets on heart attack victims in Australia. After one year,6% of the patients who owned a dog had died, compared with a 25%mortality rate in those who did not own a dog. I thought that was apretty remarkable statistic, especially after he said that someone inAustralia calculated that if everyone in Australia were given a dog,it would save $145 million per year in health-care costs. I don'tknow how that cost compares with the cost of dog food, but it suresounded impressive.For years, we've all heard about the therapeutic effects of pets inhealing, depression and stress reduction. I decided to look at someof the scientific data on how pets affect us. I called ,PhD, a research scientist at the School of Public Health at the StateUniversity of New York at Buffalo. Dr. 's work focuses on theeffects of pets on human stress reactions.PEOPLE OR PETS -- WHICH ARE BETTER FOR STRESS?Dr. has conducted several studies that address such intriguingquestions as...Which is better -- to have your best friend or your pet present instressful situations?Which is better -- to have your spouse or your pet present instressful situations?How do pets affect blood pressure (a common measure of stressresponse) in people who already are taking blood pressure loweringmedication?Can newly acquired pets affect stress?In one study, Dr. looked at women performing mental arithmeticproblems alone... then with their best female friends present... andfinally, with their dogs present. Interestingly, with the friendspresent, the subjects experienced large increases in blood pressure(compared with when they worked alone). However, when the dogs werepresent, insignificant increases -- or none at all -- occurred inblood pressure."One study participant suggested that we compare the effect of herdog's presence with the effect of her husband's presence," recalledDr. . She and her colleagues laughed at the idea at first butthen decided to test it out. In this study, in addition to performingmental arithmetic, participants were asked to hold their hands undercold water and endure it to test both "active coping" and "passivecoping" responses.Once again, and in both active and passive coping trials,participants experienced dramatic stress responses in the presence ofanother person versus only slight increases in blood pressure in thepresence of a pet. The consistent results led Dr. to concludethat pets clearly are a preferred source of social support.An interesting result of the study was that when the pets and thespouses were both present, the effect of the dogs cancelled out thestress that the presence of spouses generated.[ArtCountry1] Hmmmmmm, interesting, dont you think???PET/PEOPLE PREFERENCE?One valid criticism Dr. encountered was the notion that thepets really had produced no effect at all. Pet owners generally arehealthier, happier and better adjusted than those who do not ownpets -- therefore, their blood pressure is less likely to rise understress.To test whether a pet would affect people who did not previously ownone, Dr. designed a study in which half of the participantswere randomly selected to adopt a cat or dog from an animal shelter.The study participants, all stockbrokers who lived alone, describedtheir work as extremely stressful. In addition, they all had highblood pressure (greater than 160/100)... and they were all scheduledto begin drug therapy with lisinopril, a medication that successfullyreduces resting blood pressure.Once again, participants performed mental arithmetic as the stressprovoker, but in addition they were asked to give speeches toimaginary clients whose money they had lost. As predicted, lisinoprillowered the resting blood pressure of all participants. However,while doing the mental arithmetic or giving the speeches, the pet-owning participants' blood pressure increased by less than half oftheir petless counterparts.HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?Dr. Siegel has seen firsthand the extraordinary effects animals canhave. "People's physiology, their body chemistry, literally changeswhen pets are around," he says. Levels of the stress hormone cortisolgo down, immune function improves and, perhaps more significantly,serotonin and oxytocin levels increase. These are the same hormonesthat are elevated in a woman after giving birth, which promotebonding with the new baby.But why do these chemical changes occur?Dr. Siegel thinks that the bottom line is the unconditionalacceptance and connection that animals consistently provide. Inaddition, he notes, the responsibility of pet ownership can giveone's life meaning, especially in the absence of other closerelationships. "I've worked with cancer patients who literally couldnot die because they had dogs and cats who had to be taken care of,"Siegel says. "These people hung on to life until they were sure thattheir pets would be provided for."Dr. Siegel explains that an important reason why we feel a closeconnection to our pets is that they can be incredibly intuitive.Often, if a person were sick in bed, a dog would come and sit besidehim/her, whereas if he were just taking a nap, the dog would not showthe same level of concern and interest. Animals respond to feelings,to what is really going on with their owners."Animals have an incredible ability to be completely there andcompletely devoted," Dr. Siegel says. "How many of us can say that weare totally devoted to someone else's well-being? Animals are, and werespond positively to that." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 In a message dated 11/4/04 11:08:24 AM, saludo@... writes: I would caution you that anyone who does not really like pets, and who is not willing to care for them properly(in the house rather than tied or penned in the yard), pay the vet bills for appropriate care, and do what is necessary to keep them healthy and happy, , I agree, great post. Bless you for doing what you do! This needed to be said.. All pets have a "downside." Unless you are willing to make a lifetime commitment, despite any "faults" an animal might have, a pet is not for you. I spend most of my days in the "off season" on animal rescue listservers helping to place pet pigs that grew too big.... Too many people think of pets as "disposable." Check out a rescue if you are interested in a pet and take it home to foster it...see of it works for you. No more pets need to be abandoned. Pris (who rescued a farm pig and must be crazy )! Animal Planet's PET STORY features 30 minutes of Valentine's Performing Pigs Nov. 4, 2:30 PM ET. www.valentinesperformingpigs.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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