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cuddly cat, a loving dog: Some people are so attached to their pets you'd think
they were part of the family. Well, as any pet owner will tell you, they are!
But unlike relationships with human family members, which can sometimes be difficult
and a source of stress, owning a pet can significantly improve overall health
and reduce risk of disease. "The benefits of pet ownership are real --
physically, mentally and psychosocially," confirms Dr. Daniel Joffe, a
Calgary veterinarian who specializes in companion animals.
Dr. Joffe points out that pet therapy or what is known in medical circles as
"Animal
Assisted Therapy" (AAT) has been shown in dozens of studies to reduce
loneliness and improve health in many different kinds of patients.
The benefits of pet therapy
Research into animal assisted therapy (AAT) has revealed that pets and patients
are a health-boosting combination. Dr. Joffe's review of the medical literature,
including the Journal of Gerontology Medical Sciences, Nursing Clinics of
North America, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, the Journal
of Preventive and Social Medicine, Holistic Nursing Practice, and the American
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias, has revealed that
pet therapy has the following benefits:
- It can increase social interaction among patients
in a long-stay psychiatric population.
- In a nursing home or residential care center, even patients who are usually
withdrawn like to pat, talk to and even walk a pet. This not only gets them
out and about and talking to other people, it also provides opportunities
for physical and recreational therapy.
- Companion animals are good company for orthopedic patients who may not be
very mobile as a result of a broken limb or a back problem, for instance.
- When patients with dementia are given AAT, they become less agitated and
more interested in social interaction.
- In patients with HIV/AIDS, AAT can help prevent or combat loneliness and
depression and increase feelings of happiness. AAT with a cat can complement
supportive relationships with family and friends.
Is your pet volunteer material?
So maybe you're the proud owner of a cute kitten or pup. You think he or she
would make a great pet therapy candidate, so you just look up the number of
the nearest nursing home and head on over, right? Wrong!
First you need to enroll in a well-structured program such as St. John Ambulance
Canada, which has Pet Therapy programs across Canada. Through the St. John Ambulance
Canada Dog
Therapy Program, more than 2,500 volunteers and their dogs are brought together
with 30,000 people isolated from the community.
If your dog is of sound temperament, chances are he or she can become a therapy
dog, especially if he or she demonstrates capabilities such as:
- Accepting a friendly stranger
- Sitting politely for petting
- Walking on a loose leash
- Walking through a crowd (including wheelchairs)
- Sitting on command/staying in place
- Reacting well to another dog or to distractions such as noise or a jogger
"A well-run [pet] visitation program involves people to screen pets, validate
their health certificates and monitor 'risk management' on an ongoing basis,"
points out Dr. Joffe, who is a member of the Pet Access League Society (PALS),
a Calgary-based organization which also provides screening and training for
animals to be used in pet therapy. When pets aren't screened or monitored, they
can be a source of "zoonotic" or infectious disease passed from animals
to humans. While the risk of this kind of disease in pet visitation programs
is very low, these risks can be minimized even further with good practices and
a bit of common sense.
"You can't say, 'Oh, my Aunt has a nice dog. I'm going to take him to
the hospital,' " explains Dr. Joffe. All it takes, he adds, is a couple
of problems and "it can blow all your good intentions out of the water."
Still, says Dr. Joffe, "in my opinion, the benefits of pet therapy are
great and far outweigh the risks."
Do's and don'ts of pet therapy
Dr. Joffe recommends the following for introducing a pet into a Pet Therapy
program:
- Don't take kittens or puppies that have not been fully
immunized and that may not be fully trained into a health care facility.
- Don't take pets fed a raw diet (raw meat, raw eggs or unpasteurized
dairy products) into a health care facility. They can be a source of salmonella,
bacteria found in uncooked meats and other unprocessed foods that could put
someone with a suppressed immune system -- including cancer patients, HIV/AIDS
patients and the elderly -- at risk of infection.
- Don't take a pet with an uneven temperament into a health care facility.
It could bite or scratch someone.
- Don't leave a pet to roam free outdoors where they can hunt, eat garbage
and animal feces.
- Do provide a pet with clean water at all times so it doesn't drink out
of toilets.
- Do give a pet therapy pet good quality commercial food.
- Do have your pet examined regularly by a veterinarian to make sure that
all vaccinations are up to date and that the animal is free of worms and parasites.
When you can't manage an animal...
Elderly people living alone or in a long-term care facility often feel isolated
and suffer from loneliness and depression. Having an animal in their lives can
change all that. Sometimes, however, having an animal around isn't always practical,
and in the case of someone with Alzheimer's disease, may even put the animal's
well-being at risk.
Now, researchers at the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at the Purdue University
School of Veterinary Medicine in West Lafayette, Indiana, may have hit on a
solution.
Remember Tamagochi and Furby, those cuddly battery-powered pets
that would respond to your care?
Now, they're testing AIBO, a robotic dog, to see if this man-made creature
can provide the same kind of physiological, cognitive and emotional benefits
to the elderly as real animals do. AIBO will be paired with an older adult who
lives alone and will use a journal to track daily activities, social interaction
and so on, with the cyber-pooch in tow.
(Source: Robotic
Pets and the Elderly, Purdue University)
Will he be as loyal and loving a companion as the real thing? Will he confer
the same health benefits on his elderly master or mistress? Hopefully. But one
thing we know for sure: Stooping and scooping just got a whole lot easier!
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