PETS: Our personal therapists?

How animals can benefit our physical and mental health

Can a pet be a tool in the healing process? When a bad industrial accident left Phillip Gonzalez disabled and lost him his job, the young New York steamfitter’s zest for life disappeared. He was severely depressed and on the verge of becoming a recluse, when a friend suggested he adopt a dog.

To keep his friend happy, Phillip reluctantly visited an animal shelter. It was a good thing he did; because it was there he met Ginny, a one-year-old pup who had been badly abused by her former owner. The little dog soon won him over and Phillip decided to take her home.

After a period of settling in, the two ‘damaged’ friends began taking walks together through the New York streets. After some time it was discovered that Ginny had an uncanny ability to seek out other sick or abused animals that were hiding inside abandoned buildings. The animals she rescued included a deaf kitten, a cat with one eye, a paralyzed cat and another with no hind feet.

In liaison with a shelter, Phillip began a rescue service for these small waifs, and in the process gained a new interest in life. He was eventually restored to health, and went on to write a book about his amazing adventures with Ginny, who by this time had become his devoted friend.

The healing power of pets
This is just one of the many stories that show how animals can help humans and it’s not all waffly, cutesy, feel good stuff. There is now an accumulation of evidence that our animal companions can benefit our health, and more especially when we are ill.

While dogs and cats are perhaps our most popular domestic pets, there are many other creatures that can make us feel better for that mutual friendship. You have only to visit a pet shop, a zoo or an aquarium to discover the enormous range of creatures to which humans are attracted. Dolphins, donkeys, horses, birds, fish, spiders and snakes, guinea pigs and rabbits - even pigs (in fact any loved pet), will relate to us, given the right circumstances and necessary kindness and understanding. Such relationships lead us to ask whether we need animals as much, if not more, than they need us? Certainly it seems to be a two-way street.

According to prominent American veterinarian and author, Dr Marty Becker, much of the healing power of pets lies in their capacity to make the atmosphere safe for emotions to be expressed - the spiritual side of healing. So are doctors prescribing ‘pets’ for their patients?

"Increasingly medicine is recognizing the special relationship between pets and people as one of the most powerful weapons in fighting disease and treating chronic conditions,’ Dr Becker claims.

Pets as psychologists
It is a sad fact of life in today’s harsh and competitive world, where the only things that seem to matter are power and money, that many people are forced to turn to a pet for the understanding and faithfulness they crave from other human beings.

Pets have an uncanny way of understanding how we feel, and even though they are unable to speak in words, their body language often shows that they fully comprehend the situation. A woman whose husband had left sat crying on the couch. Her small dog hopped onto the coffee table and just sat quietly with his head cocked to one side as if to say ‘it’s not the end of the world, you will survive’. And then he moved to the couch and nestled up beside her. Needless to say, it wasn’t the end of the world and she felt much better for the understanding and empathy of this small, silent ‘psychologist’.

See the clown in your pet
It is true, most animals make us feel just plain happy, or even cause us to laugh at their antics. Is it the wagging tail, joyous rolling in the grass, scratching an ear? Many are cute, many smile back or purr or tweet or watch us just as much as we like to watch them. In fact if we take time to watch our animals, we might notice that they spend a lot of time watching us. And yet the animals offer no words or judgment or advice. They just make us feel happy. It all seems like magic.

Have you ever been out walking and someone comes towards you with a dog on a lead? The animal often becomes a catalyst for smiles and conversation when you might otherwise have passed without interaction or comment at all. Men are now recognizing that if an animal accompanies them, they are more likely to receive approving glances or friendly comments from women.

Apart from all this feel good stuff, there are real physical benefits to be had. It is now known, that when we smile or laugh, the thymus gland behind the breastbone in our chest swells. This gland is responsible for producing T cells - those disease fighters critical to our immune systems for fighting disease. The more we laugh the better we feel. As an example, some cancer patients, given a final diagnosis, have gone to the video shop, taken out a stack of rollicking comedies and virtually laughed their disease into oblivion.

So we need to enjoy the fun of animals frolicking, running, jumping, tumbling, cats up trees, birds sitting on fences, fish looking at us boggle-eyed from a tank. The more they make us smile the better. We can only hope that we are as good for them as they are for us.

One way conversations help sort things out
Talking to pets can be very therapeutic, as Dr Doolittle discovered. Very possibly the Queen of England talks to her corgis, and the American president confides in his dog on the carpet of the Oval Office. One suspects that sometimes even affairs of State are discussed with the animal concerned; it is certainly a safe bet that they won’t betray any secrets.

Yet, for whatever reason we do it, it is somehow very comforting to talk to a pet, whether we believe the creature understands or not.

Recently a friend tried to explain her need to talk to her animals. "Although I feel a little foolish, I just love talking to my cats," she said. ‘They seem to know exactly what I’m saying as we walk in the garden, admire the plants, talk about what’s for tea, what’s on television (there aren’t enough pet shows they often complain), and what sort of a day it has been, or is going to be tomorrow."

Is she ready for a mental health assessment? Well, she is actually very healthy – despite having had a brush with cancer.

Detecting cancer - the dog as pathologist
The physiology of the canine nose is powerful, with 25 times more smell receptors than their not so smart owners. The British Medical Journal published the results of research in 2004 that indicated dogs could detect bladder cancer by sniffing the urine of human beings.

In another study, American researchers demonstrated that a dog could be trained to sniff out melanomas (skin cancer) 99% of the time, and could successfully differentiate between a malignant melanoma lesion and a benign lesion on patients.

More research is underway to determine whether dogs can detect other types of cancer like breast, prostate, cervical and prostate cancer. It all seems logical: if dogs can be bred to detect drugs and bombs, then why not some forms of cancer in human beings?

Take one pet & a glass of water for physical fitness
Many pets are good exercise, and although this is quite obvious when taking the dog for a walk (providing you don’t drive the car with the dog running behind), you can also get exercise looking for your cat late at night or cleaning out the birdcage or the fish tank.

But author of the Perricone Weight-loss Diet, Dr Nicholas Perricone claims animals can help with weight loss by decreasing the stress that causes the weight gain in the first place.

Perricone suggests that stress is a major factor in weight gain. It makes sense: layers of fat are sort of protective aren’t they, and consuming soothing bowls of ice-cream and deliciously bad-for-you blocks of chocolate are temporarily pacifying.

‘The simple act of stroking a dog or cat has been proven to lower heart rate, decrease stress and anxiety and lower the respiratory rate and blood pressure. Even watching fish in an aquarium creates similar effects. It is both soothing and meditative. With stress and obesity levels at an all-time high, we just might save two lives when we adopt a loving pet from the local shelter – theirs and ours!’ Dr Perricone says.

Aged care
For some time, aged care facilities have been assigning a dog or a cat as a kind of community pet. Some lucky elderly might even gain permission to bring their own cat, small dog or bird into the nursing home when they are admitted, although there are almost always strict guidelines in relation to their care. Other homes, realizing the benefits to the residents, actively promote ‘pet therapy’ days on a regular basis. Sadly, in some facilities, these are few and far between and the residents, especially those with dementia become uncertain and even frightened by animals, simply through lack of contact.

Veterinarian and author of ‘Kindred Spirits- how the remarkable bond between humans and animals can change the way we live’, claims it is no surprise that there is a strong connection between an older persons health and the presence of animal companions.

"After studying 1000 senior citizens for a year, researchers in the USA found that those with animal companions visited their doctor far less frequently than those who didn’t," Dr Schoen said. ‘Loneliness, often a severe cause of depression among the elderly, decreases in the presence of an animal companion.’

Maybe your poodle’s a paediatrician?
The soothing presence of a dog or cat that lies on a sick child’s bed, sleeps with them as protection and doesn’t mind how much the child tosses and turns, can be enormously beneficial, especially for those with behavioral problems as well.

Schoen writes: ‘Sick children are particularly receptive to an animal companion’s presence – they feel loved at a very difficult time, they are able to confide their feelings to their animal companions more easily than to adults, and caring for the animal gives them structure at a time when their own lives are disrupted," he said.

Rejoicing in the animal kingdom
Jane Goodall, who recently visited Australia to promote her work with African chimpanzees, sums up our fascination with animals, and the benefits we receive from them: ‘Perhaps we humans view animals as having qualities we have lost – we yearn for their presence, their pure emotions, their zest for life,’ Dr Goodall said. ‘Let us rejoice that we are part of the animal kingdom.’

References
1. The Dog Who Rescues Cats – the True Story of Ginny by Philip Gonzalez and Leonore Fleischer (Harper & Collins, New York, 1995.

2. The Healing Power of Pets by Dr Marty Becker (Hypericon, New York, 2002).

3. Kindred Spirits by Allen M. Schoen (Random House, Australia, 2001

4. The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet by Dr Nicholas Perricone (Ballantine Books, USA, 2005).

5. The Ten Trusts by Jane Goodall and Mark Beckoff (Harper Collins, USA, 2002).