Seniors Pets Become Virtual People

Seniors pets are companions! Our friends! Whether they're pet dogs or pet cats or any of a thousand other pet animals we bring into our homes, they share our lives with us as virtual human beings. They faithfully stand beside us no matter what the world throws at us. They reward us with their trust and affection.

We give them personal names. We dub them Fido, Butch, Fluffy, Mitzi or any of a myriad other appellations. The amazing fact is that we create entire personalities around the names we award them with.

In our minds they are people just like us!

Butch may in fact be just a tiny Yorkshire Terrier dog, but he's a tough little dude who bullies and bluffs his way through life. Mitzi is a regal, white Persian cat, who eventhough she considers herself a queen, she grants you the privilege of caring for all of her personal needs.

They get hair all over the furniture and on your best suit or dress. You find fur balls under the dining room table just as dinner guests ring the front door bell. At ten o'clock on a rainy Friday night, Fido scratches at the door to announce he wants, and needs, to go outside.

Why do we share our lives with pets and put up with their many and sometimes irritating habits?

The answer is simple because we need them in our personal worlds to make life bearable.

Are you a senior parent with a home now devoid of young voices and excitement? Have your children moved on to their own worlds and don't barge back into yours as much as you would like?

Do you crawl out of bed each morning and wonder how you will fill the hours until the end of the new day? Do you look forward to the air conditioning unit turning on and off to break the endless silence of an empty house?

Scientific research over the years has revealed some surprising revelations about the very real partnership that exists between seniors and their live in pets. Medical science has shown that a true symbiotic relationship develops in a senior and pet equation.

The pet and the senior share a mutual need for each other and both profit from the arrangement.

A seniors physical and mental health show marked improvement if a pet lives in the household. Loneliness dissolves and pet owners display increasing vigor and contentment with the companionship of a pet. Dogs and cats were the pets most often involved in the medical surveys.

The research revealed that seniors felt needed by the pet and were forced to develop a schedule for providing for the animals' welfare. This mutual reliance helped both men and women pet owners to become more enthused for their own personal welfare. In the final analysis, the seniors felt more needed and valuable as individuals.

Because of the contentment factor enjoyed by the pet owners, significant physical improvements were often displayed.

The very next time you look at Sheba or Butch, lean over and give them an added pat on the head, or a special treat for dinner.

Why? Just for being there!

Raymond Angus is a widely read author of articles and books. He writes about fellow seniors and their world.
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