We knew there was a reason we at AGEIST have a thing for our canines. A study posted in PLOS ONE set out to examine the relationship between owning a dog or cat and the onset of disability and all-cause mortality. What the study found was that owning a dog “appears to protect against incident disability among older Japanese adults. Additional benefits are gained from ownership combined with regular exercise. Daily dog care may have an important role to play in health promotion and successful aging.”
There is also something to owning a pet that gives us a sense of purpose and responsibility, which we know to have important benefits as we get older.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263791