Posted on 10/08/2019 9:45:53 AM PDT by RummyChick
Dog owners live longer than people without a canine pet, two new studies suggest.
And older people who live alone are a third less likely to die after a heart attack if they have a furry friend at home, according to the Swedish researchers.
Loneliness plays a well known role to the detriment of older people in the US, not only hindering them from living happy lives, but often actually increasing their risks of death and chronic illnesses.
The American Heart Association (AHA), which released an accompanying statement, noted that it's not exactly proof that dogs will keep you healthier, but it's pretty good evidence that having one is beneficial for older people.
'While these non-randomized studies cannot 'prove' that adopting or owning a dog directly leads to reduced mortality, these robust findings are certainly at least suggestive of this,' said chair of the AHA's writing group, Dr Glenn Levine.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Pit Bull owners may be outliers in this study ...
I was going to say, it doesn’t work with cats cause they just take advantage of your weakened condition to eat your people food.
Pets (both cats and dogs) provide companionship and unconditional love, that helps people recover better from illnesses and staying well.
unfortunately they are not putting into consideration when you have a dog for a long time and they get sick the stress that puts on you..we are dealing with that now..our shih Tzu Maxie he is 13 1/2 yrs old with cutaneous lymphoma it’s a rare itchy lymphoma on the skin he literally cannot sleep at night he barks at night to go outside so he can scratch his face it’s heartbreaking no one can sleep but we don’t have the stomach to put him down wish he would die in his sleep instead
Is there something to look for? I have a mix that is a year younger that has started really scratching.
The lesson is only get a puppy when you are old.
Having the support of friends and family will keep you living longer. (Dog fits into both categories.)
Coming home to a dog who runs to greet you at the door, wagging its tail, and says “play with me” in dog talk keeps you in good spirits.
it’s such a rare cancer started with him non stop licking in May. vet said it’s all in his head put a cone on him he hated it would bark like crazy, his lip got puffy the vet said maybe it’s infected gave him steroids and antibiotics it helped but not much..in June he had a biopsy which confirmed it he was shocked it’s so rare they think it’s dermatitis or something like that it will never go into his body he has the itchy kind but imagine you can’t stop itching and i tell you knock it off stop itching but you cant..he licks cause of his lip and he barks I guess due to lesions on his body but he only licks his lip it’s hell
This sounds so familiar. My dog is scratching her lip to where it gets bloody. I just had a bunch of her teeth pulled earlier this year in a teeth cleaning.
I am giving her benadryl at the moment to see if it makes a difference
Will have to keep an eye on this
I figure 14 years is going to be about it for her. Dreading the day
You are in a difficult situation. However you must do what is in the best interest of the dog. You should not allow him to suffer. I recently had to have my Labrador Retriever, who was 11 1/2 year old. euthanized. It was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do, but in the end, I knew that I owed it to him to give him piece.
“On the other hand...your cat will try to kill you ( just joking)”
I’d had cats for my entire 73 years, but we’ve been without cats now for just over a week. One died in early August and the other lost her appetite and started losing weight until she went blind and deaf about 3 weeks ago and then passed 1 week ago.
My wife doesn’t want any more critters, but I’m going to try and convince her otherwise.
Lost my best furry friend this past June, I’m older and live alone. My best friend told me the expression on my face never changed for over 3 months, it was locked into a look of anguish. I’ve always loved dogs, and have had two, both wire hair fox terriers, both adored me, and me them. I hope I get another one at some point, but I need to have an adult conversation with myself; I remain lonely for the rest of my life, or I accept when I get another one, ill be crushed when he passes, just like the first two, not sure at this point if I want to go through that again, especially at an older age.
If your dog has something and it does NOT heal you need to get it biopsied..I was so worried about melanoma, skin cancer, I never imagined this, cutaneous lymphoma is in the same family as non hodgkins lymphoma but this one affects the skin, we give Benadryl to Maxie it does nothing doesnt make him sleepy at all which is so weird considering I read so many people post online about how they stopped giving it because their dogs would sleep all day with it not Maxie the only day that was good was Friday night, I had taken him for a long walk that day maybe he was just too tired but he didnt bark at all at night, just licked but no needing to go outside..he goes outside to scratch his face, he has lesions on his body but its the lip and under his eye that bother him he doesnt know what to do with himself..Maxie had a teeth cleaning too at the same time of the biopsy, he has no teeth now, he had 12 remaining but the vet said they were all decayed and thought that was the cause of all of this..in order to do a biopsy the dog must be sedated so we were dreading it, what if he doesnt wake up, maybe it should have been done sooner but as Hillary Clinton would say, what difference would it make, its still cancer :(
Your dog only scratches her lip see what she has on her lip, do you see any sort of mass, anything puffy? Get her checked out I dont care if the Vet says its “nothing” if something doesnt look right biopsy it
We lost our Nesmo(Pom) at age 16 two years ago..never imagined we would be going through this again now, two years later. All I day is cry and pray, pray for a miracle that will never come..how do you deal with the pain? I just cant imagine my life without our Maxie I love him so much.
There are services that put down dogs in your home instead of taking it to the vet. Really not sure I would want to do that ..seems like it would haunt me...but probably better for the dog.
I once read a post from a vet that said don’t let the vet take the dog away when putting it down. It may be heartbreaking but the pet deserves to have you there and not be alone.
No, you're not kidding. My new girl, "DaisyJane the Kitten" has been slicing, dicing and biting me since the day I brought her home from the shelter. Two years ago. Does it get better? Not really, just last night she grabbed me right above the ankle leaving two bleeding puncture wounds. < p>Last week I spent 4 days at my daughter's house. Her two corgis, Labradoodle, and Catahoula Leopard Dog-Shepherd mix all jumped on my bed and cuddled me.....
‘we don’t have the stomach to put him down wish he would die in his sleep instead’
We have been there. In retrospect, it was selfish of us to prolong the life of our beloved, faithful but suffering dog. Read a good article by a veterinarian the other day addressing this issue and focusing the importance of being with your pet when that day comes.
Very sorry to hear about your poor dog.
Isn’t there some cream or lotion that could be put on his skin to help the itching? Must be difficult for the poor dog and all of you.
I think there are some creams for humans for that, maybe for dogs too?
I always have trouble with these kind of studies-Cause or effect.
Folks in poor health are less likely to care for a dog and therefore do not have a dog if they cannot care for themselves.
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