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For all the cleaning up after, watching over, walking, and countless other daily tedium we go through for our pets, what do they give us in return? As it turns out, a lot.
Depending on what species of pet you have, you can end up spending your time cleaning up countless “mistakes” in the hall, changing tons of newspaper, scooping many boxes, or changing lots of water. Not to mention vet visits, training, grooming, and countless other exercises in patience. But for all the hard work that inevitably goes into taking care of pets, they remain in our hearts and in our homes.
In fact, a recent examination of the data done by the American Pet Products Association, revealed that approximately 63 percent of American households include at least one pet. In other words, 71.1 million homes look after 382.2 million pets. Each year, American families with pets will spend somewhere above $45.5 billion a year on those pets. That amount keeps growing each year, even during economic downturns.
So why do we do it? Why are these pets so special that they continue to spend their happy days in our homes spending our money? The basic assessment is that the amount of happiness and the increased health benefits we get from having a pet just about equals or exceeds the amount of money and time we spend on our pets.
Here are just a few of the benefits we get from having a pet (or two, or however many):
* Having a pet makes us responsible. Take having a dog, for example. Dogs need to be walked every few hours and fed throughout the day. Taking on this responsibility gives us a sense of purposed and feel that we are needed, which improves our feeling of self worth.
* You have probably already figured this one out yourself, but various studies have also concluded that petting your pet after a long day of work helps relieve stress. Many pet owners tell their pets about there day if they have no one else around or available to talk to. Mentally, this is just as good as talking to another human being.
* The benefits do not stop there. Even simply watching fish in a fish tank instead of a bare wall has been shown to reduce stress levels significantly.
* Pets are loyal, non judgemental, and full of love and caring. What could be better than that?
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About the author:
Kayleigh has always loved animals and has spent time volunteering at the local dog shelter. The love of her life is her four year old Rottweiler, Lizzie. She enjoys writing for YeePet.com since it combines her love of animals with one of her favor...
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