Owning a cat or dog slows down cognitive decline, study claims
- Two-thirds of dog owners walked their dogs and saw the health benefits
- Scientists have revealed that owning a cat or dog reduces the risk of cognitive decline for everyone
Owning a cat or dog can bring immeasurable joy and companionship.
But it may also slow the rate of cognitive decline as you get older – especially if you take the dog for a walk – a study suggests.
Everyone experiences a decline in mental abilities such as learning, thinking, problem solving, memory and reasoning as they age, even if they do not have dementia.
But some are able to maintain good cognitive skills into old age – and researchers wanted to discover whether owning pets could have benefits.
The team from the University of Maryland in the US examined data from 637 participants aged 51 to 101.
Although cognitive function declined in all participants over a ten-year period, this was slower in those who owned cats or dogs
In total, almost a third owned pets, with 11 percent owning cats and 13 percent owning dogs.
Analysis showed that cognitive function declined over a decade in all participants as they aged.
However, this decline was slower for those who owned cats or dogs than for non-pet owners.
Two-thirds of dog owners reported walking their dogs – and this group experienced even slower cognitive decline than dog owners who didn’t walk their pets.
Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, the authors say: ‘The current study provides important longitudinal evidence for the contribution of pet ownership to the maintenance of cognitive function in generally healthy, community-dwelling older adults as they age.
‘Older adult pet owners experienced less decline in cognitive function as they got older, after taking into account both their pre-existing health and their age.
‘Memory, executive function, language function, psychomotor speed and processing speed have deteriorated less over ten years among pet owners than among non-owners, and among dog owners than among non-owners.
‘Cat owners experienced less decline in memory and language function. Dog walking was also associated with slower decline in cognitive function.”
Previous studies have shown that pets can provide social support, and that interacting with them can lower blood pressure and heart rate.
The researchers said other explanations could be that pet owners are less stressed, more relaxed and have an external focus for attention.
Owning dogs can also lead to an increase in physical activity through daily exercise, which is known to be beneficial to health, she added.
“Policymakers can use these findings to support the inclusion of pets in care plans, design senior housing and neighborhoods that are friendly to dog walking, and develop programs to support pet ownership,” they wrote.