Pets Bring Benefits and Challenges for Seniors, Study Shows

There’s a general societal discourse that pets are good for our mental and physical health, although the research does not match up to this. Instead, things are much more mixed, as having a pet can sometimes have its downsides. And that’s the case for seniors too. A study by Ann M. Toohey at the University of Calgary published last year in Canadian Journal on Aging looks at the role of pets in the lives of older adults. The results show a complex relationship between costs and benefits—and the need for more pet-friendly housing for seniors.

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Toohey told me,

“I continue to feel that policymakers could intervene to ensure that there is an adequate supply of affordable, pet-friendly housing for older adults. Importantly, some of the challenges of managing pet-friendly housing for older adults can be mitigated if aligned with specific programs that support the human-animal bond later in life.”

The research took place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a city that is known for having pet-friendly policies, and that is also seen as a good place in which to age. The data is based on a re-analysis of interviews with seniors who have pets that took place in 2015; however, since city policies remain broadly similar, the results are seen as still being relevant today.

Seniors on life with their pets

The results identified four main themes in people’s accounts of their pets. The names the researcher gave these themes are shown in bold.

1. Lonely but not alone was the first theme that was identified. People enjoyed the companionship provided by their pets, even though they also noted that it was not the same as human companionship. As it happened, most of the people in this study were single. Having a dog, in particular, was a good way to get to know other people, so pets could also increase the size of participants’ social networks.

2. Precarious but committed. The people in the study were absolutely committed to taking care of their pets. However, because pet-friendly housing was hard to find, this meant that some of them had a precarious housing situation. Because people did not want to give up their pets, they sometimes had to accept housing that was less than ideal or even not safe due to other people in the home.

3. Caring as defying emotional adversity. As people got older, they sometimes had difficult circumstances to deal with, such as serious issues with their own health. Caring for their pet provided meaning through these hard times, and a sense of things continuing to be the same, at least in some regards. In this way, the pet helped them to cope with the challenges.

4. Losses vs gains. There were both advantages and disadvantages to having a pet. Even when there were ways in which having a pet was hard, there were also things about having a pet that were good.

Housing issues affect seniors with pets

Overall the results show that for seniors with pets, the question of whether that pet is good for them or not is actually very complex. At the same time, people spoke with pride in their pet and the care they provided for them, even when they had suffered hardship as a result (such as struggling to find housing).

Toohey says,

“One of the things that interests me the most is the complexity of human-animal relationships, which is what I hoped to explore in this study… While there is great potential for companion animal relationships to promote health in many ways that are salient to aging (walking dogs, meaningful occupation involved in pet care, companionship, physical affect, motivation to overcome lethargy, etc.) there are also challenges that people face at multiple levels, from a specific pet's behaviour/personality creating challenges to systemic barriers like the costs of pet supplies, a lack of (affordable) support with care if a person is ill or needs medical treatment, cost of vet care, and of course a multitude of challenges around housing, from the prevalence of no pet rules to size restrictions to extra fees.”

Perhaps the housing issue is the most important finding here from a policy perspective. Greater availability of seniors’ housing that allows pets would be very beneficial and would make it easier for people to age in place with their pet. This would benefit those who aren’t seniors too, as more pet-friendly housing would help a wide range of people.

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It would also help if different agencies worked more closely together.

Toohey says,

“I continue to advocate for the evolution of social support programming that brings together human social services and animal welfare agencies to try to address challenges that arise for older adults living in lower socio-economic circumstances in order to keep these fundamental, prospectively health-promoting relationships intact.”

Previous research has also found that strategies are needed to help seniors maintain relationships with pets. This new study particularly emphasizes housing needs to enable people to live with their pet as they get older, an issue that applies far beyond Calgary where the research took place.