The Importance of Pets

As a veterinarian my appreciation of the role pets play in the family environment increases exponentially with every day in practice. So much as already been written relating to the developmental of children and medical advantages of pets in the family environment. I am very aware of this aspect and remind myself each day of our task as veterinarians working with family pets which reverberates throughout the society and into every household. The role of the pet is truly extraordinary as we learn about the impact of pets on the treatment of psychological and behavioral disorders in children and adults. A study of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) showed that the presence of animals increased their talking behavior, their looking at faces, and making tactile contact compared to the effect of these behaviors using toys. They also displayed more pro-social behaviors and positive affects like smiling and laughing as well as less self-focused behaviors and negative effects in the presence of animals compared to toys (1).Use of animals in the psychiatric treatment of adult patients with post-traumatic disorders has been described. The authors concluded that Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI) treatments showed promise in reducing depression, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and anxiety as a complimentary treatment and recommend further studies to establish the feasibility and efficacy of these treatments.
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