The Benefits To Having A Family Pet

Adopting or buying a pet is a wonderful experience, and often a great addition to your family.

When choosing the perfect pet for the family there are a lot of things to consider since this pet will play a huge role in family dynamics. Families have to consider what types of animals will be the right fit for their family, consider all of the aspects of having a pet and they also have to consider whether they're going to buy a family pet or they're going to adopt one. Here are a couple of things to consider before bringing a new companion to the family.

Health Benefits

Most pet owners can vouch that having a furry friend has definitely improved their quality of life. While family pets have also been proven to help with depression, stress, and anxiety, they also help with lowering blood pressure but those aren’t the only positives that come with owning family pets. Other health benefits to consider would be that family pets can help ease the pain of their owners, lower cholesterol, increases opportunities to socialize with other people, improve immunity to allergies and also aids children in developing teaching them responsibility and life skills.

Selecting the Right Pet

When a person adopts a pet, they are making the decision to take care of that pet for the rest of its life, so it is important to keep in mind all things to consider when adopting a companion. People have ended up giving away, abandoning or giving pets up for adoption because their pet does not fit their lifestyle. People should consider any pets they already have and if the new addition will be accepted by the current ones, also consider what the best pets to have that will meet the standards of the home.

If small children are involved, picking a pet that is active can be a great choice for the home but keep in mind sole responsibility cannot be left completely on the children. No matter what pet is chosen families seeking an animal should make sure to do all the research they can to make sure they can meet all the needs of the new addition.

Adoption vs. Breeding

At this moment there are over 6 million cats, dogs and many other animals waiting to be adopted in animal shelters all over the United States. There is really no reason to go out and get an animal bred when there are so many different types of animals that need homes right now. Shelters have a huge assortment of animals ready to be adopted that can fit any family’s needs such as hamsters, guinea pigs, mice, cats, dogs, fish, bunnies and more and this can also help save their lives.

Even though there are already so many animals without homes in the world, breeders who sell to pet stores continue to mass-produce animals. The animals bought in pet stores are kept in small, cramped spaces and usually arrive to pet store malnourished, sick and even injured, while they look at dead or dying animals as the cost of doing business.