Does owning a pet lead to better overall health? The answer may surprise you

A pet may offer comfort during a difficult day. But that bond does not automatically translate into better health or greater wellbeing, according to a large Swiss survey.

The research found little evidence that pet ownership, by itself, was connected to stronger physical health, lower loneliness, or higher life satisfaction. Instead, the results pointed to a more complicated picture shaped by time, species, demographics, and the role an animal plays in a person’s life.

Rahel Marti of the University of Basel and her colleagues analyzed responses from 2,328 Swiss adults.

The team compared pet ownership, animal contact, attachment, and perceived support with several measures of health and wellbeing.

The data came from MOSAiCH, a nationally representative Swiss survey of adults ages 18 and older. Participants completed questionnaires in German, French, or Italian, either online or on paper.

Of 6,008 invited people, 3,349 completed the first portion. The response rate was 55.7 percent. A second survey was completed by 2,328 people, nearly 70 percent of those who finished the first stage.

Among the final participants, 1,105 either owned a pet or had regular contact with animals. The remaining 1,223 reported neither.

The survey included dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles, insects, horses, farm animals, and other species. Researchers distinguished between animals living in a participant’s home and animals encountered regularly elsewhere.

They also accounted for age, gender, education, employment, household income, relationship status, household size, and whether participants lived in urban or rural areas.

After those adjustments, pet owners rated their overall health slightly worse than non-owners. They also smoked about 0.19 more cigarettes per day on average.

The smoking difference was statistically significant but very small. The researchers cautioned that it may not represent a meaningful lifestyle gap.

Beyond those results, pet owners and non-owners looked broadly similar. They did not differ meaningfully in physician visits, loneliness, life satisfaction, psychological wellbeing, or human social support.

Regular contact with animals outside the home also showed no overall connection with better health or wellbeing. People who interacted with animals but did not own them reported results similar to those with no regular animal contact.

The findings challenge the idea of a universal “pet effect,” in which ownership alone improves a person’s health.

The researchers found clearer patterns when they examined how people related to animals.

Women generally reported stronger attachment and more socio-emotional support from animals than men. Participants who spent more time with an animal also tended to feel closer to it and more supported by it.

Dogs stood out most strongly. People who lived with or regularly interacted with dogs reported greater attachment and support. Cats in the home were also tied to stronger attachment, while small mammals and birds were linked to somewhat greater emotional support.

Participants whose closest animal lived in their household reported stronger bonds than those whose closest animal lived elsewhere.

People who had never married also tended to report stronger attachment. Retired participants reported somewhat weaker bonds, and people in larger households had lower attachment scores.

Farm animals and animals kept in terrariums or aquariums were generally linked to weaker attachment.

A strong bond with an animal did not consistently match better health outcomes.

Attachment itself was not linked to better physical health, less loneliness, higher life satisfaction, or stronger psychological wellbeing. Healthcare use also showed no relationship with attachment, species, or time spent with animals.

Some smaller associations did appear. More time with animals was linked to slightly higher psychological wellbeing. Contact with certain other animal species was associated with somewhat higher life satisfaction.

Yet participants who felt more socio-emotionally supported by an animal reported greater loneliness and lower psychological wellbeing. People who regularly interacted with animals in terrariums or aquariums also reported lower psychological wellbeing.

Those findings do not mean animals caused loneliness or poorer mental health. A lonely person may turn to an animal for support, or someone facing health problems may be more likely to obtain a pet.

Because the survey captured one point in time, it cannot determine which came first.

The authors said previous studies may have produced mixed results because pet ownership is often treated as a simple yes-or-no category.

“Our findings suggest that simply owning a pet is not associated with better health or well-being,” they wrote. “Instead, we found that the relationship people have with their animals is much more nuanced than a simple yes-or-no question of pet ownership.”

Two people may both own dogs, they noted, while having very different relationships with them.

“Rather than asking whether someone owns a pet, future research should consider how people interact with their animals and what role the animal plays in their lives,” the authors added.

They described pet ownership as multidimensional, involving the owner, animal, and relationship.

Future studies may gain more useful answers by tracking how people and animals interact over time. Researchers could examine daily activities, animal age and health, pet history, and cultural differences.

Longitudinal research could also help separate cause from effect. It may show whether animals influence wellbeing, or whether people’s existing health and social circumstances shape their relationships with animals.

Objective health measures and data from countries beyond Switzerland would strengthen that work.

For now, the findings suggest that counting pet owners and non-owners may miss the most important details. The amount of time people spend together, the species involved, and the emotional role of the animal may offer a clearer view of how human-animal relationships connect with wellbeing.

Research findings are available online in the journal PLOS One.

The original story "Does owning a pet lead to better overall health? The answer may surprise you" is published in The Brighter Side of News.

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