OverSixty July 2023 Digital

ISSUE 5 | JULY 2023 | OVERSIXTY.COM.AU 22 LIFESTYLE WIN! Share your tales of clever pets or wildlife and you could win a $250 voucher from House of Pets. See page 9 to contribute City Gent ELIZABETH STRACHAN A few years ago, after a long morning of sightseeing in New York, my children and I took a breather on a park bench in Central Park. “Look!” my son said, pointing to a nearby rubbish bin. That’s when we VDZ RXU ȴUVW UDFFRRQ 4XLWH DW KRPH in the big city, he paid us no heed, FRQFHQWUDWLQJ RQO\ RQ ȴQGLQJ a tasty lunch. He sorted through a few options before emerging with a wrapped sandwich held between his paws. 6DWLVȴHG KH MXPSHG GRZQ DQG ambled casually to a spot on the gravel path, not a metre from where we sat. The children were mesmerised, the raccoon providing better entertainment than any museum. He glanced at us, perhaps as reassurance that we weren’t about to pilfer his lunch. With delicate ȴQJHUV KH SHHOHG EDFN WKH OD\HUV of plastic wrap until the half-eaten sandwich was uncovered. Then he surprised us all. Instead of starting his food, he turned to a nearby rain puddle and dipped his hands in. With a casual air, he rubbed his hands together underwater for a moment, preened his whiskers, then started genteelly picking at his meal. Songbird’s Sonata WILLIAM FORREST My cockatiel, Dachi, was one of a kind. I taught him to sing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and “Happy Birthday”, but his favourite was the opening bars of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. One day, I forgot to close the front GRRU RI WKH KRXVH DQG 'DFKL ȵHZ DZD\ I knew it was a risk with his unclipped wings, but was distraught all the same. I put an advertisement in the local paper and after a week a woman called me. She said her husband had picked up a cockatiel in the middle of the road. When I arrived at her house, I told her I’d soon know if he was mine. I started to whistle the opening bars of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, when the woman stopped me. “He’s yours all right. He’s been whistling that song all week. “ Meanwhile, in 2019, University of Michigan research scientist Mary Janevic led a small study of older adults with ar- thritis, lower back pain and other con- ditions, and found pets not only helped improvemood, but compelled their own- ers to stick to behavioural routines that improved their pain in the long run, such as daily walks, feeding, cleaning, a!ec- tion and play. “When it hurts, you don’t feel like doing anything, but it’s a use-it- or-lose-it situation,” Janevic says. “When your body becomes deconditioned, weaker muscles lead to more pain.” Janevic also points out that pets’ great- est superpower against chronic su!ering is their talent for drawing all the attention and focus. “If you’re distracted from the pain, you perceive less pain, and there- fore you are in less pain,” she explains. Pets boost your immune system While it has been widely known for some time that babies with pets in the house are less likely to develop allergies and asthma later in life, there’s new evidence to suggest that even in adulthood, pets may have a notably positive e!ect on our guts – with links to both mental and physical health. Researchers at the Uni- versity of Arizona are studying whether the sharing of bacteria between dogs and their owners can alter our microbiome – the community of micro-organisms that dwell inside our bodies – in a way that changes our brain chemistry, alleviating major depression. “We were intrigued by previous research that found that dogs and humans share gut bacteria just by living in the same home, and you get the same amount from your dog as you do from your spouse,” says Dieter Steklis, co-director of the Human-Animal Inter- action Research Initiative. MARISSA LALIBERTE AND ANNA-KAISER WALKER LIFESTYLE 3HWV KHOS \RX EUXVK R΍ UHMHFWLRQ One of the bene"ts of owning a pet? #inking of them as part of the family could help you get over experiencing social rejection. A study in the journal Anthrozoös asked volunteers to think about a past experience when they’d felt rejected, then to name a photo of a cat, dog, person, or toy. When asked about their feelings again, those who named an animal or a toy with humanlike qual- ities felt less negatively than those who’d given names to people. #e researchers say people inclined to treat animals or objects like people (like when you talk to your pet) are also more prone to having traits like empathy and unconventional thinking to guard against that negativity. Pets make you less lonely Loneliness has been linked to heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and oth- er negative outcomes, but older adults who owned pets were 36 percent less likely to say they were lonely than those who didn’t have a furry friend, accord- ing to a study published in Aging & Men- tal Health . Especially for those who live alone, a pet could o!er social interaction when other people aren’t around, the au- thors report. 3HWV SURYLGH PDMRU EX΍HU DJDLQVW stress A small Swedish study found that female volunteers had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol 15 to 30 minutes after petting a pooch. Having your own dog could give you even more bene"ts. Par- ticipants who owned dogs had increased levels of the happy hormone oxytocin between one and "ve minutes later, and their heart rates were lower up to an hour later – but those without canines of their own didn’t get those same bene"ts. Benefits of owning a pet 3HWV SURWHFW \RXU KHDUW Owning a cat could lower your risk of dying from heart disease, a study in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Neurology reports. #e researchers found those who had owned a cat at some point in their lives had a lower risk of dying of a heart attack during the 20-year study than those who’d never owned one. Cats might help relax people during stress, or cat owners might tend to have traits that make them less at-risk, say study authors. Pets help keep your brain sharp Research published in Anthrozoös found older homebound adults who owned cats or dogs had better executive function (the skills needed to pay attention, remember details, and use past experience to decide how to act) than those who didn’t. 3HWV HQFRXUDJH \RX WR JHW PRUH H[HUFLVH Of course your pup needs walks, but that stroll is good for your health too – and dog owners don’t just use those jaunts to re- place the exercise they’d do otherwise. In fact, a British study of dog owners found that, on average, walking a pup added an extra 2,700 steps to their daily total, about 20 more minutes of physical activity per day than non-dog owners get. And, as a bonus, more exercise during the day also seems to set the stage for better nights. According to a survey of 6,500 retired London public servants, dog owners were more likely to report having an easier time falling asleep at night than non-dog own- ers. (Alas, perhaps due to their nocturnal hijinks, cats have the opposite e!ect.) Pets ease your pain Spending time with your pet might also help keep you o! pain meds. A study in Anthrozoös found adults who spent "ve to 15 minutes with a dog after joint replacement surgery used less pain med- ication than those who didn’t have ani- mal-assisted therapy. Pet ownership brings with it a host of health bene!ts – good to keep in mind next time they misbehave! Photo: Getty Images LIFESTYLE ANIMAL ESCAPADES #ese critters are certainly creatures of habit As if you needed another reason to love them, your pet could give you these health-boosting bene"ts