REASON NUMBER 157 FOR OWNING A PET
15 09 2006We’ve all heard the research stories about people with pets living longer, happier lives. Owning pets are good for you. They just make you feel better. A new study shows that dogs and cats can protect kids from stomach bugs. The research study by Jane Heyworth and colleagues found that children with a dog or cat in the home were 30% less likely to have gastroenteritis (stomach flu).
It was once believed that dogs and cats were possible sources for gastroenteritis. I mean, they do have a tendency to eat poop. But Heyworth’s findings prove other wise. Children being licked and touched by pets actually allow children to develop immunity to pathogenic organisms that can cause gastroenteritis.
Oh, I’m sending this to my mom. She wouldn’t let me have a dog because of the germs.
People who had cats during the middle ages were less likely to get Bubonic plague, since cats kept the rats away. Unfortunately, it was a superstitious time, so most people thought cats were familiars of witches.
Stupid people.