The influence of dogs and cats on the mental health and emotional wellbeing of their owners in the Netherlands.

Abstract

The lives of cats and dogs have been bound to human lives for an extensive period of time. Sharing homes, shelters, enriching lives, caring for and protecting their owners; such a close relationship might have an effect of the mental health and wellbeing of their owner. There has been extensive research abroad regarding pets and their impact on mental health, but to this day there has been no such research in the Netherlands. This paper will explore the effects of cat and dog ownership on the mental health and wellbeing of their owner. This was done by conducting a survey online with a broad spectrum of participants. Different age groups, pet owners and non-pet owners all took part in the questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted partly of self-made questions based on guideline questions (mainly questions favored by health institutions) and the MHC-SF (Mental Health Continuum-Short Form), an accredited form of estimating mental health. A total of 466 participants completed the entire survey and their results were evaluated using SPSS 17.0. Pet owners in general (both cat and dog owners) visited a psychiatrist significantly more often than non-pet owners. Cat owners had a higher number of visits to the psychiatrist. However, pet owners scored significantly higher on the emotional part of the MHC-SF, indicating a better emotional health. Overall pet owners did slightly worse than non-pet owners. Interestingly so, cat owners almost consistently had worse scores than dog owners and non-owners alike, thus lowering the mean for pet owners. The conclusion from this research seems to be that with pet ownership comes a better emotional health, but more use of a psychiatrist. Cat owners seem to be in poorer emotional health compared to dog owners and non-owners, which is very fascinating and needs yet further investigation. This may be explained by the low maintenance character and appeal of cats which owners in poorer health could find comfort in.