Owning a pet can be good for your health and here is how.

According to Real Simple, here are three ways owning a pet is good for your health:

  1. Pet owners are less likely to feel lonely.  Which you probably figured, but researchers at Idaho State University actually tested it. They asked people to rate how lonely they felt, then had them play with dogs.  When they asked them again, they were 60% less likely to say they felt lonely.
  2. Kids who grow up with pets don't have as many allergies.  A study at the University of Wisconsin found kids are 17% less likely to suffer from wheezing if there's a dog in the house, and 15% less likely to develop eczema.
  3. They're good for your heart.  Not just because you get more exercise if you own a dog.  A study in 2008 found that people who had never owned a cat were 40% more likely to die of a heart attack.

So there are your reasons to go get yourself a pet.

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