Pets are good for your health :)

  Everyone who has a pet would probably agree that the pet not only has become there best friend but is a member of the family. Pets are wonderful and make you happy, but they can also make you healthy too!
Within 15 to 30 minutes a cat or a dog can lower your stress levels. Your body will begin to produce more serotonin and produce less cortisol (a hormone associated with stress), putting you in a much better mood.
Many tests have found that pet owners also have a lower blood pressure, and one test even showed that children with hypertension had a lower blood pressure while petting their dog.  Pets may also be linked with lower cholesterol levels.  Studies have also shown that people who own cats or dogs are also less likely to die from a cardiac disease.
  Pets are also great therapy for people who struggle with depression.  Pets don't judge and care about their owners. Pets also give the person something to care for and think about, rather than focusing on how they feel.
  People who own pets are also likely to be more active, being that dogs need to be walked.  Walks will benefit both the animal and the owner and will help you meet your exercise goals leading to a healthier life style. 
  It has also been found that people who own cats are less likely to have a stroke.  This could be because the calming effect that cats have or because they help their owners not to focus on stressful thoughts.
   It has been shown that it is good to have pets around while children are growing up because these children tend to have a stronger immune system from the exposure to animals.  Animals could also help infants that are likely to develop asthma to not get it. 
   One cool way that a dog can help a person with diabetes is that they can alert them about there blood sugar dropping early enough before it gets dangerous.  The person with the dropping blood sugar gives of a scent that the dog can smell.
   Animals are often used in therapy and can help kids, who for instance could have autism, with sensory integration.
   Dogs can also help people who have epilepsy, they can sometimes alert the person of a seizure before it happens or alert parents of a child having a seizure in another room or they may lie up against the person having a seizure to prevent injury.
  Dogs can also be trained to give a person a better quality of life and help those with diseases such as Parkinsons or people who are blind.

Pets are amazing and help people in so many different ways.

Info from:
 http://pets.webmd.com/ss/slideshow-pets-improve-your-health
Picture from:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peterwedderburn/100112823/stray-dogs-and-cats-should-the-taxpayer-pay-the-bills/