Do you believe in the healing power of pets?
By djoyce71
@djoyce71 (2511)
Philippines
September 23, 2008 5:59pm CST
A severely depressed person benefited from caring horses. His doctor encouraged him to take care of horses. He groomed, watered and walked with horses. Before long, he started talking to the horses telling them his troubles. He would smile when horses nudged him for more food or acknowledged his presence with a whinny. His contact with the horses encouraged him to open up to people again and he got a job.
One young girl with Down Syndrome who was extremely shy of strangers nervously approached hospital dogs. The doctors call these dogs as their "doctor dogs", they use them for therapy. Within minutes, she was stroking the dogs and laughing. At the end of the session, she sang in front of people which she has never done before.
A woman was grieving about her husband's death. She spent much of her time looking after dogs. Playing mother to the dogs helped her to overcome the pain of her husband's death. She felt better and thanked the animals.
These are just some of the true stories about the healing power of animals.
Do you know of other situations about the healing power of animals? Please share.
Have a great day!
5 people like this
19 responses
@iskayz (5420)
• Philippines
24 Sep 08
I have heard animals being used for therapy. I have watched some inspiring stories in animal planet and it felt good to know that animals can help heal sick people.
I am an animal lover. I have pets and have been taking care of them for 7 years now. I don't have any kind of sickness but in my experience my dogs have the ability to make me happy whenever I am sad. I don't know how but they do. I believe animals have their ways of understanding people and be able to sense what they feel.
Animals is one of the greatest creation of God next to humans I think. I don't have any scientific explanation but they can do magic in their own way.
Ciao!
I am an animal lover. I have pets and have been taking care of them for 7 years now. I don't have any kind of sickness but in my experience my dogs have the ability to make me happy whenever I am sad. I don't know how but they do. I believe animals have their ways of understanding people and be able to sense what they feel.
Animals is one of the greatest creation of God next to humans I think. I don't have any scientific explanation but they can do magic in their own way.
Ciao!2 people like this
@missybear (11391)
• United States
24 Sep 08
this is a little different,
but i work at a hospice and we have pet theraphie.
people come to visit with there dogs.
they are all certifite dogs.
people love it when the dogs visit them.
they get to pet them, they sit on there beds
and it brings a smile to the patients.
i think it's very good.
it doesn't heal them but it makes there last days a little happier.
2 people like this
@wyte059tyger (141)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Pet therapy is a wonderful thing. People at the end of their life often can't relate to other people, but they can touch and cuddle with an animal. Thank you for being a hospice worker.
1 person likes this
@lily3753 (388)
• China
24 Sep 08
Maybe .Because mood can effect your physical health . If you like pet so much ,and the pet can really bring you happy ,the positive emotion can produce some chemic substance which is good for your body .
I have heard some story of incurable patient become better bacause living together with a pet a a person he really love for a time . 
I have heard some story of incurable patient become better bacause living together with a pet a a person he really love for a time . 2 people like this
@Shinersma123 (32)
• Canada
23 Sep 08
I have a visual problem and suffer from arthritis. When the day gets to me, can't do the work I planned to do for it is too exhausting, and get feeling down for not being able to do everything I used to, my little mixed breed dog seems to pick up on the mood and always makes me feel better. She nudges my arm, or cuddles against my legs, or picks up one of her toys to play fetch with to make me smile and know that she is watching over me, loves me and wants me to feel better. It always works. It may only be short term for she needs me to feed and walk her as much as I need her to get through a rough day.
2 people like this
@trixyteddy (1070)
• India
28 Sep 08
Its so nice to note that so many people think alike where pets are concerned. Yes, even I have gone through the same situation. There was a time when a human being had ditched me. I immediately got my Trixy (she is my pet dog and is eight and a half years old). She took up most of my time during her first year and that used to make me very happy that I did not have time to think of the past.
1 person likes this
@cripfemme (7698)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Yes, I do. I used to have seizures and now I don't. Largely, I think, because I got a cat as my neurologist recommended. Apparently, cats are good for regulating psychologically caused seizures. I didn't actually have anything wrong with my brain. I was just so overwhelmed by the continual deaths of my friends that this was my body's way of dealing with all that emotion. I don't handle emotions well as you can imagine.
@daylehall (2)
•
24 Sep 08
Yes I really do believe in the healing power of animals. Everyone must have heard of the stories where autistic children will not talk but really seem to bond with an animal such as a dog and then they open up and talk. I recently went through a break up and my dogs have been an absolute god send, sensing when I am upset and cuddling up on my lap to make me feel better.
1 person likes this
@salonga (27775)
• Philippines
24 Sep 08
In a way they can help to soothe emotions. Just like plants they can give some sort of relief depending on how a person feels about them. Some sort of psychological effect, I should say. But to say that they have a healing power... I believe that is an overstatement. For every healing there is only one and only one who should get the credit... none other than the Lord our God.
1 person likes this
@wyte059tyger (141)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Yes, God is the healer. But don't you think he sometimes work through intermediaries here on earth? I do. He has healed me of a pinched nerve in my back, but I probably would not have been healed if the elders of my church had not prayed with me. There are so many things we don't know yet. There is a healing in pets. Whether we should call it a power or not, I don't know. God bless you.
1 person likes this
@msedge (4011)
• United States
11 Nov 08
During my toughest times i had these two cute dogs.I think they have an instinct to know our situation.Everytime i felt so down they tried to cheer me up by playing with me.They initiated it and i felt relieved.So i guess they have the healing power to get rid of my feelings for awhile and try to make me happy.
1 person likes this
@Samzonx (14)
• United States
23 Sep 08
yes as a matter of a fact. i have had this experience as well. my childhood was extremley troubled and to be honest the only two things that i really had to confort me was my comptuer/gagets and my cats. i dont think i would be much of a good person right now if not for them. they may be primitive beings but they provide simplistic comfort to us all. most of them are loyal and give us a sense of purpose and resposibility if we have none, its an inevitable thing that pets are going to be this way to us.
i think that pets will always be like this as well, its just somthing that keeps us company, keeps our mind off of our troubles and is nearly the same as having a person there. and for some people like me, it can even be more benefiting, because you can talk to them, knowing that they have no understanding but it just feels better to do so anyway :)
2 people like this
@wampirencja (164)
• Poland
24 Sep 08
I think that the best way to cure some illness is... not to think about it! (of course medicine is important to, I'm talking about "inside" of problem) Pets are mainly little troublemakers and person have to take care of them - and pets know it and are thankful for kindness. They are not humans, of course, but they can show how they feel in their own way - makes people smile, feel better abou themselves, feel loved and needed. Especially older people feel abandoned.
For sure I belive in it :) I always feel better while petting my rabbit and seeing he really like it. When I had cat it was also very nice, when I was lying in bed for days, and it always was coming to me with some "cat gifts" (not mice, but plushies he was hunting for whole day :D).
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
24 Sep 08
I do believe in the healing power of animals. I used to talk to my dog and pat him whenever I had a hard day at work or at home. He used to be my friend. He was better than any psychologist. I miss him to pieces. I always used to feel better when I knew he was beside my legs touching my skin with his coat.
1 person likes this
@AndrewFreyne (6281)
• United Kingdom
24 Sep 08
Yes I do and I really wish that I had a pet of my own! I would love to have a dog of some kind. I have heard that the provide great therapy when you stroke and caress them. I like the idea about the horses too. I sometimes cycle down a path along a river close to where I am and there are several horses lingering nearby. I stop and call them over, they slowly walk over and allow me to stroke them. The feelings I get from doing that small thing are wonderful, I cannot explain them! I think that the hospital or doctor dogs are a fantastic idea, I'm sure that I watched this on the news somewhere. Those dogs can really pull at your heart strings! I really look forward to the day when I am able to have a dog of my own. Andrew
1 person likes this
