Apart from the general joy and happiness that comes with growing up with a pet, there are many benefits that having a cat can have on your child’s physical, emotional and mental health. Here are five ways that having a pet can help your children in their development:
Help to develop empathy
Learning how to behave around a new pet can be difficult, especially for young children, but it’s crucial that they understand that a new animal in the family should be treated with gentle handling and quiet voices. Having a pet encourages children to think about things from a perspective other than their own, and helps them to be more considerate of the feelings and needs of others. Once they start to think about how a new pet must feel coming into a new, strange place, they start to learn empathy and sensitivity, along with patience and tolerance.
Teach responsibility and boost self-esteem
Caring for another living creature means doing the things that your new pet can’t do for itself, such as feeding, providing fresh water, grooming and cleaning up after them. Children should always be given some responsibility for a new pet, exactly what will depend on their age and maturity. Having this responsibility is a wonderful start in life for any child – it helps them to understand that they have a certain job or task that’s up to them to do. It instils a sense of pride in their ‘work’ which will help them develop into well-rounded adults, and the sense of achievement that comes with a job well done can be a fantastic boost to their self-esteem. The fact that they’re trusted to play such an important part in their pet’s life will bring them even closer to the new family member
Reduce stress and anxiety
Many scientific studies agree that pets reduce stress and anxiety, and it’s just the same for children, who are likely to suffer from stress or depression. The act of physically stroking the soft fur of a purring cat will lower your child’s blood pressure and slow their heart rate when they’re stressed out, and they’ll know that they have unconditional love from their beloved pet. Younger children can sometimes struggle to articulate their feelings when they’re stressed or frustrated, but with a pet there’s no need to try – they have a furry friend there who’s there to give them a snuggle, no matter what.
Help to develop reading skills
It may sound strange to some people, but reading out loud to a pet can actually help children who struggle with their reading. Reading out loud on a regular basis is known to improve reading skills, and a cat or dog will always be a non-judgemental listener.
Help to express emotions
Often a child’s first experience with death is the loss of a pet, and although very sad, it helps them to get a handle on different emotions, such as grief, sadness and anger, at a young age. It’s a good time for parents to discuss what these feelings are and help the child learn to express them in a healthy way, rather than bottling them up, which is beneficial for their emotional development.
Has having pets in your home helped your child’s development? Please share in the comments below…
I think growing up with pets, #1 really stick with me the most. I always had a lot of empathy for other people and animals, even as a kid.
I love this post! Pets are so important to all of us and especially children!
We agree with Summer. In our world, growing up with pets is a must-have. (and you do know that, now we’ve met you, we “hear” your posts with an Australian accent!) 🙂
I believe that having pets as a child helped me tremendously. They really taught me a lot. I feel that I am a much better person because of everything I learned from my pets.
I can’t imagine the person I would be if I hadn’t grown up with animals. My daughter had pets and now my granddaughters have them too. It’s critical I think, especially for empathy development
Growing up, having a dog and then a kitty really helped me when I felt depressed. I had my first bout of clinical depression at 16 (runs in the family) and my kitty provided me a lot of comfort. Today, Carmine and Milita do the same job! They keep me from being too lonely or sad. 🙂
Encouraging children to have positive relationships with animals and nurturing their affinity toward them (while quickly extinguishing any negative behaviors) is wonderful for a child’s development as an empathetic human being, and good for animals too.
Excellent post! I agree whole-heartedly on all points. Having pets is a wonderful experience! I grew up with an animal-loving family and learned about pet care hands-on from an early age. We always had multiple of animals – always several dogs at one time, cats, 77 baby chicks, horses, bunnies, ducks, birds, a bull, and even rehabilitated a fox! I learned so much about the special bond between humans and animals – compassion, care, responsibility, and pure love. And the best therapy for stress and sadness for me is petting and loving an animal!
So true. We are researching this for our next 2 projects – a series of picture books we hope will be used for reading to dog programs for kids and a documentary on the Healing Powers of Dogs. We are testing exactly how pets and cute nonjudgemental faces help kids focus, relax and learn. We also want to see if looking at dog photos or pictures and hearing stories helps at all in cases where children may not have access.
So very true. Nothing like having a pet to care for, nurture, and build confidence and empathy. Wonderful post, shared
There is no bond quite like it! Kids need companions.
These are great points! I grew up with pets and can’t imagine my life without them.
This is so important. I truly believe that there IS a “human” socialization period just as there is in cats and dogs. Giving children positive pet experiences early on primes them for a lifetime of furry love.
I love this! It’s so true. I especially like #4 because my Husky and I are a Therapy Dog team. We participate in reading programs at several libraries where kids read aloud to Therapy Dogs to help improve their reading skills. Sharing.
I think it’s also so very important to teach children that animal’s lives have value. I think once we get the kids on board, there will be HUGE changes in animal welfare.
Pets are so important for children’s development. I still remember so many adventures with our cats and dogs. My relationship with them had a great influence on me as I was growing up.
We agree, and as K-12 teacher, Mum agrees too. Ellen Pilch added very interesting points. Great post ! Purrs
I don’t have human children ( only kitty ones), but as a former teacher , I feel pets are very important in childhood. They help children learn compassion and how to care for someone other than themselves. They are also usually our first experience with death and how to cope.
My human thinks that when a child grows up without pets, it is cheating them out of some really valuable life experiences.