Children with pets are less prone to allergies

While many pet owners care for their animal's wellbeing by taking out pet insurance cover to offset the cost of veterinary treatments needed by their pets, new research indicates that keeping a pet could boost the health of pet owners themselves.

According to research featured in the Clinical and Experimental Allergy Journal, children who live in a pet-free household are more likely to develop allergies, while children who are exposed to pets at a young age have a comparatively lower risk of developing allergies.

The research has shown that exposure to a family pet had helped to improve a child's immunity to common allergies in up to 50 per cent of cases studied.

The research also found that infants who had lived alongside a cat or dog in the first 12 months of their life had a higher level of allergy antibodies than infants who had lived in a pet-free household.

Despite the immunity boosting benefits of having a pet dog or cat, Safekids.co.uk has recommended that new parents opt for low maintenance pets such as hamsters and rabbits instead, in order to give them more time to focus on their new-born baby. Hamsters and rabbits typically cost less to insure and care for.

The child-care advice portal has also recommended that pre-school children be supervised when handling or playing with family pets such as cats and dogs.

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:13:00 GMT