The Value of Pet Ownership for Older Adults

By U.S. News & World Report
December 11, 2025 | 7:00 PM

Owning a pet can fill your life with joy, companionship, muddy paws and sloppy kisses. It can provide health benefits too. Whether your pet drags you on walks to increase your physical activity or cuddles with you on the couch to help you destress, they can play a powerful role in supporting your health and well-being. Owners of any age can reap the benefits of pet ownership, but these may be particularly noticeable for older adults who have limited social interactions or deal with health declines.

Dr. Lisa Gibbs, chief of geriatrics at University of California–Irvine Health, says that compared with younger adults, older adults may have more unstructured time and fewer responsibilities, which can at times feel unfulfilling. Especially for older adults who feel socially isolated, “pets can be life-changing and provide another sense of purpose,” Gibbs says.

“Pets are very important for older adults’ emotional health,” she adds.

If you’re thinking about getting a pet to support your well-being as you age, here’s what to consider.

[READ How Senior Living Communities Reduce Loneliness and Improve Senior Health: 2025 U.S. News Survey Report]

Benefits of Pet Ownership for Older Adults

Studies link pet ownership to a variety of health benefits. Some potential health benefits of pet ownership include:

— Improved cardiovascular health

— Improved blood pressure control

— Decreased cortisol and stress levels

— Decreased loneliness

— Increased opportunities for physical activity and exercise

— Increased opportunities for social interaction

— Improved mood

Cardiovascular benefits

Owning a pet may have cardiovascular benefits, such as reducing the owner’s risk for heart disease or helping them manage their blood pressure. These impacts have been studied on dog and cat owners in particular.

The largest study on dog ownership and human health — which took place in Sweden and was published in 2017 — found that owning a dog may reduce cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease death risks. The study was more than 12 years long and followed more than 3.4 million adults who did not have a history of heart disease. Other research on dog ownership found that owning a dog may aid in preventing high blood pressure or improving blood pressure control for people who already have hypertension.

Cat ownership has also been linked to cardiovascular benefits. One subgroup analysis from a 2022 study on pet ownership’s impacts on cardiovascular health found that cat owners experienced a greater reduction in cardiovascular disease risks than other pet owners.

Mental health benefits

Cat ownership may likewise support your mental health in similar — or superior — ways to dog ownership.

A 2017 study on depression, loneliness and pet attachment in homebound older adults with pets found preliminary evidence to suggest that cat ownership is associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms than dog ownership. Still, the researchers noted that more studies are needed to confirm these findings.

[READ: What to Know About Pet-Friendly Assisted Living]

What to Consider Before Getting a Pet

Much of the research on the health impacts of owning a pet has been conducted on dog and cat owners — as dogs and cats are common pets in the U.S. But other animals may make great pets too. Ultimately, the type of animal you choose as your pet is up to you.

Before bringing home your new friend, it’s important to consider different animals’ lifestyles, needs, sizes and costs, as well as your lifestyle, needs, mobility level, budget and any health goals you are hoping to accomplish.

“What type of pet to have is very personal,” Gibbs says. “Make sure the situation is a win-win for the owner and the pet.”

To set yourself up for success, Dr. Kanwar Kelley, a board-certified otolaryngologist and cofounder and CEO of Side Health, who is based in Orinda, California, says that “patients should ask themselves if they are ready to clean up after the specific type of pet, mobile enough to walk the pet (if needed), as well as able to get foods and supplies for the pet.”

Ask yourself these questions if you’re considering a pet:

[READ: Loneliness: How It Affects Senior Men]

Are you mobile, or looking to increase your physical activity?

If you are looking for a pet to take on walks, you might consider adopting a dog. Many dogs need at least one walk a day, and may enjoy activities like fetching or catching balls too. You’ll need to provide your dog with exercise to keep it healthy and happy — and by doing so, you may boost your own health and happiness too. Some people also walk their cats on leashes outdoors, but this is less common.

If you cannot or do not want to go for walks, a dog may not be the best choice for you.

Are you looking for a pet that is affectionate?

If you are looking for a pet to provide you with company, kisses or an occasional snuggle in bed, you may be interested in owning a dog or cat. Dogs and cats can be affectionate pets. However, like people, exactly how warm and cuddly they act depends on their individual personality.

If you’re less interested in an affectionate pet to hug and squeeze, you might consider owning a turtle, fish or another low-maintenance pet.

Are you at risk for falling?

Some older adults struggle with balance and are at risk for falls. Falls can be particularly worrisome for older adults who are frail and weak and prone to injury. Owning a pet may further increase a person’s fall and injury risks, especially with pets that are large, energetic or have a habit of getting underfoot.

When it comes to dogs, for instance, Gibbs says little dogs may be tripping hazards in the home while big dogs may run into you or drag you down during walks or playtime.

If your heart is set on being a dog owner, don’t forget to consider how your pet’s size may impact your health standing — literally.

Additionally, Gibbs warns that “dogs with behavioral problems won’t be best for those who struggle to control their pet.”

How is your upper body strength?

If you want a pet that requires bathing and grooming, like a dog, you’ll want to consider if you can personally groom your animal or if you have the means to hire someone else to do this. Depending on the size and obedience level of your pet, grooming can require you to use a lot of arm and upper body strength — not to mention energy. Think about if this is something you can safely provide for your pet.

Are you patient enough for a puppy or kitten, or should you bring home an older pet?

Baby animals are cute and lovable, but can be mischievous too. While you may be smitten with a puppy or kitten, it can be smart to consider if you have the energy and mobility to clean up its messes or tend to its growing needs before bringing one home.

If your answer is no, it may be wise to go with an older pet. If your answer is yes — or yes, with the help of a willing friend or family member — it could be worth considering.

What are your future plans for your pet, if and when you can no longer take care of it?

If you are an older adult considering a pet, it’s also worth thinking about their long-term care — considering the reality that your pet may eventually outlive you. Planning for a trusted friend or family member to step in can give peace of mind and ensure your pet will always have a loving home.

If you have a friend or family member in mind who may be willing to take care of your pet in the future, talk to them about it first. This can be particularly important to think about if you want a puppy or kitten who may have a long life ahead of them.

Are you OK with pet hair?

Different breeds of dogs or cats shed more or less than others. Depending on your ability to clean your home — and if you are allergic to any animal — you may want to avoid a pet that sheds a lot. If you are unbothered by cleaning or do not experience animal-related allergies, this may not be an issue for you.

Are you taking care of your pet’s health too?

Many considering a pet are thinking more about their own health than that of a future pet. While your health undoubtedly should be your priority, the latter shouldn’t be ignored either. If your new pet is in poor health, such as dealing with an injury or disease, this could put a strain on your day-to-day tasks and finances. While it is heroic to care for a sick or injured pet in need, if the obligation is too much for you to handle, it may be wise to adopt a dog or cat in good health.

“While pets can have benefits for health in geriatric patients, it is important that the owner is capable of caring for the pet and that the pet’s needs are being met as well,” Kelley says.

Resources for Older Adults Looking for a Pet

Several resources exist to help you find a pet. These include animal shelters, pet adoption websites, breeders and senior-specific pet services.

— Seniors for Seniors programs: Some adoption centers offer Senior for Seniors programs, which connect senior citizens to older animals for adoption. Often in these programs, adoption fees are waived or reduced for older adults over the age of 60. After adopting, some programs offer financial assistance for grooming, pet supplies and medical care too.

— Pets for the Elderly: Pets for the Elderly is a public charity that helps older adults find pets and helps shelter animals find loving owners. PFE partners with several shelters across the U.S. and will cover adoption fees for eligible older adults who choose to adopt from participating shelters.

— American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: The ASPCA is a national organization that operates programs and partnerships with animal welfare groups across the U.S. The ASPCA offers an online searchable database to help people search for pets to adopt. The ASPCA Adoption Center is located in New York City, and the organization also offers online search tools for adopting a pet or searching for a shelter near you.

— Petfinder: Petfinder is the largest pet adoption website for pet owners in North America. On Petfinder’s search engine, you can look for animals based on animal type or breed, personality traits — such as if they are good with kids — location and more.

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The Value of Pet Ownership for Older Adults originally appeared on usnews.com

Update 12/12/25: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.

Asia’s next great gourmet destination? Inside Indonesia’s fine-dining revolution

By CNN
August 11, 2026 | 5:44 AM

More than 120 years ago, Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, National Geographic magazine’s first female writer, photographer and board member, chronicled her travels through colonial Indonesia in her book “Java: The Garden of the East.”She was particularly fascinated by a feast known as the rijsttafel (rice table), a multi-dish banquet that was served in the grand Hotel de Nederlanden in Batavia, as Jakarta was known then.Scidmore vividly recalled a “conglomerate mountain” of food, including bits of fish, duck, chicken, beef, omelettes and onions piled alongside steaks, salads, curries, chutneys, spices and tropical fruits.The sumptuous spread had something to satisfy everyone amongst the 100 or so guests that filled the grand dining hall — even the “squeamish folk, unseasoned tourists and well-starched Britons with a small sense of humor.”Like Scidmore, most early Western documentation of Indonesia’s flavors focused on the opulent colonial feast. Little else was known about the diverse and rich flavors found across the enormous archipelago, in spite of it being home to the fabled Spice Islands, which sparked a 16th- and 17th-century “spice rush” for cloves, nutmeg and mace by Portuguese, Dutch and British traders.In more recent decades, the world has become better acquainted with some of the beloved humble foods found in Indonesian homes and warungs (street-side eateries), with satay, nasi goreng and beef rendang among the most familiar dishes beloved by travelers.But now, there’s a rising number of contemporary chefs who are elevating the national cuisine on the global stage by reimagining its famous spices into fine-dining experiences, while sharing the sophisticated stories of Indonesian flavor through a different lens.Made up of thousands of islands dotted across two oceans, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic country. It would be an understatement to say the country’s cuisine is wildly varied.As a result, “the existing understanding of Indonesian food culture is very shallow,” says William Wongso, an Indonesian culinary expert and author.Boasting an enviable array of regional ingredients and flavors, the country’s chefs have been working to educate international gourmets — and even locals — about the beauty of Indonesian cuisine.And Jakarta, its capital city, has become a breeding ground for the movement. Wongso compares it to the dining scenes in New York or Shanghai, which draw talent from all over their respective countries. “Everybody wants to come here to make a thing,” he says. “So people from different regions bring flavors and food cultures.”Some open humble warungs and serve their home cooking. A few look beyond recipes and focus on elements that make Indonesian cuisine unique for a wider audience, reinventing the whole experience.A modern, fine-dining blueprintEnter August, which opened in 2021 inside a gleaming skyscraper in Jakarta’s central business district.The duo behind the concept, Jakartan Hans Christian and Budi Cahyadi from the Indonesian island of Lombok, were definitely not the first people to promote Indonesian flavors — Christian emphasizes figures like Wongso, for example, who have been championing gastro-diplomacy abroad for decades.But August has spearheaded a new format and standard for the country’s fine-dining restaurants: a modern, Indonesia-inspired tasting menu operating at a world-class level of culinary execution and service.The industry has already noticed. August became one of the few Indonesian restaurants to achieve international recognition, placing 42nd on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 and earning accolades at The Best Chef Awards.“When I came back to Jakarta, you either had classic French fine dining or very casual bistros, mostly run by expat chefs,” says Christian, who sharpened his skills in Malaysia and the United States before returning to Jakarta in 2016.“There were no locally grown chefs doing their own thing with their own roots or interpretations. For me, August is about the pride of telling our own story … and a responsibility to not only embrace our roots, but also relearn them.”Cahyadi, with more than a decade of hospitality experience in a luxury hotel, agrees. He currently helms the front of house in August’s dining room.“In Jakarta, you either had to pick a place where the food was good but the service was lousy, or a casual place where service was bad but food was decent. When I met Hans, I knew it was time for a place where food is excellent and hospitality is delivered at the exact same time,” he says.In 2019, the two started August as a private kitchen concept before turning it into the current restaurant in 2021.Inside August’s intimate dining room — warmly lit with dark wood accents and a bright, open stainless-steel kitchen at the end of the dining room — the restaurant’s two tasting menus blend familiar Indonesian flavor profiles into completely unexpected forms.Their daikon dish is inspired by the format of Japanese agedashi tofu — silken tofu coated in starch, deep-fried until golden brown and traditionally dressed in dashi sauce.August’s version is served with a cuko sauce — a sweet and sour reduction made with tamarind and palm sugar featuring a tangy umami taste.It reminds locals of eating pempek, the Indonesian fishcake. A drizzle of andaliman pepper oil, Indonesia’s version of Sichuan peppercorns, gives the dish a unique, numbing spicy kick.Another highlight features Japanese Kimendai fish cooked by pouring hot oil over the scales until it crisps up while keeping the flesh tender. It sits in a kuah garang asem (yellow sour curry sauce) from the Central Java region.The sourness comes from a native green fruit called belimbing wuluh (or bilimbi), which looks like an oblong tomato but tastes extremely acidic, while ginger flowers provide a touch of freshness.The curry base is made from a yellow bumbu — made of aromatics such as turmeric and lemongrass. Often compared with France’s mother sauces (a group of five master sauces, such as Béchamel and Hollandaise, that are said to be the foundation of classical French cooking), Indonesian bumbu are spiced sauces that take hours to caramelize and form the base of many different dishes.Christian says that August has slowly evolved over the years, with more Indonesian flavors being incorporated into his menu as the team gains confidence and the demand grows.“In the beginning, our menu leaned more towards classic European because that was my formal training. When more international guests came, they expected more Indonesian flavor,” says Christian.Now, with half of their guests coming from overseas, the team tries to find the balance carefully without being intimidating.“Finding that balance was crucial — doing modern Indonesian cooking in a way that’s exciting for locals without just putting expensive ingredients in a traditional dish. We want to start from a product or a cooking method and create something new out of that idea,” says Christian.The founders admit that Jakarta has few fine dining concepts compared to fellow Southeast Asian cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Manila and Bangkok.“We knew we were a few years behind, but we are in progress to catch up. Over the years, the interest from people who want to learn and taste the flavor of Indonesia is growing,” says Christian. “For the past five to six years, we’ve been on a mission to prove people wrong.”It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t just about the menus, but the operation.They were the first restaurant to impose a reservation fee for diners in Jakarta. It also took a few years to educate their diners to be punctual for the tasting menu so the table could start the menu together – an often tricky feat in Jakarta traffic.But August’s success helped set new operational benchmarks for the city, proving that local diners were ready to enjoy high-end tasting menus.In the years since, Jakarta’s fine-dining community has expanded rapidly.ESA, opened in 2023, proudly offers a menu called New Jakarta Cuisine. Kindling, which opened the following year, blends Indonesian-Chinese dishes with French technique. Selera, newly opened this year in the Keraton at the Plaza hotel, emphasizes the nation’s culinary heritage with local ingredients.Outside the capital, things are changing, too, particularly in the country’s tourist hotspots. Bali, for example, has evolved to offer more than just fine resort dining and Western restaurants catering to visitors.Locavore NXT, helmed by Dutch-Indonesian duo Eelke Plasmeijer and Ray Adriansyah, serves a tasting menu that highlights local ingredients. The independent concept also has a farm, laboratory and store.Meanwhile, young, local and independent concepts are slowly increasing elsewhere in the country.Overlooking the historical Prambanan Temple and Mount Merapi, Suwatu in Yogyakarta, the royal cultural heart of Java, is an upscale hillside restaurant with a menu packed with local dishes cooked by local villagers.In Bandung, both MMBS (Mari Merangkai Bunga Seroja) and Plataran Bandung serve local Sundanese cuisine, with hyper-seasonal tasting menus featuring a creative twist.Not just about the price tagAt the same time, classic Indonesian restaurants are reexamining the stories they would like to tell.For a long time, the 1945 Restaurant inside the Fairmont Jakarta has been regarded as the city’s only high-end Indonesian restaurant in a five-star hotel.Taking over as the chef de cuisine this year, Yopi Tumeru has been determined to inject fresh ideas into the 11-year-old establishment — and he was inspired by the traditional rijsttafel concept.His vision of the legendary feast isn’t only a sumptuous buffet but an educational exploration of Indonesian cuisine.“For many years, Indonesian food was presented either as home cooking, street food or part of a hotel buffet… Our Rijsttafel was designed as a culinary journey through the archipelago. We preserve the generous and communal character of the traditional experience while refining the portions, presentation and sequence,” Tumeru says.The menu includes dishes such as wagyu beef rendang, duck leg confit with sambal madura, tuna collar rica-rica (rahang tuna), tempe nachos and es teler cheesecake — all created to shine new light onto old dishes.For chefs like Tumeru, presenting Indonesian cuisine in a haute gastronomic format isn’t just about slapping on higher price tags and using expensive ingredients.They are proudly showcasing the often undervalued Indonesian cuisine — from the ingredients, the knowledge and the labor to the cultural heritage.“Rendang, for example, is not simply beef cooked in coconut milk. It requires patience, careful control of the heat, and an understanding of how the spices develop over time,” says Tumeru, who feels chefs have a responsibility to help guests appreciate that complexity.Despite giving Indonesian cuisine an upscale makeover, all of the chefs insist their roots and hearts remain with the humble, family-run warung. They encourage diners to ask for street-food tips, which might otherwise feel intimidating without a local guide.The movement isn’t about replacing affordable neighborhood joints. It’s about broadening how the world sees Indonesian food, using fine dining as a welcoming gateway into their country’s vast culinary heritage.“There is still a mindset that Indonesian food cannot be expensive — that is not true,” says Wongso.“These high-end restaurants, if they’re doing it right, they’re quite helpful in changing people’s mindsets. Indonesian food cannot be cheap. It takes immense labor and skill. A single sauce or spice paste takes hours of balancing and preparation. You can Google many things, but you can’t Google taste.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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