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Therapeutic Play and Happiness May Help Heal Pets

Dr. Jeff

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But I think it also "deserves" its own subject line because fun, play, connection with others and happiness are the most important parts of a pets' life.

IMHO, if Vanya (my pup who just tragically passed away) had more fun in her life, she might still be around.

But sadly, she didn't have much.

For about 1 year after we adopted Archie who is an incredibly happy dog, she would engage and even play with him.Archie happy crop.jpg

Most of the time though, she was alone in a bed or her crate. She never had much desire to do anything.

Conversely, the ability to connect, engage and have fun has been shown to help promote a long, happy and productive life. This is seen 100+ year young, and vital, people in the long-lived Blue Zones around the world.


We see another example of the power of play and connection in the work of Dr. Kelly Turner. She has extensively researched and written about "Radical Remission" of cancer.

Just like n the Blue Zone research, one of the important take-homes is that fun, play and connection all play important roles in surviving and thriving with cancer.


It's easy and natural for pets to play. It's also deeply healing.

HA! is so named partially because of the healing power of laughter yoga. Research is finding that play and laughter work so well to activate natural healing mechanisms that they are being used in conventional cancer centers, like Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC, throughout the world.

Current research indicates that laughter has quantifiable positive physiologic benefits.


HA! is focused on what we can do for our pets and how to promote happiness and quality of life (QoL).

Pet parents can see this reflected by BEAM.

BEAM (Behavior, Energy, Appetite, Mood) seems to directly reflect QoL.

Vanya's BEAM was the very first thing that changed even before any internal test results were abnormal. Subtle BEAM changes like different sleeping spots and willingness to eat her food started in the winter. Slight laboratory abnormalities could not be seen until April.

Had I connected the dots, the way Vanya has helped me do in the past few days, I might have been able to do more for her by engaging, massaging, and "loving her up".

Thank you Vanya for helping me see more clearly. ? ?
 

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