Craig Researchers Explore Pet Ownership Rewards and Challenges for Individuals with SCI

If you’ve ever had a pet, chances are you know how much these adorable and often unpredictable creatures can positively impact our lives. In fact, it’s scientifically proven that the love and care we provide to our pets is given back to us in spades in terms of improved health and mental well-being.

For the general population, pet ownership has been related to fewer doctor visits and decreased cardiovascular reactivity, and pet owners score better on measures of emotional well-being reflecting higher self-esteem, greater extraversion, more conscientiousness, and less loneliness and fearfulness.

While we can generalize these results to the broader population, the bulk of animal-related research for individuals with physical disability pertains to service animals rather than companion animals or pets. 

Craig’s Research Department was eager to explore the rewards and challenges that come with pet ownership for those with a spinal cord injury (SCI), as they had frequently heard anecdotal stories from patients with SCI on the value of having pets in their lives. We already know that there are potential negative impacts to psychosocial health that come with an SCI, such as changes in health-related quality of life, decreased societal participation and increased risk of depression. Given the risk of negative outcomes following injury, the researchers wanted to better understand if pets may buffer against those outcomes and promote a better quality of life.

Craig researchers Bria MacIntyre and Abby Welch conducted three focus group sessions comprising five to six individuals with SCI. Their questions focused on facilitators, barriers, rewards and challenges to pet ownership. Facilitators–conditions that made obtaining or maintaining pets easier–and barriers–conditions that were prohibitive or prevented people from having pets–didn’t elicit much feedback from the participants, but there was ample feedback on the challenges and rewards.

Rewards, which were defined as things that were positive or gained by virtue of having pets, included companionship, love, comfort and support. When asked about companionship, one participant said, “It’s nice to just have someone there, even if it is silly that you’re talking to a cat.” Another said, “They love you for who you are, and they’ll be there on your best and your worst days.” When talking about comfort and support, a participant said, “Having my dog visit during the months I was at Craig was a great constant during a chaotic time,” while another said, “I can’t imagine my life without my dog, because she just helps me cope and she’s always there for me.”

As expected, there were a few challenges, defined as conditions that made pet ownership difficult, but not prohibitive. The most reported challenges were mobility, responsibility and environment. One participant described a recent struggle to take the dog to the vet while another mentioned that the area in the apartment complex where pets are allowed is not accessible with a wheelchair.

Still, while benefits and challenges were reported in near-equal measure, in the instances that participants reported challenges, they were often quick to note that the benefits were of greater impact.

“I can’t say that I’ve found pet ownership post-injury any easier at all,” one participant said. “But I wouldn’t trade it for the world, because all the positive things that I get out of having my pets outweighs the handful of negatives that occur.”

Overall, the findings from this study mirrored the broader studies on pet ownership, primarily that pets provide numerous benefits to their owners such as love, understanding, comfort and companionship. Participants in the study further noted that pets provided escape, entertainment and opportunities for social interaction. Another takeaway from the study was a wish list of resources that participants would like to access. One frequently mentioned wish was to have a training program on caring for pets after SCI. Suggestions for this training included exposure to tools and strategies for adaptive pet care, opportunities to habituate pets to wheelchairs, and training appropriate behaviors such as not pulling a leash while walking with someone in a wheelchair.

The research team already has future studies in mind on pet companionship for those with SCI, such as identifying rates of pet ownership among people with SCI, exploring inclusion of companion animals into therapeutic practice, and examining relationships between companion animals and psychosocial health among individuals with SCI.

Special thanks to the Craig Foundation for funding this study.