HEALTHY LIVING WITH JANICE - GUEST AUTHOR KAYE GEORGE

Kaye George is a twice-Agatha-nominated novelist and short story writer whose stories have been published separately and in several anthologies. She reviews for Suspense Magazine and blogs on a group blog and a solo one. Learn more about Kaye and her stories at her website.

Kaye has graciously offered either a paperback or ebook of Smoke, her latest release, to one of our readers who posts a comment to the blog this week. -- AP

What Can Your Pet Do for You?

We've all heard stories of dogs and even cats saving families when the house is burning, stories of trained helper dogs such as seeing-eye dogs, even stories of pets predicting epileptic seizures.

But there are lots of other ways a pet can benefit the owner. Web MD lists five ways in this article (http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/features/health-benefits-of-pets). Pets can be~~

(1) Allergy fighters. Sometimes children grow up less prone to allergies in households with furry pets. That didn't work for us. We had had cats since before we had kids, but our second child turned out to be allergic. We first got rid of our remaining cat. His litter mate had died a month or two before our son started having asthma attacks. That was a sad day. Max, the cat, had a skin condition that required cortisone shots once a month, so we couldn't get anyone to adopt him and had to have him put to sleep. Max had the loudest purr of any cat we've ever had. A year later, our son developed an allergy to Ruffles, Duchess of Frecklefoot, our Golden Retriever. That was like getting rid of one of my kids! We did find a good home for her. A few years later, we got another dog--the kids begged and begged--and our son, who had been taking allergy shots, never was severely allergic to pets again.

(2) Date magnets. Hey, I'm not looking for a date, having been married for mumble-mumble years, but even I talk to people about their pets.

(3) Dogs for the aged. My eighty-year-old mother came to live with us for seven months near the end of her life. Our current Golden, Cory (Corona Golden Sunshine--our kids always named the dogs), was a joy to her. She never liked cats and remarked more than once that they had "terrible eyes". But she was best buddies with Cory. Cory, of course, was best buddies with everyone. The only exceptions were two service people who came to the house on two different occasions. When Cory growled at someone, I left her in the house the whole time that person was there. If Cory told me they were OK, I would sometimes put her in the yard so she wouldn't bother them too much.

There are programs nationwide that sponsor groups taking pets to nursing homes. I think that's an excellent use for pets! A San Francisco SPCA program sponsors people bringing dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits, even cats to see the elderly. Here's a video of a pot belly pig visiting some oldsters--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whOS2uxMDiI

(4) Good for mind and soul. Being around a friendly animal helps with depression and raises levels of the feel good transmitters serotonin and dopamine.

(5) Good for the heart. Having a pet lengthens the life of those who have had heart attacks and even lowers triglyceride and cholesterol levels.

Since I included a pet pot belly pig in my second Imogene Duckworthy novel, I'll have to see to it that the family doesn’t run into allergies, depression, or heart trouble. So far, Marshmallow hasn't been a date magnet for Immy, but that could happen in the future.

Thanks for joining us today, Kaye! I love the names of both your pets and your protagonist! Readers, if you’d like a chance to win a copy of Smoke, post a comment, and be sure to check back on Sunday to see if you’re the lucky winner. -- AP