July 21, 2025 • 17 mins
Recent research suggests that pets ownership provide many benefits, including some that may be specific to women. We dig into it.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm hoping to stuff I never told you protection by her.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Radio, and you know, any of the world is bleak,
and honestly, I'm not doing too well, especially with all
the dark news.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I feel like I'm consuming.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yes, So for this Monday, Minnie, We're gonna take a
break with some insightful looks at why pets are wonderful
for these dark times.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Anyone's gonna rele you that cat.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And there is a neighborhood cat listeners that I adore.
She is so sweet and if I could, I would.
I love her.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah. Actually I came upon her as I was coming
to your house, to your apartment to bring you something.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
She was so sweet rubbing up on me. I almost
took her and brought her to you.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Because I was like, she needs this cat.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I love her. I'm debating her name, and I'm like,
if I name her, then it's going to go out
the window.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Princess Leah.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
She's she's got a sassy vibe. I could see that working.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Yeah, So yeah, when I saw her, immediate was like, Josh,
I need to steal this cat. But then she's so
healthy and happy that I'm like I feel like she
belongs to somebody, so I don't know the kidnap catnap.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I'm gonna get you a cat though.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
But with that so, as you all know, Peter's carture
mcphusin is one of the loves of my life. And
though I may say she's a dick because she can be. Oh,
and my anxiety may have made her this way. Pet
seemed to imitate their owner personality. Again, so they say,
but with all of that, she has made my life better,
(02:07):
more expensive, but better. And of course we know this
is scientific and you know we're gonna look at some findings.
So in an article in Newsinhealth dot nih dot gov,
Yes INIH titled the Power of Pets, they say, this
(02:27):
research on human animal interaction is still relatively new, and
by the way, this is a twenty eighteen article, so
it's been seven years, but you.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Know, kind of close.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Some studies have shown positive health effects, but the results
have been mixed. Interacting with animals has been shown to
decrease levels of cortisol, a stress related hormone, and lower
blood pressure. Other studies have found that animals can reduce loneliness,
increase feelings of social support, and boost your mood. So
(03:00):
if I was one of the people that I talked to,
I would absolutely agree about the loneliness, increasing feelings of
social support, and boosting your mood because sometimes just being
able to hug my.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Dog makes me feel better.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
She doesn't understand it, she probably doesn't love it. She
does that for me. In fact, they were so intrigued
by the benefits of pets and animals they were currently
at that time looking at how kids with autism, ADHD
and other diagnoses could benefit from animal interactions. Of course,
we know that service animals have had a giant impact
(03:38):
on people with different types of diagnoses, ranging from anxiety,
bipolar to diabetes schizophrenia, so it's no surprise that there
could also be help benefits in having pets. Here's some
more from that NIH article. They write, dogs are very
present if someone is struggling with something, they know how
to sit there and be loving.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I'm not doing well with Peaches. I need to figure
that one out anyway.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
And this was doctor An Berger, a physician and researcher
at the NIH Clinical Center and Bethesda, Maryland. She goes
on to say their attention is focused on the person
all the time, Burger works with people who have cancer
and terminal illness. She teaches them about mindfulness to help
decrease stress and manage pain, so she specifically uses them
for that. But there wasn't a back and forth again
(04:24):
about this because they were worried about germs, especially like
with cancer patients, and so making sure that they are relatively.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Clean.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
I don't know how else to say that germ free,
because dog is more more likely to pick up and
bring in germs than other humans, so that was kind
of a concern, and I think that the whole conversation
has happened, but they also again talk about how this
is still beneficial.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
For a lot of patients. I want to hug a dog.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Moving on, there's another article tell Tell t E l
l T a I l VET dot com that gives
a list on how pets can have helpful benefits for
mental health, and it includes some of the things like
reducing stress and anxiety as we mentioned, providing companionship and
reducing loneliness. Yes, I do talk to peaches a lot,
(05:17):
especially by myself, to the point that when my partner
moved in, he would often think I was talking to
him and I had to clarify, it's not for you.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Stop listening.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I'm talking to Peaches between.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Me and Peaches, but any you adapted to that very
quickly because you talked to preachers a lot, even with
me and my partner present, and you don't even know
what to do.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Beaches and I are the same person.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
You are essentially the same creature. And then they say,
also is improving mood and boosting emotional resilience. So a
twenty twenty five report talks about the fact that a
dog or a cat can help your well being just
as much as being married or having friends or so
the scene an article says, so here's a quote, they write.
(05:56):
The study, which was published on March thirty first again
in March twenty twenty five in the journal's Social Indicators, Research,
concludes that having an animal companionship is a worth of
to seventy thousand pounds or ninety thousand dollars a year
in life satisfaction, a metric economists used to quantify the
quote implicit price of otherwise intangible things.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I found that fascinating. I'm not.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
They go on to give you a little more scientific
understanding of how they got this number and what this is,
and of course, like the variables in there, as well
as possibly conflicting ideas, not a lot. But I was like, wait, what,
wait what, Maybe I'm not Maybe she's not as expensive
as I thought if she's making you know, ninety thousand
(06:41):
dollars or giving me back ninety thousand dollars worth of
intangible things. Of course, again, both the article and the
study warns about the ideas of equating pets to humans
on a literal basis, saying that yes, our connections to
animals are powerful, but not they are not the same
as humans. Whatever, because my dog is better than a
(07:01):
lot of people, and though does cause me stress, caused
me less stress than so many people in my life.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Not you any.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Because Peaches and I are the same, because.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Y'all are one.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Essentially, If there's such a thing as a soul dog,
it's yours.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Please you have the same personality.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
I'm pretty sure my personality is that of a cat,
although Peaches sometimes reminds me of a cat, because she's like, no,
don't touch me, No, don't look at me, No, don't
come near me.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Oh you want me to come sit next to you? No,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Friend of the show. Friend in real life, Lauren, when
I was dog sitting and I was trying to record
and Peaches was being a little extra. Uh, Lauren said,
Peaches is the most calico dog I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I think you're wrong.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Of course, we wanted to break down the women factor
to this, if there is any. And here's an article
that comes from the myts dot com titled ken dogs
and cats help women live longer, healthier lives. Well, yes,
but it's kind of the same as the Telltale vet
dot com article. The benefits are similar, but there isn't
(08:33):
added plus that they've tagged on that I was like, yeah, okay,
in which they say under the emotional connection, they talk
about the many complicated parts of a women's lives and
stages and how pets can give some more stability in
grounding in those what they would call milestones like perimenopause, menopause,
having a period, all those different things, and I'm like,
(08:55):
you know what, that's actually true. That may be a
little more beneficial in that level. Now, Potts is a
fairly new er or I guess more recently talked about
diagnosis and condition and not very well studied from what
I gather and I have seen many women, so because
I don't know, I have not seen many men talk
(09:19):
about this or I've been diagnosed with this, and I
could be wrong, but they use they do have service
dogs to help since when they're about to pass out
and they know that so they'll come and tap them.
So that makes sense to me that I'm like, okay,
these different types of milestones that's based on hormones and
periods and like uterine complications could be stress relief. So
(09:41):
I was like, Okay, that's an interesting take. But also
I know Kristen and Caroline had this conversation previo like
a while ago about pets becoming children the substitute children
for many women, and I did want to talk about that.
So an article from Psychology Today which was written in
twenty twenty one, so after their episode, but not so
(10:06):
reason or about four years ago, they have some thoughts.
So here's here's an interesting quote from them in this
survey seventy percent, So they did talk about specific survey
in the article, seventy percent of the women who have
chosen not to have children view their dog or cat
as their child. However, the door still seems to be
open toward eventually having children, since sixty six percent view
(10:26):
caring for their pet as a practice for one day
having a child, if they ever were ever to change
their mind, so seventy two percent explicitly state that they
prefer the company of their pet over the company of children.
Sixty nine percent say that having a pet is easier
than having a child, which I would agree with, which
I would agree with. So I think this is interesting
in that conversation because again a lot of people are like, yeah,
(10:47):
but this is not the same all these and then
TikTok trends of like if you're saying, you know, you
don't think a birth this, and then they'll show the
picture of the pet, and then they'll also have a
like photoshop.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Copy of them you'res.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
And I think it's quite funny.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
But just them really talking about the fact that this
was their first child. I'll know many people who have
pets and then have children talk about this is their brother,
this is their first child, this is this And I've
even seen like older generations who like get dogs after
their children move talking about this is your brother, this
is your new brother.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
They and the children human children being like they love
the dog more than me. You know, stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
So I do find that interesting in that conversation once
again and whether or not this is a practice or
whether this is their choice. And more and more people
are talking about the fact that they don't want children.
A new article just came out about, like, I think
it said twenty thirty that women from twenty five to
forty four would not be married and not have children.
There's gonna be a record number of women who would
(11:53):
be single and childless. I'm like, yeah, whose fault is
that anyway, moving smoothing.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
And then of course there was this one article that
I have to shout out that I thought was hysterical
and also very relatable. Emily Bettington and The Guardian shout
out to that wrote this article titled why do so
many women spend more time with pets than people? And
she starts the article with this quote, the average woman
(12:21):
with a pet now spends more time actively engaged with
her pet than she spends hanging out face to face
with bellow humans on any given day. I read in
the Atlantic. It was a dissection of the quote crisis
in Social fitness, alternatively known as while We're all destined
to die alone, our faces eaten by the very pet
whose company we have chosen above our own kind? Am
(12:43):
I a pet owner or my pet owning? Friends of
all genders surprised?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Of course not. And y'all this article is.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Too good not to add a little more bits to it,
including she writes, pet hangouts are blissfully free from social awkwardness, aggravation,
and anxiety. You will never engage in agonizingly polite dance
with your pet over who should eat the last morsel
on a sharing plate. Your pet doesn't have a partner
you can't stand, and if they did, you wouldn't have
to be polite to or about them. If you hang
(13:12):
out at home, your pet doesn't care if you watch
Project repeats, Star Wars repeat or instead of a subtitle drama,
or reveal you don't understand inflation. Yeah, I agreed, I agree,
And she goes on to say this last part, which
by the way, is hysterical. It says, because I think
you and I I've said this many times, but also
(13:34):
to end, Yes, your companion might eat your face one day,
but why would you care? You'll be dead and it's
a small price to pay for all that blissfully accepting
hang time. Being understood is overrated. Being treated as a
snack dispenser in life and potentially also death is the
way forward. I am a snack dispenser. She only cares
(13:55):
about me when she thinks it's time for me to
hide a greenie.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yes, and then if you don't do it, she hides
behind me and looks at you passive aggressively. And I
love it because I'm suddenly the favorite.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
She's bad if I don't give it to her, or
she doesn't because she was sick the other day that
I couldn't. She goes to bed. That's quite funny. But
I thought this was interesting. And if you don't have
a pet, that's okay. If you have inanimate objects like
a bee as your pet, that's okay. Am I still
(14:30):
going to find you a kitten? Yes, any I am.
If you want to have a snake as a pet,
go ahead, Katie. I'm not coming to your house though.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Yeah. I haven't told Katie. My good friend Katie has
a snake and a bunch of mice. And I told
Samantha and her partner about it, and I haven't told
her about your reaction and determination not to go.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Because it also escapes it.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Escape snake escapes.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
You can't have it and love it all you want.
And I'm proud of you, and I'm so glad you
take care of that thing.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
But I don't want it.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
She sent me an update about it today. I'll send
it to.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
The amount of screams that would happen if it touched me. Anyway,
all that to say is, yes, your pets can't help
do all of these things.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
They are benefits to that during these times.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
It's awful, we know, And it's sometimes nice to have
a dog that actually is judgmental.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
She does judge me.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
She judged me a lot, actually, and sighs at me
quite often in frustration and irritance. But I enjoy that
because in the end I can still cuddle her.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, she's a I mean going back to my friend Katie.
She also helps dog sit sometimes, and she once told
me Peaches is the kind of weird that I really love.
She has a personality. She has a personality.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Wait what does that say about me? Oh? Good?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Anyway, don't read too much into it. It was a compliment.
I suspect.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I'm a dic.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
We should we should.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I'm gonna steal you.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
A cat all right, well, listeners, we always love hearing
about your pets. Pictures of pets appreciated, Please let us
know send them all away. You can email us at
Hello at Stuffnever Told You dot com. You can find
us on Blue Sky at bomb Stuff Podcasts, or on
(16:35):
Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've Never Told You. We're
also on YouTube and we have a you can get
wherever you get your books. Thanks as always too, our
super producer, Christina, our executive producer and a contributor Joe.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Oh yeah, Christina has a wonderful cat.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Oh yes, we have indeed, and thanks to you for listening.
Stuff I Ever Told You Instruction by Heart Radio. For
more podcasts in my heart Radio, you can check out
the heart Radio Apple podcast where if you listening to
your favorite shows
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm hoping to stuff I never told you protection by her.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Radio, and you know, any of the world is bleak,
and honestly, I'm not doing too well, especially with all
the dark news.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I feel like I'm consuming.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yes, So for this Monday, Minnie, We're gonna take a
break with some insightful looks at why pets are wonderful
for these dark times.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Anyone's gonna rele you that cat.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And there is a neighborhood cat listeners that I adore.
She is so sweet and if I could, I would.
I love her.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah. Actually I came upon her as I was coming
to your house, to your apartment to bring you something.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
She was so sweet rubbing up on me. I almost
took her and brought her to you.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Because I was like, she needs this cat.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I love her. I'm debating her name, and I'm like,
if I name her, then it's going to go out
the window.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Princess Leah.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
She's she's got a sassy vibe. I could see that working.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Yeah, So yeah, when I saw her, immediate was like, Josh,
I need to steal this cat. But then she's so
healthy and happy that I'm like I feel like she
belongs to somebody, so I don't know the kidnap catnap.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I'm gonna get you a cat though.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
But with that so, as you all know, Peter's carture
mcphusin is one of the loves of my life. And
though I may say she's a dick because she can be. Oh,
and my anxiety may have made her this way. Pet
seemed to imitate their owner personality. Again, so they say,
but with all of that, she has made my life better,
(02:07):
more expensive, but better. And of course we know this
is scientific and you know we're gonna look at some findings.
So in an article in Newsinhealth dot nih dot gov,
Yes INIH titled the Power of Pets, they say, this
(02:27):
research on human animal interaction is still relatively new, and
by the way, this is a twenty eighteen article, so
it's been seven years, but you.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Know, kind of close.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Some studies have shown positive health effects, but the results
have been mixed. Interacting with animals has been shown to
decrease levels of cortisol, a stress related hormone, and lower
blood pressure. Other studies have found that animals can reduce loneliness,
increase feelings of social support, and boost your mood. So
(03:00):
if I was one of the people that I talked to,
I would absolutely agree about the loneliness, increasing feelings of
social support, and boosting your mood because sometimes just being
able to hug my.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Dog makes me feel better.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
She doesn't understand it, she probably doesn't love it. She
does that for me. In fact, they were so intrigued
by the benefits of pets and animals they were currently
at that time looking at how kids with autism, ADHD
and other diagnoses could benefit from animal interactions. Of course,
we know that service animals have had a giant impact
(03:38):
on people with different types of diagnoses, ranging from anxiety,
bipolar to diabetes schizophrenia, so it's no surprise that there
could also be help benefits in having pets. Here's some
more from that NIH article. They write, dogs are very
present if someone is struggling with something, they know how
to sit there and be loving.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I'm not doing well with Peaches. I need to figure
that one out anyway.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
And this was doctor An Berger, a physician and researcher
at the NIH Clinical Center and Bethesda, Maryland. She goes
on to say their attention is focused on the person
all the time, Burger works with people who have cancer
and terminal illness. She teaches them about mindfulness to help
decrease stress and manage pain, so she specifically uses them
for that. But there wasn't a back and forth again
(04:24):
about this because they were worried about germs, especially like
with cancer patients, and so making sure that they are relatively.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Clean.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
I don't know how else to say that germ free,
because dog is more more likely to pick up and
bring in germs than other humans, so that was kind
of a concern, and I think that the whole conversation
has happened, but they also again talk about how this
is still beneficial.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
For a lot of patients. I want to hug a dog.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Moving on, there's another article tell Tell t E l
l T a I l VET dot com that gives
a list on how pets can have helpful benefits for
mental health, and it includes some of the things like
reducing stress and anxiety as we mentioned, providing companionship and
reducing loneliness. Yes, I do talk to peaches a lot,
(05:17):
especially by myself, to the point that when my partner
moved in, he would often think I was talking to
him and I had to clarify, it's not for you.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Stop listening.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I'm talking to Peaches between.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Me and Peaches, but any you adapted to that very
quickly because you talked to preachers a lot, even with
me and my partner present, and you don't even know
what to do.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Beaches and I are the same person.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
You are essentially the same creature. And then they say,
also is improving mood and boosting emotional resilience. So a
twenty twenty five report talks about the fact that a
dog or a cat can help your well being just
as much as being married or having friends or so
the scene an article says, so here's a quote, they write.
(05:56):
The study, which was published on March thirty first again
in March twenty twenty five in the journal's Social Indicators, Research,
concludes that having an animal companionship is a worth of
to seventy thousand pounds or ninety thousand dollars a year
in life satisfaction, a metric economists used to quantify the
quote implicit price of otherwise intangible things.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I found that fascinating. I'm not.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
They go on to give you a little more scientific
understanding of how they got this number and what this is,
and of course, like the variables in there, as well
as possibly conflicting ideas, not a lot. But I was like, wait, what,
wait what, Maybe I'm not Maybe she's not as expensive
as I thought if she's making you know, ninety thousand
(06:41):
dollars or giving me back ninety thousand dollars worth of
intangible things. Of course, again, both the article and the
study warns about the ideas of equating pets to humans
on a literal basis, saying that yes, our connections to
animals are powerful, but not they are not the same
as humans. Whatever, because my dog is better than a
(07:01):
lot of people, and though does cause me stress, caused
me less stress than so many people in my life.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Not you any.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Because Peaches and I are the same, because.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Y'all are one.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Essentially, If there's such a thing as a soul dog,
it's yours.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Please you have the same personality.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
I'm pretty sure my personality is that of a cat,
although Peaches sometimes reminds me of a cat, because she's like, no,
don't touch me, No, don't look at me, No, don't
come near me.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Oh you want me to come sit next to you? No,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Friend of the show. Friend in real life, Lauren, when
I was dog sitting and I was trying to record
and Peaches was being a little extra. Uh, Lauren said,
Peaches is the most calico dog I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I think you're wrong.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Of course, we wanted to break down the women factor
to this, if there is any. And here's an article
that comes from the myts dot com titled ken dogs
and cats help women live longer, healthier lives. Well, yes,
but it's kind of the same as the Telltale vet
dot com article. The benefits are similar, but there isn't
(08:33):
added plus that they've tagged on that I was like, yeah, okay,
in which they say under the emotional connection, they talk
about the many complicated parts of a women's lives and
stages and how pets can give some more stability in
grounding in those what they would call milestones like perimenopause, menopause,
having a period, all those different things, and I'm like,
(08:55):
you know what, that's actually true. That may be a
little more beneficial in that level. Now, Potts is a
fairly new er or I guess more recently talked about
diagnosis and condition and not very well studied from what
I gather and I have seen many women, so because
I don't know, I have not seen many men talk
(09:19):
about this or I've been diagnosed with this, and I
could be wrong, but they use they do have service
dogs to help since when they're about to pass out
and they know that so they'll come and tap them.
So that makes sense to me that I'm like, okay,
these different types of milestones that's based on hormones and
periods and like uterine complications could be stress relief. So
(09:41):
I was like, Okay, that's an interesting take. But also
I know Kristen and Caroline had this conversation previo like
a while ago about pets becoming children the substitute children
for many women, and I did want to talk about that.
So an article from Psychology Today which was written in
twenty twenty one, so after their episode, but not so
(10:06):
reason or about four years ago, they have some thoughts.
So here's here's an interesting quote from them in this
survey seventy percent, So they did talk about specific survey
in the article, seventy percent of the women who have
chosen not to have children view their dog or cat
as their child. However, the door still seems to be
open toward eventually having children, since sixty six percent view
(10:26):
caring for their pet as a practice for one day
having a child, if they ever were ever to change
their mind, so seventy two percent explicitly state that they
prefer the company of their pet over the company of children.
Sixty nine percent say that having a pet is easier
than having a child, which I would agree with, which
I would agree with. So I think this is interesting
in that conversation because again a lot of people are like, yeah,
(10:47):
but this is not the same all these and then
TikTok trends of like if you're saying, you know, you
don't think a birth this, and then they'll show the
picture of the pet, and then they'll also have a
like photoshop.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Copy of them you'res.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
And I think it's quite funny.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
But just them really talking about the fact that this
was their first child. I'll know many people who have
pets and then have children talk about this is their brother,
this is their first child, this is this And I've
even seen like older generations who like get dogs after
their children move talking about this is your brother, this
is your new brother.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
They and the children human children being like they love
the dog more than me. You know, stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
So I do find that interesting in that conversation once
again and whether or not this is a practice or
whether this is their choice. And more and more people
are talking about the fact that they don't want children.
A new article just came out about, like, I think
it said twenty thirty that women from twenty five to
forty four would not be married and not have children.
There's gonna be a record number of women who would
(11:53):
be single and childless. I'm like, yeah, whose fault is
that anyway, moving smoothing.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
And then of course there was this one article that
I have to shout out that I thought was hysterical
and also very relatable. Emily Bettington and The Guardian shout
out to that wrote this article titled why do so
many women spend more time with pets than people? And
she starts the article with this quote, the average woman
(12:21):
with a pet now spends more time actively engaged with
her pet than she spends hanging out face to face
with bellow humans on any given day. I read in
the Atlantic. It was a dissection of the quote crisis
in Social fitness, alternatively known as while We're all destined
to die alone, our faces eaten by the very pet
whose company we have chosen above our own kind? Am
(12:43):
I a pet owner or my pet owning? Friends of
all genders surprised?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Of course not. And y'all this article is.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Too good not to add a little more bits to it,
including she writes, pet hangouts are blissfully free from social awkwardness, aggravation,
and anxiety. You will never engage in agonizingly polite dance
with your pet over who should eat the last morsel
on a sharing plate. Your pet doesn't have a partner
you can't stand, and if they did, you wouldn't have
to be polite to or about them. If you hang
(13:12):
out at home, your pet doesn't care if you watch
Project repeats, Star Wars repeat or instead of a subtitle drama,
or reveal you don't understand inflation. Yeah, I agreed, I agree,
And she goes on to say this last part, which
by the way, is hysterical. It says, because I think
you and I I've said this many times, but also
(13:34):
to end, Yes, your companion might eat your face one day,
but why would you care? You'll be dead and it's
a small price to pay for all that blissfully accepting
hang time. Being understood is overrated. Being treated as a
snack dispenser in life and potentially also death is the
way forward. I am a snack dispenser. She only cares
(13:55):
about me when she thinks it's time for me to
hide a greenie.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yes, and then if you don't do it, she hides
behind me and looks at you passive aggressively. And I
love it because I'm suddenly the favorite.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
She's bad if I don't give it to her, or
she doesn't because she was sick the other day that
I couldn't. She goes to bed. That's quite funny. But
I thought this was interesting. And if you don't have
a pet, that's okay. If you have inanimate objects like
a bee as your pet, that's okay. Am I still
(14:30):
going to find you a kitten? Yes, any I am.
If you want to have a snake as a pet,
go ahead, Katie. I'm not coming to your house though.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Yeah. I haven't told Katie. My good friend Katie has
a snake and a bunch of mice. And I told
Samantha and her partner about it, and I haven't told
her about your reaction and determination not to go.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Because it also escapes it.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Escape snake escapes.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
You can't have it and love it all you want.
And I'm proud of you, and I'm so glad you
take care of that thing.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
But I don't want it.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
She sent me an update about it today. I'll send
it to.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
The amount of screams that would happen if it touched me. Anyway,
all that to say is, yes, your pets can't help
do all of these things.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
They are benefits to that during these times.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
It's awful, we know, And it's sometimes nice to have
a dog that actually is judgmental.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
She does judge me.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
She judged me a lot, actually, and sighs at me
quite often in frustration and irritance. But I enjoy that
because in the end I can still cuddle her.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, she's a I mean going back to my friend Katie.
She also helps dog sit sometimes, and she once told
me Peaches is the kind of weird that I really love.
She has a personality. She has a personality.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Wait what does that say about me? Oh? Good?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Anyway, don't read too much into it. It was a compliment.
I suspect.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I'm a dic.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
We should we should.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I'm gonna steal you.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
A cat all right, well, listeners, we always love hearing
about your pets. Pictures of pets appreciated, Please let us
know send them all away. You can email us at
Hello at Stuffnever Told You dot com. You can find
us on Blue Sky at bomb Stuff Podcasts, or on
(16:35):
Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've Never Told You. We're
also on YouTube and we have a you can get
wherever you get your books. Thanks as always too, our
super producer, Christina, our executive producer and a contributor Joe.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Oh yeah, Christina has a wonderful cat.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Oh yes, we have indeed, and thanks to you for listening.
Stuff I Ever Told You Instruction by Heart Radio. For
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