Table 5.

Pet owners' perceptions of how their pets influence their lives.

	Any pet owners		Dog owners		Cat owners
	Rarely† (n) %	Some (n) %	Rarely (n) %	Some (n) %	Rarely (n) %	Some (n) %
Declined to visit family or friends or take a trip out of concern for your pet's welfare	(87) 76.3	(27) 23.7	(45) 70.3	(19) 29.7	(27) 79.4*	(7) 20.6*
Delayed or refused medical care out of concern for your pet's welfare while you were being treated	(113) 99.1	(1) 0.9	(64) 100	(0) 0	(34) 100	(0) 0
Expenses related to your pet(s) impacted your ability to pay for necessities for yourself and your family	(109) 96.5	(4) 3.5	(63) 98.4	(1) 1.6	(30) 90.9	(3) 9.1
Needed medical attention because you were scratched, bitten, or tripped by your pet(s)	(110) 97.4	(3) 2.7	(62) 98.4	(1) 1.6	(32) 94.1	(2) 5.9
	Little‡ (n) %	More (n) %	Little (n) %	More (n) %	Little (n) %	More (n) %
Having a pet(s) encourages you to be more socially active	(83) 73.4	(30)26.6	(41) 64.1	(23) 35.9	(29) 87.9*	(4) 12.1*
Having a pet(s) encourages you to take better care of your health	(88) 79.3	(23) 20.7	(48) 75.0	(16) 25.0	(26) 81.3	(6) 18.8

^†Rarely, never or almost never; Some, a few times, several times, or often.

^‡Little, not at all or a little; More, some or a lot.

^*p < 0.05, difference between owners and non-owners, p's are 2-tailed.