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Imagine you're a dog. Your owner is trapped in a box and is crying out for help. Are you aware of his despair? If so, can you set him free? And what's more, do you really want to?

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Researchers provide the “purr-fect” solution to comfort and engage older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias (ADRD) during the pandemic – interactive robotic cats. Designed to respond to motion, touch and sound, these robotic pets offer an alternative to traditional pet therapy. Robotic pets are usually given to people with ADRD, but data has shown that using them to decrease social isolation for older adults is highly successful.

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Since first hearing about the COVID-19 outbreak in China, media outlets around the world have reported on strains of the virus originating in animals, on pets testing positive for the virus and most recently, on a tiger testing positive for COVID-19 at the Bronx Zoo. Annette O’Connor – chairperson of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and professor of Epidemiology at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine – says that there are seven different types of coronaviruses and that the Centers for Disease Control doesn’t believe the COVID-19 strain can be transmitted to domestic animals.

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New research published in Academic Emergency Medicine indicates that for physicians and nurses working evening shifts in the emergency department, interacting with a therapy dog for several minutes may help lower stress.

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It’s a sad fact that suicide rates among people over 60 are the highest of any age group in Australia, but a new study published today from the University of South Australia has found an unexpected saviour – pets.