In the UK nearly 50% of older people say that television or pets are their main form of company

Image: MikeB

In the UK, nearly half of older people (49% of 65+ UK) say that television or pets are their main form of company. Today, on the radio, there was a discussion about loneliness in the UK and that startling piece of information came out in the discussion. It is a shocking statistic I would say. An indictment of the way the British relate to the elderly.

Elderly Japanese lady and her odd-eyed white cat who's probably deaf on the left side - the side of the blue eye. Image in the public domain.

And in the UK, over 1 million older people say that they always or often feel lonely. The information provided by Age UK in a document entitled: Evidence Review: Loneliness in Later Life, also tells us that loneliness can be as harmful for our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Nearly half of people aged 75 and over live alone in the UK. I am one of those people (age: 74). And I have a pet cat, Gabby. And I like to watch television although for many years I was not that keen on it. But it keeps me company.

Fortunately, I have a couple of close friends who I walk with nearly every day. And I've just joined a Scrabble club! I am trying to ensure that I don't become too lonely. I know how it can affect health although I am very health-conscious.

Remarkably, 6% of older people leave their house once a week or less. My God. That means that almost 600,000 people in the UK are hermits or reclusive.

41% of people aged 65 and over in the UK feel out of touch with the pace of modern life. That does not apply to me. I feel fully integrated into modern life and I understand modern life. I can't say that I particularly like it, however.

Elderly man and his cat. Video screenshot.

Sometimes I am nostalgic about the old ways of living from the 1970s and even earlier. I was born in 1948. A different world.

The research does point, however, to the great importance that a companion animal can have in the life of a person aged 65 and over in the UK. They are lifeline.

I don't know what the percentage breakdown is between dogs and cats as owned by people aged 65 and over. I suspect that nearly all women in that age bracket live with a cat. And as women live longer than men, I suspect, too, that the predominant pet owned by people in this elderly age bracket is a cat.

They are, too, easier to look after as well because, for instance, you don't need to take them for a walk. A lot of people age 75 and over might have difficulty in walking for any distance. And there is an obesity epidemic in the UK which limits walking ability.

Elderly man and his loving cat. Image in the public domain.

So perhaps I can refine this article by saying that it is the domestic cat who is saving the lives of people and keeping them from being lonely. And it's amazing how close a relationship a person can form with their cat when they live alone with them and are indoors nearly all the time. It becomes a different kind of relationship to that which we are familiar with when we are young.

There is a great deal of symbiosis in such a relationship. The one depending upon the other. There is a great mutuality of benefit.

It's perhaps certain that of all the people who benefit from the presence of a domestic cat the most it is the elderly.

But often the presence of a cat is not "in your face" or obvious. They are just there. Their presence chips away at that loneliness which can haunt people. You don't feel alone; that's the point.

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Elderly man who rescued his cat from a house fire. Image in the public domain.

And when you are that close to a cat you learn better how to communicate with them and vice versa. There is a great integration of daily rhythms and habits. Elderly people are far more likely to have very deeply entrenched habits and routines. This pleases the domestic cat because life becomes more predictable. Domestic cats like predictability because it brings a feeling of security.

Domestic cats can tend to be a bit nervous because they live in a land of giants i.e. humans. To counteract that there is this beautiful rhythmical lifestyle of elderly people.

It is perhaps ironic that the domestic cat does not suffer from loneliness, not because they live with an elderly person or any other person for that matter, but because they are still, essentially, a solitary creature as inherited from their wild cat ancestor.