Objective   To examine the status and effects of keeping pets on physical activity and depression among the elderly in communities.

  Methods   A household interview was conducted among 528 permanent residents ≥ 60 years and without severe diseases registered in a community health service center in Nanyang city of Henan province from August 2019 to January 2020. International Physical Activity Questionnaire – Short Form (IPAQ-s), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and a self-designed questionnaire were used in the survey.

  Results   Of all the elderly, 38.07% kept pets in home and 63.7% were assessed as having depression symptoms. The IPAQ-s scores ranged 0 – 5 664 for all the elderly. The results of multivariate linear regression analysis revealed following pet-keeping-related factors for physical activity in the elderly: feeling while walking pets (β = – 375.244), perceived attitude of neighbors and friends towards keeping pets (β = – 373.867), whether the kept pet ever attacking other pedestrians (β = 732.816), whether having their pets bathed in home (β = – 166.877), and the daily time being accompanied by their pets (β = – 343.849); the results also demonstrated that ever having pet-keeping-related conflicts with others (β = 3.139), feeling while walking pets (β = 1.476), ever being hurt by pets (β = – 4.391), the frequency of walking pets per day (β = 2.038), family members′ attitude towards pet-keeping (β = 1.989), and the daily time being accompanied by their pets (β = 2.937) were significant influencing factors for depression symptoms in the elderly.

  Conclusion   Good pet-keeping behaviors could promote physical activities, alleviate depression symptoms, and improve health status among community elderly.