Made for Each Other: the Biology of the Human-Animal Bond

In a way, Meg Daley Olmert’s book “Made for Each Other” didn’t tell me anything any animal lover (and especially any parront) doesn’t already know.

Hanging out with Pearl feels good. Check.

Pearl enjoys it too. Check.

We need our pets as much as (okay, probably more than) they need us. Check.

Rather, what I learned from Daley Olmert’s book is why all this is true.

For instance, when Pearl and I hang out together, we are both filling up on feel-good oxytocin (the same hormone that helps moms tell their chicks from the rest of the flock and makes parents stay together to raise those particular chicks).

Also, the more time Pearl and I spend together, the better it feels (at least as long as one of us doesn’t insist on shrieking his head off right into the other one’s eardrums).

Plus, the more years we spend together, the more bonded we become.

We have oxytocin to thank for all that. And as long as we keep hanging out together, the oxytocin will just keep on flowin’ and growin’.

More About “Made for Each Other:” http://www.jamesriverwriters.org/meg-daley-olmert

Author: Shannon Cutts
Co-Author: Pearl Cutts