The shelf · Pets, robots and AI companions
Does Made for Each Other hold up?
Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond, by Meg Daley Olmert (2009)
Argues that the hormone oxytocin underlies the bond between people and animals and explains the benefits of pets.
The short answer
Its central oxytocin claim is disputed, and its heart figures rest on single studies.
The claims, checked
Stroking a pet raises oxytocin in both the person and the animal.
Contested A 2019 study found no change in owners and called the evidence for a human rise 'far from clear'.
Evidence: Marshall-Pescini et al., 2019
Cat owners have about a 30% lower risk of heart attack.
Holds with conditions Only for death from heart attack: the source study found a 37% lower risk of dying of a heart attack (myocardial infarction) in past cat owners. It is one observational study and did not measure heart attacks that people survived.
Evidence: Qureshi et al., 2009