Scientists weigh in on the love we have for our pets

BOSTON, Mass. – Nicole Skarbek considers herself not just an owner, but a parent to her six-year-old Pomeranian Nina. Together they have overcome a lot.

"I definitely feel like she is my child, she makes me just as happy," said Skarbek.

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It's a relationship Lori Palley, DVM, DACLAM, recently researched with a team at Massachusetts General Hospital, studying how our brains react to photos of children and our pets.

"It adds a new dimension to our understanding, because what people self-report is one thing and what you see in the brain helps to tell I think more of a story about what might actually be going on," Palley said.

And what was going on in the brain? On the left is a scan of a mother's brain looking at a photo of her child and on the right, a scan from her looking at an image of her dog, and the similarities are striking.

"It might suggest that there are some areas that are common in terms of the bond," explained Palley.

A bond  Skarbek and her dog Nina can attest to.

"I always give a disclaimer like I'm not trying to compare my dog to your child, however it feels like the same emotion," Skarbek said.

Palley points out, there are differences as well. The area in the middle representing the human-to-human bond was not activated by pets. But as a pet parent to her cat Boo Boo, she says the bond is scientifically similar. For Skarbek, she doesn't need science to tell her what her heart already knows.

"She is like my child, she really is," she added.

So far researchers have only studied the relationship between dogs and mothers. Relationships with humans and cats have not been studied yet. Their goal is to eventually study other relationships in order to better understand the role of animals in treatments and therapies.