I went back through several books I'd recently read: Kohn's
Unconditional Parenting, Lieberman's Emotional Life of the Toddler, Cohen's Playful
Parenting, and half of Aldort's Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves (I'm still finishing that one), and
asked for the collective wisdom of my seasoned mama friends.
From
unconditional love and numerous health benefits like lowering blood pressure, helping with depression, and soothing stress, companion pets give so much to their pet
parents and they never
ask for anything in return.