Pet owner or pet parent? Take the fur-baby test
Be honest: how many photos of your pet are on your phone? Do you talk to them as though they understand every word, buy them birthday presents or rearrange your plans because you don’t want to leave them home alone?
If so, you’re in good company. Australia is officially a nation of pet lovers: 73% of households now have at least one pet, and 86% of pet owners say their animals have a positive impact on their lives. There are an estimated 31.6 million pets across the country, including around 7.3 million dogs and 5.8 million cats.
So when does a dog or cat stop being “just a pet” and become a fully fledged member of the family? Take our completely unscientific fur-baby test and find out.
Did you know? “Fur baby” became sufficiently mainstream to be added to Oxford Dictionaries Online in 2015. Today, Oxford defines it as a pet that is treated with the love and attention you would give a child.
Pet parent or pet owner? Take the fur-baby test
How much of a pet parent are you?
Tick every one that sounds familiar…
☐ You talk to your pet as though they understand every word.
☐ You refer to yourself as their mum or dad.
☐ They sleep on your bed — and somehow get most of it.
☐ You rearrange plans because you don’t want to leave them home alone.
☐ Holidays are chosen according to whether they’re pet-friendly.
☐ Their birthday or “gotcha day” is in your calendar.
☐ They receive Christmas or birthday presents.
☐ Your camera roll contains considerably more photos of them than of you.
☐ They have several nicknames, some of which make absolutely no sense.
☐ They regularly appear in family photos.
☐ You feel guilty eating something delicious while they watch.
☐ You’ve had a full conversation with them and supplied their side of it too.
How did you score?
- 0–3: You love them dearly, but you’re still maintaining the pretence that they’re “just a pet”.
4–7: Certified pet parent. You know exactly where their favourite toy is and probably have conversations with them daily.
8–10: Serious fur-baby territory. Their comfort affects your furniture choices and holiday planning.
11–12: Who are we kidding? They run the household.
Australia really is a nation of pet parents
If your quiz score was alarmingly high, you’re certainly not alone. Pet ownership in Australia continues to grow. In 2025, 73% of Australian households had at least one pet, compared with 69% in 2022 and 61% in 2019. Dogs live in almost half of Australian households, while cats live in around one-third.
More importantly, pets aren’t simply sharing our homes. They play an increasingly important role in our lives. 86% of Australian pet owners say their pets have had a positive impact on them, and companionship remains the most common reason Australians choose to have a dog or cat.
And yes, we spend money on them too. Australians now spend an estimated $21.3 billion a year caring for their pets – from food and veterinary care to toys, accessories and everything in between.
Why do we love them so much? Science has a few clues
It turns out that the warm, fuzzy feeling isn’t entirely in our heads.
Research into dogs and their owners has found evidence of an oxytocin-mediated feedback loop during mutual gazing. In one well-known study, longer eye contact between dogs and their owners was associated with increases in oxytocin in both – the hormone involved in social bonding.
And if you’ve ever caught yourself speaking to your pet in a slightly higher-pitched “Who’s a good boy?” voice, that’s a real phenomenon too. Research has found that dogs can pay more attention to natural dog-directed speech, particularly when its tone is combined with dog-relevant words.
Cats appear to know when we’re using our special voice as well. In one study, cats distinguished between speech directed specifically at them and ordinary adult-directed speech when it came from their own owner – but not when the speaker was a stranger.
In other words, all those one-sided conversations with your pet may not be quite as one-sided as they seem.
Are we spoiling our pets by treating them like family?
Loving your pet like a member of the family isn’t the same as treating them like a tiny human. The best kind of pet parenting means giving them plenty of affection while still respecting what they need as a dog or cat.
For dogs, that includes exercise, opportunities to sniff and explore, social interaction, appropriate training and clear, consistent routines. Cats need opportunities to climb, hide, scratch, hunt through play and choose when they want social contact.
So yes – buy the birthday present, take hundreds of photos and give them a ridiculous nickname. Just remember that sometimes the most loving thing you can do is let your dog be a dog and your cat be a cat.
And if you scored 11 or 12 on our quiz? We’d love to see photographic evidence. Share your fur baby with us on Facebook or Instagram.
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Bow Wow Meow is proud to have been awarded winner of Canstar’s ‘Most Satisfied Customers’ Award in the Pet Insurance category for both 2024 and 2025!
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We also received Highly Commended Awards for Loved Brand Pet Insurance and Best Value Pet Insurance.
Bow Wow Meow is an Australian-owned and operated pet insurance provider. Our focus is purely on pets, and we are proud to have helped provide peace of mind to over 200,000 Aussie pet owners since 2008.
