Pets have leapfrogged their way to the top of the animal kingdom, evolving from friend to family member, spawning a new role for us people to play—pethood.

We’re no longer pet owners, we’re pet parents—9 in 10 think of their pets as family members and 81% say they value their pets as much as their own children. 

And there’s lots more of us now than before—68% of households (85MM) own a pet, up from 56% over the course of 30 years.

Not everyone with a pet feels this way (read more here), but for us pet parents, we’re giving them gifts on their birthdays, lavishing them with treats on Valentine's day, dressing them up on Halloween and celebrating our pethood on parenthood days. Some companies have even started to offer “pawternity” leave.

According to a survey Spotify fielded this year, over half of respondents said their pets beat out their partner when push comes to shove!

How’d this evolution to interspecies families happen? The shifting fabric of society opened up a spot on the family tree for our fur babies.

People are getting married and having kids later, or not at all, and the number of people living alone has nearly doubled since the late 60s, growing from 8% to 14%. It makes sense then that "households headed by younger cohorts account for 62% of pet ownership" whereas baby boomers only account for 32% of pets owned, according to Forbes.

Researchers Nicole Owens and Liz Grauerholz, who published “Interspecies Parenting: How Pet Parents Construct Their Roles”, say these shifts have “opened the door to gratifying emotional and psychological needs in more diverse ways including with nonhumans.”

The Dodo, a site dedicated to all things pets, surveyed their readers and found that the main purposes for pethood are companionship (96%), entertainment (32%) and therapy (25%).

I know I can relate, Birdie (our adorable beagle who I’m entirely obsessed with) has been a major source of comfort especially as of late. A silver lining of the pandemic craziness is animal shelters around the country are emptying out—what better time than now to get a pup?! 

If you're not convinced that we love our pets, just look at our credit card bill. The American Pet Products Association (APPA) reported that we spend a pretty penny on our pets—$73B in 2018, up from $58B in 2014.

Some pets are truly living in the lap of luxury. According to JWT Intelligence's 2020 Trends, pets are jet-setting more now than ever on private charters like VistaJet. They report that "the number of animals onboard has increased by 104% since 2017, with one in four VistaJet members flying regularly with a pet. Their pet flyer program, offers four-legged travelers care kits, handmade sleep mats, rope toys and bio-organic menus."

Hotels are also going all out for our furry friends. London's Smith & Whistle hotel offers a lavish dog drink menu of Dogtails, including "Bubbly Bow Wow (dog-friendly prosecco and liquidized blueberries) and the Poochie Colada (kale, broccoli and coconut water)."

Others are even more devoted, leaving their inheritance to their loyal companions, sometimes instead of their bloodline. The Hustle found that "44% of pet owners have some kind of post-death financial arrangement for their pet" and detailed some over the top examples: 

"Leona Helmsley left her $12MM fortune to her 9-year-old Maltese, Trouble, shunning even her own grandchildren. The annual expenses included: $100k for security (the dog received at least 20 death threats); $8,000 for grooming costs; $18k for medical expenses; $60k for her guardian's annual salary; and meals that included hand-fed crab cakes, cream cheese, and steamed vegetables with chicken.

A chihuahua named Chonchita raked in $3MM and enjoyed a full-time staff, spa treatments, diamond-studded Cartier collars, and “custom wigs created by the Beatles' former make-up artist."

This adds up—67% of the U.S. agrees that pets should be pampered, much more than the number of people who think children have the right to be spoiled (39%, MRI Doublebase 2019). I guess pups can't grow up to be as big of a you-know-what as kids can.

Other trends that are trickling down to our pets? CBD treats, fashion (+199% searches on Pinterest) and playgrounds (+512% Pinterest searches for Cat playground outdoor). Our feline and doggo friends need to stay stylish and in shape, while keeping their anxiety in check...perhaps we're projecting?

Media consumption of animal content is on the rise as well. The Dodo has seen +76% followers/subscribers and +106% in watch time since 2016, boasting 100MM+ monthly unique visitors and 2.2B+ monthly video views.

The Instagram hashtag volume of #dog (255MM) and #cat (202MM) combined is more than #food (380MM). Over 3/4 of The Dodo's audience posts pics of their pets on social, and nearly 1/4 does it on a daily basis.

Spotify found that 71% of their audience plays music for their pets so they capitalized on this insight and created a pet playlist generator—just answer a few questions about your dog, cat, iguana, hamster or bird, and it will create a custom playlist based on those answers matched with your listening habits (Birdie's is *quite* energetic).

What does this all mean? Pets play an outsized role in our lives occupying our love, attention and wallets. Although your brand may not be directly relevant to pets, you should consider how you could involve furry friends into your product, messaging or marketing to gain an outsized piece of their pethood passion.