Nearly Half of Pet Parents Would Break Up With Their Partner For Their Animals, Study Finds

If you consider yourself a pet parent, your furry friends are obviously part of the family. But how far would you go for your beloved pets, even at the expense of the other humans in your life? Angi surveyed 1,000 dog and cat owners to see just how much their pets shaped their own lives.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority (87.8%) of pet parents took their animals’ happiness into account when searching for a new house or apartment. After all, you don’t want to worry about dodging your landlord just to sneak Fido into a no-pets-allowed building! When it came to house-hunting, the most important factors for pet owners were yard size, having a fenced yard, and living near pet-friendly neighbors.

When it comes to cleanliness, anyone who’s ever owned a pet knows that having animals around means a little more effort in the clean-up department. Nearly 80% of pet owners have purchased specific cleaning products to clean up messes their pets have made, especially when it comes to getting cat or dog urine out of carpet. Ultimately, though, plenty of pet parents find their animals clean enough to sleep beside, with 77.6% of respondents allowing their cats or dogs to sleep with them in bed.

And if you find yourself wishing you could just crash on the couch with your pet instead of hitting the town, you’re not alone. Almost three-fourths (72.9%) of pet owners would rather stay home with their pets than go out with friends. Introverts and pets — it’s a tale as old as time. Over half of respondents (63%) also admitted to regularly sharing food with their pets. Just make sure you’re not handing over anything that could be poisonous to them!

From there, things got more controversial. When it came to the question of whether they’d be willing to break up with a romantic partner who was unaccepting of how they treated their pets — such as allowing the animals to sleep in bed — pet parents were split. Although just over half of respondents (50.1%) were willing to compromise with their significant other when it came to pet care, nearly as many (49.9%) were prepared to call things off for good if their partner didn’t respect their pets’ living habits.

Whether or not you’d let your furry friend rule your love life, it’s clear that the cats and dogs of today are living cushy lives beyond their wild ancestors’ wildest dreams.