It's estimated—based on the 2023-2024 National Pet Owners Survey—that by 2025, about 66% or 2/3 of United States households—86.9 million families—own a pet.
As humans, we've been enjoying the companionship of animals since our prehistory.
As a species, we feel a kinship with our fellow fauna.
Reddit user PurrLoveCat asked:
"People who have a pet at home, at what point did you realize that the pet really, consciously, understood you?"
Flock Together
"My parrot knew when I was sad."
"She'd snuggle up to me and give me kisses when I wasn't even crying. When I was crying, she'd whisper 'hi', and wipe away my tears with her face."
"This was the ONLY time she'd behave this way. I miss her more than words can say."
~ gildedblackbird
Leap Of Faith
"I have a pet jumping spider (basically a real-life 'Lucas the spider', super tiny and cutesy)."
"It has helped me foster a lot of empathy for insects and other tiny creatures and their complexities."
"She can recognize my face and follow it actively, she can differentiate between my hand and someone else's, only jumping onto mine voluntairily after weeks of working on it."
"She even sleeps on my hands sometimes, curled up...she doesn't need food, warmth or anything else to be coaxed, she is just curious."
"On the other hand, sometimes I offer my hand and she goes into her hammock and closes the web door. Not scared...just not in the mood."
"She has a real personality and makes conscious, if small, decisions like this."
"I obviously don't think she understands the breadth of human existence and my experience, but she is able to comprehend that I am a living creature who is friendly, who she doesn't have to be scared of, and who she trusts enough to interact with."
"It is impressive how much such a small and alien creature can connect with a human in this way."
"I often sit next to her enclosure and watch her sleep...jumping spiders can actually dream, according to science!"
~ Merileopardi
NO! Bad Kitty!
"We scold our cats if they go on the kitchen counter."
"One day, I hear a cat meowing, and meowing, and he just won't stop."
"I go to the kitchen to find him on the floor, meowing and staring at our other cat—who is on the counter."
"This motherf'er is a snitch!"
~ Sweetiee_Butterfly
Flying Toddler
"My parrot enjoys pulling pranks on myself and my husband."
"His favorite is throwing things so that we will have to pick them up. We realized this when my husband was playing fetch with him."
"Our parrot normally knows to bring the toy back to us, but he kept throwing it instead. The second or third time he threw the toy, he started laughing as my husband went to pick it up."
~ GarlicComfortable748
"That tracks. I told someone it's like living with a toddler who can fly."
~ ExcaliburVader
Early Warning System
"I get migraines fairly regularly. I also have two cats that I adopted 3 years apart. My older cat, now a dashing senior citizen at 11 years old, can usually predict my migraines about 3 days in advance."
"I know this because he'll insist on sniffing my temples and hairline and will try and usher me back into bed a few hours before one kicks in."
"And then once I'm on my a** with the migraine, dark room & eye mask and all, I'll hear him yelling at my husband outside the bedroom door."
"If we let him in the bedroom, he immediately curls up near me and will not let anyone (namely my husband) get close until I'm either functional or asleep."
~ brandyshitknits
Who Am I?
"I had a Shower Spider—a free range arachnid houseguest who camped out in my shower—whom I would keep relocating to the safest (from water) locale until it finally set up shop there."
"I worked out a system: one tap meant 'I am going to throw a bug into your web', several taps meant 'I am going to turn on the shower in a bit'."
"Each elicited a different response. Each shower, I also left water droplets on the nearest ledge."
"What was I to the Shower Spider?"
"Another living thing? An occasionally benevolent cosmic horror of incomprehensible size? A peculiar form of weather, announcing itself with particular thunder and blowing good fortune its way every so often?"
~ Nadaesque
Defender
"I cried on my dog’s little shoulder because my grandmother was an absolute bully and had spent a day tormenting me."
"The next day—the only time in the 16 years this dog was on the planet—she took a massive sh*t right where my grandmother would step when getting out of bed."
"At first, my grandmother tried having the dog punished, but my dad-and in a surprising act of solidarity, my mom-feigned worry that she was sick since she never, ever, had accidents."
"Later I saw my dad slip her extra treats."
"My dog understood my grandmother was breaking my 8-year-old heart every day and did the only thing she could do in my defense."
~ gjrunner5
Bird Brain
"I've had my cockatiel Berdums for 28 years."
"One time when I started crying, he noticed and started chirping and sliding back and forth on his perch frantically because his cage was closed, but he wanted to get to me to help and see what was wrong."
"My good boy. I'll always love my Berdums."
~ 4-ton-mantis
Purrfection
"I have a 9-month-old tortie cat."
"I was crying in my room after a long day. I heard her little paws running up the stairs."
"She entered my room, jumped on my chest, let out a sad meow, and rubbed her face on mine."
"I was crying tears of happiness after that because she’s so damn cute."
~ andr0bimb0
Horse Sense
"I spent two hours walking my horse one night right after a snowstorm in 20° weather. She was colicing and I knew no vets could make it out on the roads."
"I told her I’d drag her soul back from hell myself if I had to, and I was out there freezing because I wasn’t giving up on her, and she wasn’t allowed to either."
"When we finally stopped, and I sat in her stall for another 30 minutes to make sure she went to the bathroom, she spent the whole time with her head right next to mine, breathing with me."
"She was absolutely exhausted the next day, spent most of the day napping. But ever since that night, I think she and I have a different understanding of each other. In a good way."
"The simplest way I can describe it, is it seems like she trusts me way more, and we’d already had a pretty good relationship built."
~ Basicallyacrow7
Transformed
"My dog is very timid and shy with strangers. He’s a himbo through and through—he’s got no thoughts, just vibes."
"I’m his emotional support human, new things are very scary and must be walked through slowly and with much encouragement."
"At the height of COVID, my brother had come back with his son—both of whom my dog knew and loved—with masks on and baseball caps. I got startled and yelped, not expecting the door to open as suddenly as it had while I was so close to it."
"This 10lb dog plants himself in front of my knees, trembling in his own fear, and bares his teeth, growling with every ounce of scared fury."
"He was also pushing me backward with his hind legs until my brother took his mask off, and my boy, tail wagging, transformed. Ran up to him, gave him a sloppy happy welcome home lick, and went right back to his bed to sleep."
"I cannot emphasize how much I love this damn dog."
~ croix_v
Answering Service
"Years ago, the landline phone rang and the only one at home was my first cat, so he answered the phone and kept the caller on the line until we arrived."
"We got in and saw the phone hanging off the table. I promptly hung it up."
"The cat gave me an immediate glare."
"And then the phone rang, and an indignant voice asked, 'Why did you hang up on me‽' He had been talking to the cat for over five minutes."
"This may also say something about the person on the other end."
~ ChemistryPerfect4534
Tricky
"I trained my cats to learn about 15 tricks, but I am constantly amazed that they do understand some random words.
"Like I walk them on a lead and they understand when I say 'go home' because they will trot back home... but the smarter of the two will sometimes bite the lead to say he doesn't want to go back."
"And in general they do so much stuff to demonstrate that they are smart, sentient beings that I just don't understand how people can see animals as less than."
~ chanchan52
Meal Plan
"He used to bug me for breakfast immediately after I got out of the shower. One time I yelled to my son to feed him."
"Then I turned to him and said, 'Son’s name is going to feed you'. He immediately ran downstairs to my son for breakfast."
"He’s an orange tabby, too. Never thought he had a brain cell before that."
~ Short-Hiker
Comfort
"When I was little, I was bullied by kids at school. I would come home and spend time in the backyard with my dog. She was my best friend at that time."
"I used to sit on the stairs in the backyard and quietly cry (so my mom wouldn't hear). My dog would sit right in front of me and inch closer and closer until she was close enough to place her head on my shoulder and I could hug her.
"She would stay with me until I was done crying."
"She made me feel safe, and it was like she was telling me everything would be ok. She KNEW that I was hurting inside. She absolutely knew."
~ Snoopy-Dance
Do your pets understand you?
@chandlerparry/Threads
