The generation that brought us quiet quitting, Billie Eilish, and many other great things that older generations wish they could claim as their own is now putting its stamp on pet ownership.

According to a 2025 survey by the American Pet Products Association (APPA), 18.8 million US Gen Z households owned a pet in 2024, a 43.5% increase from 2023.

And in some cases, young people are going above and beyond to care for their pets compared with older generations. That could be because they really consider their pets to be part of the family:

• Nearly half of 500 Gen Z respondents (48%) in a Talker Research survey said they don’t see a difference between a pet and a human child.
• In that same survey, 18% said they would sell an organ to save their furry child’s life, a stark contrast to that two-year human situationship where you haven’t bought the other person a birthday gift yet.
• Speaking of B-days, Gen Z pet owners are more likely than older generations to buy a cake or throw a party for their pet’s birthday.

Cat people

The beneficiaries of all that Gen Z pet parenting are not necessarily Fido and friends. Despite the bad rap they got due to the 2019 movie starring James Corden, cats are growing in popularity among Gen Z.

According to data from the APPA, following the pandemic, dog adoptions stabilized during 2024–2025 while cat adoptions were up 15% among people under 30. Additionally:

• The pet-sitting service Rover reported that its sitters were getting more requests to care for cats than dogs.
• Rover CEO Brent Turner told Business Insider it’s because cats are lower-maintenance—they don’t require walks and aren’t likely to cause as much noise as dogs—and Gen Z’s limited earnings power likely makes it an economic decision, too.

Not a passing (cat) fancy: Earlier this year, Rover acquired Meowtel, a US-based cat-sitting service, a sign that the company sees a future that’s feline.

It scales: The APPA also said that Gen Z makes up one-third of all reptile owners, a 27% increase in their share of pets that makes you say “oh that’s sick” since 2023.—DL

The wealthy have always had a predilection for high-end fish, but now that goes beyond caviar. Aquariums housing exotic aquatic creatures are a rising status symbol, with some folks shelling out hundreds of thousands on luxury fish tanks, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Watery decor

Aquarium ownership surged during the pandemic, when some locked-down humans discovered that fish can be better listeners than other household members. Now, many aquarium enthusiasts treat their bespoke fish tanks as part of their decor, with custom-built saltwater tanks populated by colorful ocean fauna especially in vogue.

Some affluent aquarists spare no expense. Acquiring an aquarium can cost as much as $1 million, and one family quoted by the WSJ said it spends $3,000 a month maintaining its 10-foot-by-4-foot tank. But it’s not just money sent down the proverbial drain: Real estate experts say bougie fish tanks often come with homes and can enhance their value.

The tanks’ cubic footage is expanding: Last year, 34% of saltwater aquarium owners said their tanks were larger than 126 gallons, compared with 17% in 2023, according to the American Pet Products Association Fish & Reptile Report.

But…even if Petco guppies are all you can afford, research suggests that an aquarium in the home may help reduce stress and lower blood pressure.—SK

Should offices be dog-friendly? The Brew’s Sam Klebanov and Matty Merritt debate.

The case for: Researchers recently found that dogs were domesticated more than 15,000 years ago—and for millennia, people brought them to work. No one complained when the furballs selflessly served humans on farms, hunting grounds, battlefields, in coal mines, and on polar tundras. And now you want these social creatures to be abandoned in a studio apartment because HR thinks they’re a distraction?

Besides, dogs are probably the only ones excited to spend eight hours in a cubicle-filled space with artificial lighting. Scientists say their positive vibes are contagious: Research suggests an office tail-wagger can improve employee engagement and facilitate workplace rapport. So, in a way, opposing dogs in the office is bad for the economy.—SK

The case against: Even the most well-behaved dog in an office is still a tripping hazard (service dogs excluded). And that’s before you factor in the allergens, leaving the office with pants covered in dog hair, or having to worry about your pooch accidentally getting poisoned by my 3pm peanut butter M&M’s.

But the worst part about a dog in the office is the pressure to be happy about a dog in the office. As soon as a dog enters a space, the atmosphere changes. Regardless of how well-trained or quiet a dog is, it’s now on everyone to make sure the dog is not getting into trouble. And it’s a dog…so it’s going to get into trouble. Studies show that dog owners who bring them in are less productive and that their dog-free colleagues at least feel less productive with a pup around.—MM

Sometimes the bug is a feature, at least for the growing number of people who keep the little creepy crawlies as pets.

Just think of pet bugs like you would a college dorm room: They can seem kind of gross, but they don’t take up much space, they’re relatively cheap and easy to take care of, and they can be a lot of fun.

In my invertebrate era

Since bugs are often sold in online auctions, via DM, and on the black market, hard sales data is difficult to come by. But hobbyists and sellers say business is booming, especially when it comes to jumping spiders, the personality hire of the bug world:

• One seller told NPR she has gone “from selling three or four a week to thousands.”
• Several spider-centric social media accounts have thousands of followers (this one has 1.6 million).

Pod people: Isopods—which include roly-polies, pillbugs, and wood lice—have also become a popular pet. Rare, colorful, and spiky types can fetch hundreds of dollars, according to the New York Times. The demand for rare and unique bugs has even led to poaching in protected areas.

Bug picture: Beetles, mantises, roaches, and caterpillars have also wormed their way into pet stores, as consumers look for more exotic and Instagrammable options.—BC

How much would you pay a stranger to tell you that your cat likes tiled floors and knows he is very handsome? For many pet owners, the answer is between $100 and $500 per session.

Services that pet psychics claim to offer include telepathy, energy healing, and communication with dead animals. And those in the industry say demand has ballooned in recent years:

• Videos of animal communicator sessions are all over TikTok, ushering in a wave of new clients for some pet psychics.
• One North American pet psychic told the CBC that her business tripled from late 2022 to mid-2024.

Many pet psychics don’t typically do in-person sessions. Instead, the meetings often happen remotely…with or without a phone call. A Virginia-based pet psychic who specializes in travel-related pet anxiety charges $100 per week for a plan that includes daily mental check-ins with someone’s pets while their owner is away.

General doubt appears to have subsided—an animal communicator of more than 25 years told the Wall Street Journal that she rarely gets calls from skeptics anymore.

Does it work? One possible explanation for the popularity of pet psychicism is that it might give owners a placebo peace of mind, but many also claim that they see positive changes in their pets’ behaviors.—ML

If you want to be in a room full of gorgeous dogs, for a few days each winter you can head to Madison Square Garden, where the Westminster Dog Show has taken place almost uninterrupted since 1877 (most recently, it was moved for a few years due to Covid).

The main competition kicks off in late January or early February, when, over the course of three days, more than 2,500 dogs from over 200 breeds compete to be declared Best in Show. Dogs first compete at the breed level. The winners advance to compete in one of seven groups: Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, Herding, Sporting, Working, and Terrier. The winners of those groups advance to the final round.

Numerically, the best chance a dog has at winning the whole shebang is to be a terrier. A competitor from the group has won the competition’s Best in Show category 47 times in its history.

Netflix is hoping you really like watching dogs compete. As part of its big bet on live events, the streaming giant secured the rights for the iconic dog show starting in 2027 after the show’s 10-year deal with Fox Sports recently expired. Maybe all this change will shake up the competition, and we’ll finally see a dachshund take the crown.—MM