46% of Dog Parents Consider Their Dog Their Best Friend, New Survey Finds

If you ask a pet parent how they’d define their pet in relation to them, you’ll probably get a variety of answers — best friend, child, roommate, helper, Supreme Overlord (those are the cat people)… the list goes on. But which title’s most common — and how many people would really rank their four-legged friends above their human besties? A new YouGov survey asked pet parents to define the role their pets play in their lives and found that 46 percent of dog parents consider their dogs to be their besties.

The numbers are just a little lower for people with cats at 27 percent. Cat people are twice as likely as dog people to view themselves as their cats’ servants — yep, that tracks. For both groups, “companion” is the most popular way to describe their relationships with their pets... so maybe not best friends, but still pretty close.

There are some gender divides in those surveyed: Women with pups are twice as likely to consider themselves their dogs’ “parent” than men — 52 percent vs. only 26 percent. The trend holds for cat parents, too; 48 percent of women with cats consider themselves their cats’ parent, and only 23 percent of men do. Whether or not cats think you’re their parent is another story.

That doesn’t change those guys’ overall appreciation for their animals, though; all participants are seriously obsessed with their pets. Ninety-five percent of dog parents and 86 percent of cat parents surveyed believe their pets provide unconditional love — and over 90 percent of both dog and cat parents consider their pets to be a part of their family. Eighty-nine percent of pet parents think their pet helps with their mental health — and there’s a lot of scientific evidence to back them up on that.

Plus, animals help those surveyed feel understood. Seventy-seven percent of dog parents and 61 percent of cat parents say their pet knows them very well. In fact, 22 percent of dog parents and 17 percent of cat parents say their pet knows them better than anyone else — and 41 percent of dog parents and 25 percent of cat parents say their pets know them equally as well as their friends and family.

Needless to say, pets hold a big place in their people’s hearts and lives. Cat people may seem a little less enthused, but it’s probably that they, like their buddies, are just playing it cool. After all, both dog and cat parents believe they’ve struck gold: All the people surveyed insisted that their pets are cuter, more loyal, and more intelligent than the average kitty or puppy. Whether they’re considered BFFs, companions, or kiddos, everyone can agree: Our pets are the best.