The Great Old Ones aside, I do love my pets.
I took my dog into the vet the other day and one of the technicians who wasn't helping us stopped and commented on how he was glad to see her again (he used to work where we board her, so he used to have a lot of interactions with her). It is always nice to know that one's pet is well liked by others. It is sort of like social affirmation: I'm not a horrible owner.
Then latter it was discovered that this technician also loves our cat (which gets boarded at the vet, which accepts cats but not dogs, as opposed to where we board our dog, which accepts dogs but not cats).
Woot, two for four! Even though I felt really bad that my dog had to get a tooth extracted yesterday (she chipped it down to the pulp, somehow), it was an ego boost.
And yes, two for four. We own four pets. Yeah, my wife and I are "those" sort of people. Though to be fair, the other two are guinea pigs, so that is almost like a single pet. Or half a pet, maybe.
Also, I love that my cat makes an excellent scarf.