A household pet that can cough up more than just a fur ball

TYPE “cute” or “adorable” into Google and see what appears; a barrage of delightful images depicting little kittens and puppies looking ever so endearing. No matter what you think about our furry little friends, who tend to shred sofas and poo on public streets, these little creatures have the potential to pull in the big bucks. They seem to melt the heart of even the toughest of folk.

Just the other day I happened to pass by a new funeral home close to my neighbourhood. I was initially taken aback by how small the coffin in the window was and thought it was in pretty bad taste to display a child’s casket in such a public way. But it wasn’t small because it was for a child – it was for an animal. Pet owners nowadays are so devoted to their pets that they apparently fork out a lot of money to bury them too!

Oversized kitten eyes and chunky puppy paws are attributes that have massive earning potential. And pet owners like you and me can climb aboard the gravy train as more and more companies, apart from Andrex loo roll, are are now capitalising on the emotional value of animals. It does seem to help however, if the animal is exceptional in some way.

Take Grumpy Cat. This cranky-looking pet suffers from feline dwarfism – a condition that gives her a permanent frown – and people around the world have gone mad over her. So much so that she is now an internet sensation and has made her owners a lot of money by lending her face to branding as well as her own book deal.

Animals are so much in-demand nowadays for marketing and much more, that pet modeling agencies and pet agents actually exist.

The old saying may go, “It’s a dogs life”. More than suggesting that pets are the snoozy freeloaders in the family. But if a pet has some quirky or cute potential, remember that, that very same slacker may also have the power to pull their weight and even have a higher earning potential than its owner.