Sixty-two percent of households have at least one pet living with them, according to the American Pet Products Association. That means that one out of every two people who read this have a pet! And half of that 62% considers their pet to be “part of the family.”

A recent article from Professional Builder surveyed several pet owners who had features of their homes built with their animals in mind.  Jennifer Voss, owner of two Labradors said, “My dogs are my partners, so when we talked to our builder about what we wanted in our house, they were a big consideration.” A doggie shower was specifically built for the two labs who are Delta Society-registered dog therapists that get bathed four to five times a week.  Dog owner Leslye Sandberg designed her entire home around her dogs even down to the fact that it is a single story ranch home. She made sure of this, because she owns wolfhounds which tend to become arthritic in their old age making it hard to go up and down stairs.

Some popular features that pet owners have been asking for are the showers or tubs with the hand-held sprayers. Homebuilder Anthony Cesario has his favorite line of extra-deep tubs that he installs.  For cat lovers, a feature that has been asked for often is the extra deep windowsills so their cat can enjoy the outdoor view. Homeowner and cat lover Ann Hernandez even asked for a cat cave under the stairwell complete with a built-in cat tree created from an actual tree taken from Hernandez’s property.

Other homeowners who want to make their home pet friendly as well as take care of it take advantage of offered features such as distressed wooden floors or tiles in varying colors that help conceal scratch marks and animal hair from pets. There are even certain kinds of high gloss paint that builders suggest so walls won’t be damaged by animal drool. There’s just about anything you can think of out there to accommodate your pet and give them the place they deserve to live in.