Talk to your pets? You’re not alone

Pet owners love their animals. According to a survey from Preply, an online language tutoring website, two-thirds of American households have at least one pet. Last year American pet parents spent a record $136.8 billion on their “babies”. The survey said that dogs and cats were the most popular pets and ¾ of owners consider their pets part of the family.

Pet owners who talk to their pets aren’t unusual; in fact, the survey says 84% of owners regularly converse with their pets like they were people. But which states have the most people who talk with their pets?

Preply’s survey shows that Nevada and New Jersey tie for the title. In both states, 95% of pet owners converse with their critters. In a three-way tie for second place, 93% of pet owners in Pennsylvania, Missouri and Colorado talk to their pets. Most Montana pet owners don’t carry on conversations with their furry friends; only 45% admit to it.

What about pet owners in Iowa and Illinois? According to the survey, Iowa pet owners barely edge out ones in Illinois for the percentage of pet conversations. In Iowa, 88% of owners talk to their pets, while 83% in Illinois do the same.

The survey shows that 83% of dog owners talk to their four-legged friends, while 68% of cat owners do the same. How people talk to their animals was also mentioned; 65% use a higher-pitched tone of voice, 56% use baby talk, 37% read or sing aloud to their pets, 16% use tech to communicate with their pets when they’re not home and 15% speak in a language other than English.

For more data from the survey, including which celebrities pet owners think their animals sound like, click here.