Every fourth pet owner makes repairs thanks to pets

Raiffeisenbank analyzed how pets affect the frequency of repairs. 26% of pet owners who have done repairs at least once in the last three years said that the cause was pet behavior. These are the results of a survey in which more than 1.3 thousand Russian pet owners took part. Rodents won the first place in the frequency of repairs: 41% of owners of hamsters, guinea pigs and rats think about repairing as a result of their home activity. The second place was taken by birds (36% of owners repaired their apartments within three years), the third — dogs (32%). At the same time, the likelihood of repairs is growing depending on the number of animals: 44% of the owners of three dogs and 45% of the owners of four cats made repairs.

In 90% of cases, repairs caused by animal activity included replacing wallpaper. 54% of respondents repaired damaged doors, 42% had to make new flooring, and 49% changed furniture. This is not surprising, because 73% of animals spend almost all their time on furniture. The majority of respondents (46%) spent the amount in the range from 100 to 500 thousand rubles for repairs related to the activities of animals, 42% invested about 100 thousand rubles, and every tenth owner of an active pet invested more than 500 thousand rubles in repairs.

«Antics of four-legged or feathered friends can cause an urgent need for unplanned repairs, and in this case we offer to use a consumer loan at a rate of 9.99% from the second year," Andrey Morozov, the Head of the Loan Product Department at Raiffeisenbank notes. «A loan in the amount of up to 300 thousand rubles can be got with one document, and current bank clients can get it without visiting the bank’s office, immediately in Raiffeisen Online application.

Despite the risks for furniture and repairs, Russians are not ready to give up pets. Every third respondent (34%) agrees that the amount of repair costs is not important when the pet is nearby. Only 5% of respondents agreed that they would refuse keeping an animal if the cost of repairs outweighed a comfortable psychological threshold.

«One of the most persistent myths associated with pets is that they are little people who will be grateful for the care, and with whom you can agree on almost everything. Pets, and most often in cities they are cats, dogs and different types of rodents — guinea pigs, rats, chinchillas, really need their owners and are attached to them in their own way. But they also really need the owners to try to see their apartments, houses and courtyards through the eyes of their pets, and, making repairs or arranging the common living space in any other way, also to take into account the needs that are typical for each species — in shelter, in daily routine, in companions or their absence, in an eventful, but predictable life," Elena Fedorovich, the Candidate of Psychological Sciences, the Head of the Zoopsychology Team of the Faculty of Psychology of Lomonosov Moscow State University noted.

Residents of different cities of Russia called different reasons why they share their house with pets. For 88% of Samara citizens, the main motive for getting an animal was that it makes happy family members. Four-legged friends also help reduce stress level of 64% of Rostov residents, 62% of Novosibirsk residents and 60% of St. Petersburg residents. Moreover, the main reason for residents of St. Petersburg, as well as for Muscovites, is that the animal makes them happy.