fur baby
n.— «The comparative review of recent history to the present, and the changing status of dogs from living outside the home as working dogs on farms and as guard dogs, or serving as a distraction for the children in the family and perhaps as a means to teach responsibility, to the far more elevated status of a true member of the family, with new descriptive language like “pet parents” and the more recent coinage “fur baby,” is interesting and instructive.» —“A dog-centric America? A book review” by Mary Haight in Chicago Examiner Apr. 12, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, listener has been pondering the saying It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good, and specifically whether she uses it correctly. The expression usually appears as It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good, means that...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a take-off puzzle involving the letters V and W. Each sentence clues two words, one of which has lost either a V or a W. For example, what two words does the following sentence suggest? He plugged his guitar into the...
I have long referred to my cat as my furbaby (fur baby). Your definition is exclusive to pet dogs. I think it should be broadened to include pet cats, as well.