Pets are great, especially when treated well and taken care of. Dogs, Cats, -doesn’t matter. I have read about dogs that selflessly throw themselves at anyone and anything for their families to protect them no matter the cost, and I know personally of one couple with five VERY large cats that are very protective of their people family. They won’t even let some neighbors get close to the door without lots of hissing and tail-thrashing that lets everyone know that those strangers are NOT welcome, lol!
When my son was a newborn, one of our cats would not let our landlords in to see him! She stood in front of his door and growled and hissed at them.