India, May 18 -- When you are on a dating app and swiping through profiles, have you come across one that proudly declares 'dog person' or 'cat mom,' almost as if it's a big personality trait? In a way, it kind of is. Not only on dating apps, but pet parenting somehow comes up even when meeting in person, hinting at the growing importance of being good with pets in the modern dating scene. The proud label of cat or dog parent is more than just an endearing quirk or bonus trait; for some, it might make all the difference between getting left- or right-swiped.

As per the dating app Tinder's data, the mentions of "Do you have a pet?" went up to 7.6 percent in India this year.

Relationship expert Dr Chandni Tugnait at Tinder India shared ho...