For me, the pets are just something outside of me to focus on which I find helpful in times of despair. Like the motion of walking. Walking wards off despair while I do it. The despair comes back when I stop, but at least for the time while walking - it was in the background.
I was not saying pets are going to fix everything.
I think sometimes the idea of help or living with something changes into something that is useful even if not the first idea.