heh, if my cat is my slave i wouldn't have to get splashed by kitty litters all over my face right after i clean the litterbox like freaking 10sec ago. nor get scratched on my lap when he jumped on me and tried 'not to fall' by embedding his claws onto my flesh...
Let's just say that Pet is something that isn't slave, but neither "master" as some Yukkuris may mistake, but some sort of, hmmm, material interspecies parenthood/familiarity.
We add another being to our family and treat it in general as such, many times accepting it's limitations and differences and many times not accepting it's bad behaviour, or in yukkuri's case, lack of consideration for the owner's opinion or his own limitations.