Emotions and pets are a delicate balance - I hated dealing with two types of owners as a vet assistant. The ones who were too emotional - (making decisions for their benefit and not the animal to prolong life to its detriment, or willing to bankrupt themselves and their children to add maybe a miserable year to a pet's life) - and the ones who were not emotional enough - (which led to not caring if the animal was in a bad situation until it was far too late to fix).
If a little anthropomorphism gets people to care about their pets welfare, great. If too much of it leads to ignoring the animal's needs, that needs correcting.
Kids hug cats because they don't know any better - they love hugs, so of course cats must too. Fortunately most kids outgrow that self centered viewpoint and learn better - realize that cats are not human. Usually after a sharp lesson or three. But I still got grown adults who claimed their cat was "mean" or "dangerous" because it scratched a toddler who grabbed it up off the floor and squeezed.
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