The pets versus cattle comparison evokes a useful distinction. I'm trying to get on board with this trend because I can see at least some of the advantages in terms of overall resilience.
But taken more to heart, the comparison, has less to do about them--the objects of our analysis--and more about us. Or, at least, a little more about me. I don't think I'm unique in that I've never owned any cattle, but I have had several pets about which I cared very much. And, I don't think caring a lot is bad. While I can appreciate the particular features of this or that piece of hardware, I think it's more humanizing to care about our pets than about any piece of hardware. I want to be able to care about animals--whether pets or not--more, and about hardware much, much less.
And so, now, to continue overthinking the catch phrase, I'll note that cattle is not quite the best categorical counterpart to pets here. What we really mean is livestock. Pets can be from any number of species: Dogs, of course, but cats, too. Fish, birds, snakes, lizards, hamsters, guinea pigs, and so on. Cattle, are just that one species: Cattle. Sure, you've got calves and oxen and bulls and cows and steers and so on, but it's all just one big bovine family. We treat poultry and hogs and sheep pretty much in the same undifferentiated way that pets vs cattle is meant to evoke.
So, it should be pets versus livestock ... excluding of course, any latitude for poetic license: Pets versus cattle is more concise, more punchy, than pets vs livestock. Even so, pets vs poultry is pretty punchy, and alliterative too! I guess the imagery of a herd appeals more than that of a flock, what with that whole cowboy archetype being a thing and all. But wait! I thought cowboys in an IT context were a bad thing! The dreaded renegade singleton pattern that doesn't scale, sort of like ... pets.
sigh
Anyway, the other animal comparison that springs to mind here revolves around the question of ownership: Whether dog owner or cowboy, in each of those cases we're talking about things our own, at least in some sense (we might just be ranch hands tending someone else's cattle, but that's a digression too far). Animals that aren't under our care and protection in some way are, to a certain extent, wildlife. Even if they're someone else's pets or poultry, they're less known or unknown to us, fraught: Can I pet the doggy, or does it bite? Nice kitty, or rabid-scratchbeast? How did these cattle get loose and what do I do to make sure the next car that comes around the corner doesn't end up a smoking wreck when it hits them unexpectedly in the middle of the road?
I haven't looked into the origin of pets vs cattle: Maybe whoever coined it just isn't that familiar with agricultural practice, and this is the best they could do when inspiration struck? I also wonder to what extent this echoes, intentionally or not, the example of the darkly comedic real-life rabbit-seller scene in Michael Moore's Rodger and Me: Pets or meat? Probably not.