Can さん or 君 be used on animals?


In [Mikan Enikki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikan_Enikki), the protagonist
cat was referred to as ネコ **さん** when his name was not known (e.g. Kikuko
Kusanagi called him as such when she didn't know his name), and as みかん **君**
when someone else talked to his owners (e.g. Dr. Inagaki referred to Mikan as
such when he talked to his adoptive mother Kikuko Kusanagi). Are those cases
true in real life? Can さん or 君 be used on animals?




Yes, that happens **_very_** often in real life when:

1) Small children refer to or address animals.

2) Adults talk to small kids about animals.

Even adults often use 「ちゃん」 and 「君{くん}」 to refer to or address the pets of
poeple they know well, which is just like referring to or addressing their
friends' kids.

Here are songs about

An elephant (ぞう): <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd0SuSTwRdo>

A bear (くま): <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ2QeebJ8ro>

A kitten (こねこ): <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CDd938DOaM>

