"My cat is sick and I have to go home"

There's a scene in the movie "Mrs. Doubtfire" where Robin William is talking about families.  It's something like "some families have a mommy and a daddy, some have only one of them and some families have two mommies or two daddies."

During my career of attempting to manage employees it was clear that mentoring them, knowing a bit about their lives and being a resource and a buffer to the corporate world was the key to their growth and the organizations success.  Talented people have sick kids, unfaithful spouses, dying parents, broken cars, etc.  One worker, a single woman, confronted me and said "I don't have children.  Why should xxxx get an hour off to go to a school play?"  I suggested that she take an hour off and go do whatever she wanted.  The next day I asked about her cat which had been ailing.  This led to a suggestion that she take the cat to the vet.  "Don't I have to take vacation for that?"  Frequently we name our pets after someone we know and we all talk about dogs and cats with the expression "they're just like family."  "Just go to the vet but do me a favor and don't tell our department that you left to get a distemper shot."

You have to find a balance.  New age companies have pet days and strive to make the workplace like the home place.  It's a small risk with a huge reward.