do you refer to animals as who or what? In English we refer to animals as it how do you do it in french

Question

Accepted Answer

Quite often there are different nouns for male and female animals. For instance:
un chat - une chatte un chien - une chienne un oiseau - une oiselle un cheval - une jument un taureau - une vache un coq - une poule un merle - une merlette un lapin - une lapine
If you're unsure of the gender you use the male version, normally.
Some animal names only come in a male of female version, for example: la souris. Here the grammatical gender wins:
J'ai une souris blanche, elle s'appelle Auguste, c'est un mâle.J'ai un hamster noir, il s'appelle Louise, c'est une femelle.

Answer

I would say “qui “ (who) for animals: e.g. J’aI un chat qui s’appelle Herbie

Answer

Just as a heads up, it is grammatically correct to use “her” or “him” for animals in English, and for many people using “it” for an animal is insulting or just plain incorrect. “It” refers to something inanimate and animals are certainly not that.