Most people in the world live without central air, and a lot have pets. I assume that unless your pet is a cold-weather breed, they'll adapt easily. We have a double-coated arctic breed dog, and conditioned air (of whatever variety) is very important in the summer.

No offense but do you think no one in an apartment without central air owns pets? I think it will be fine.

I realize this is a dumb question but I adopted a cat while living in my current apartment, which has central AC. I am looking to move to a new apartment that is perfect in every way except it has a window unit - which, no matter for me, I've lived in apartments without central air before, I run cold and frequently even in the summer don't even need to turn a window unit on unless it's above 90. However, I realize this may not work for my cat. Just wondering if anyone has any experience. Is it safe? I assume you just run the window unit all day when you're out to make sure the pet is comfortable?