Tuesday, August 7, 2012

AVMA Study Indicates Slight Decrease in Pet Ownership

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) released early results from a long-awaited study of pet ownership and veterinary spending during its annual convention August 3-7 in San Diego, Calif.

The 2012 U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook, which isn’t expected to be released until this fall, is a study of pet ownership trends and veterinary expenditures conducted by the AVMA every five years.

Results of the survey indicate a slight decline in household pet ownership over the past five years, down 2.4 percent from 2006 to 2011. This trend includes household ownership of dogs and cats, which were down 1.9 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.

The 2012 sourcebook will also show that dogs are still the most popular pet in America, as 36.5 percent of all households in the United States own a dog, compared to 30.4 percent owning cats.

But cats are still the most common pet, with the total U.S. population hovering right around 74.1 million, compared to 70 million dogs. Cat owners are more likely to own multiple cats – 2.1 per household – compared to dog owners, who average 1.6 dogs per household.

The study also revealed trends in veterinary spending. Of the two most popular pets in America, dog owners were revealed to be more dedicated to providing their beloved pets with appropriate veterinary care. In fact, total veterinary visits for dogs in 2011 increased to 130.4 million, a 9.2 percent increase from 2006.

Veterinary visits for cats were down 4.4 percent from 2006 to 2011, when there were 60.5 million visits. 

The amount of money dog owners spent on veterinary care for their pets increased to $19.1 billion in 2011, up 18.6 percent from 2006. Veterinary expenditures for cats remained comparatively flat, rising only 4.2 percent from 2006 to 2011 to $7.4 billion.

The AVMA conducted the research for the sourcebook in the spring of 2012, surveying over 50,000 households to collect data on pet ownership, veterinary visits and spending.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting statistics. I wonder if ownership is down because people are taking care of their pets better?

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