Current trends in the US  

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Leading the way in the healthcare-related pet spending categories is veterinary care, as medical advances have made for a much broader and more elaborate menu of services. From cat scans, root canals and cancer surgery to antibiotics, anti-depressants and even grief counselling, pet owners have more medical choices and spending options than ever before, states APPA. That’s the reason why the trade association estimates that the volume of veterinary care will increase in 2009 by 9.9 per cent to $ 12.2 billion compared with the previous year. With the added costs of pet healthcare comes an increase in pet veterinary insurance, currently estimated at $ 271 million and projected to grow to $ 500 million by 2012.
According to APPA, pet services are the next fastest growing category as these become more closely modelled on the services offered to people. What used to be simple boarding facilities have turned into doggy hotels with private suites, heated beds and flat screen TVs showing high definition DVDs made especially for their furry guests. Service-based businesses like dog wal-kers, pooper-scoopers, trainers and even massage-therapists are booming, says APPA. According to APPA’s estimates, the pet services category will increase by 5.9 per cent to $ 3.4 billion in 2009.
Other categories will also grow. According to APPA, the food category will increase by 3.6 per cent to $ 17.4 billion. Live animal purchases will increase by 4.7 per cent to $ 2.2 billion. The supplies category will have a volume of $ 10.2 billion in 2009, which equates to growth of 2.1 per cent compared with the previous year. “These numbers further demonstrate that people are more willing to sacrifice on themselves before trimming back on their four-legged friends,” says APPA president Bob Vetere.
Slight decline in pet ownership
Nevertheless, the number of pet owners declined in 2008 to 62 per cent of the total household population from 63 per cent in the previous year. This was revealed by APPA’s latest pet owner survey. Because the number of pet-owning households did not increase at the same rate as US households overall, the percentage of the population that owns a pet has declined. The number of US households grew by 1.7 per cent to 115.705 mio in 2008, whereas the number of pet-owning households experienced only a slight increase of 0.4 per cent to 71.4 mio households in the same period. The percentage of the US population owning a dog is…