A Civil War of Cats and a Bible Belt of Dogs

The American Veterinary Medical Association generated a flurry of activity this week by unveiling the top and bottom states (more on that later) for pet ownership, dog ownership and cat ownership, all based on a percentage of households owning pets. But a truly significant finding of the 2012 U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook, released in the fall and available for purchase, was that the overall percentage of U.S. households owning pets at the end of 2011 was 56 percent, down 2.4 percent from 2006.

Significantly, the number of pets also declined. The AVMA estimated the U.S. dog population at the end of 2011 at about 70 million, down from 72 million in 2006; the cat population at 74.1 million for 2011, compared to 81.7 million in 2006; the pet bird population at about 8.3 million for 2011, compared to 11.2 million in 2006; and the number of pet horses at 4.9 million for 2011, down from 7.3 million in 2006.

While the AVMA doesn’t offer population estimates for specialty and exotic pets, including fish, ferrets, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, turtles, snakes and lizards, it did report a 16.5 percent decline in the percentage of households reporting exotic pet ownership to 10.6 percent of U.S. households at the end of 2011 and a decline of 16.2 percent in the number of households owning fish at the end of 2011, to about 6.5 percent of U.S. households. (That last figure certainly belies the claim of certain researchers that fish-keeping was the second most popular hobby in the U.S. in a study examining the threat of invasive species introductions to California’s coastal waters via the pet trade.) 

This was the first time a decline had been recorded since the AVMA began conducting the 5-year surveys in 1986.

The American Pet Products Association, which releases bi-annual U.S. Pet Owner Surveys, had reported a flattening or slight decrease in percentage of U.S. households owning pets in 2011 to 62 percent in its 2011-2012 report, but the overall number of pets had still increased because the number of households had increased. The APPA is expected to unveil preliminary findings from its 2013-2014 report at Global Pet Expo in February.

The decline, which had been expected by many leaders in the pet and animal health industry, certainly suggests that the recession had an effect on new pet acquisition. That suggestion is reinforced when you consider Petsmart’s sales during 2008 and 2009, when it reported relative weakness in durable hard goods (bowls, crates, litter boxes, etc.,) associated with new pets, despite overall sales growth.

The pet industry continues to grow because pet owners are spending more on each pet. For example, the AVMA reported total veterinary expenditures for household pets increased 14.3 percent from 2006 to about $28 billion in 2011, despite the decline in pet ownership. But what troubles the veterinary organization is that the percentage of pet-owning households seeing a veterinarian declined even though the overall number of veterinary visits increased. Put another way, the percentage of households that made no trips at all to the veterinarian increased by 8 percent for dog owners and 24 percent for cat owners, according to the AVMA.

The percentage of cat-owning households that visited a veterinarian at least once during 2011 was 55.1 percent, down 13.5 percent since 2006. There were also 4.4 percent fewer cat veterinary visits since 2006, but, of course, there were also 7 million fewer cats. The percentage of dog-owning households visiting a veterinarian in 2011 was 81.3 percent, down 1.7 percent from 2006. The percentage of bird-owning households visiting a veterinarian in 2011 was 12.3 percent in 2011, down 11.5 percent from 2006. The percentage of horse-owning households using a veterinarian at least once was 53.8 percent in 2011, a decrease of 11.9 percent since 2006. Overall equine veterinary visits declines about 2.3 percent from 2006 to about 4.2 million visits, but the number of horses declined 2.4 million.

“This report reveals a tremendous amount of information about pets and their owners across the country; what’s constant and what has changed,” says Dr. Douglas Aspros, president of the AVMA. “One of the most important parameters that we look at is how well are pet owners are doing at keeping their pets healthy. Unfortunately, the report reveals that fewer dogs and cats are seeing the veterinarian regularly, and that’s something that the AVMA and every companion animal veterinarian are concerned about. Pet owners across the country need to remember to bring their pets into the veterinarian – at least once a year – to maintain optimal health.”

One interesting finding regarding pet ownership is the dramatic difference between states. The top overall pet owning state was Vermont, where 70.8 percent of households reported owning at least one pet. The lowest state was New England neighbor Massachusetts, at 50.4 percent. Washington, D.C., isn’t even worth considering, at 21.9 percent of households reporting pets. In all fairness to D.C., the survey was not conducted during an election year … no doubt 2012 figures among politicians would have been up significantly. Seriously, the low figure for Washington, D.C., is probably more reflective of socio-economic issues, with that city having the third highest poverty rate (19.9 percent) in the U.S.

Comparing the top 10 pet-owning states with the bottom 10 suggests that companionship is a driving factor for pet ownership. The states with the highest percentage of households were generally less populated than those with the lowest percentage. Of course, these numbers represent the percentage of households, and not overall households. So California still has a significant number of cats and dogs, with more potential upside. Conversely, South Dakota already has a strong penetration as far as number of households owning pets but is not expected to see much growth in number of households, if any, so its overall pet population may have limited growth prospects.

Vermont captured the top spot based on its cat ownership. Nearly half (48) of Vermont households reported owning at least one cat. Vermont does not rank in the top 10 as far as dog ownership. Similarly, Arkansas ranked No. 1 in dog ownership (47.9 percent) and No. 7 overall, despite not cracking the top 10 for cat ownership. The maps certainly show a North-South bias with regard to cat popularity and a belt of dog ownership.

The top 10 states by percentage of pet-owning households are:

Vermont                                70.8%

New Mexico                          67.6%

South Dakota                       65.6%

Oregon                                  63.6%

Maine                                     62.9%

Washington                          62.7%

Arkansas                               62.4%

West Virginia                        62.1%

Idaho                                      62.0%

Wyoming                               61.8%

The bottom 10 states by percentage of pet-owning households are:

Massachusetts                       50.4%

New York                                  50.6%

New Jersey                              50.7%

Utah                                           51.2%

Nebraska                                  51.3%

Illinois                                        51.8%

Maryland                                   52.3%

California                                  52.9%

Minnesota                                53.0%

Rhode Island                           53.0%

The top 10 dog-owning states by percentage of households owning dogs are:

Arkansas                                    47.9%

New Mexico                                46.0%

Kentucky                                     45.9%

Missouri                                      45.9%

West Virginia                              45.8%

Mississippi                                 45.2%

 Alabama                                     44.1%

Tennessee                                 44.1%

Texas                                           44.0 %

Oklahoma                                   43.2%

The bottom 10 dog-owning states in 2011 by percentage of households owning dogs are:

Massachusetts                           23.6%

Connecticut                                 28.3%

New York                                      29.0%

Rhode Island                               29.3%

Utah                                               29.4%

New Hampshire                         30.3%

Maryland                                       30.8%

Minnesota                                     31.9%

New Jersey                                   32.4%

Illinois                                            32.4%

The top 10 cat-owning states in 2011 based by percentage of households owning cats are:

Vermont                                          49.5%

Maine                                               46.4%

Oregon                                            40.2%

South Dakota                                 39.1%

Washington                                    39.0%

West Virginia                                  38.1%

Kentucky                                         36.8%

Idaho                                                34.6%

Indiana                                            34.4%

New Hampshire                            34.2%

The bottom 10 cat-owning states in 2011 based by percentage of households owning cats are:

Utah                                                  24.6%

New Jersey                                     25.3%

Louisiana                                        25.9%

Illinois                                              26.3%

Georgia                                           27.3%

Florida                                             27.3%

Alabama                                         27.4%

Rhode Island                                 27.6%

South Carolina                               27.8%

California                                         28.3%