Whether you’re a dog or a cat person, there’s no question that our four-legged friends provide us with the kind of companionship you just can’t put a price on. That didn’t stop us from doing just that however. Our latest infographic takes a look at the true cost of this obsession with our pets, along with the requisite cute photos. How much do Americans spend on pet food, supplies, and pet food? And how have the big pet supply retailers done during the economic downturn?
This infographic is based on the aggregate data from over one million Mint.com users, a representative sampling of US consumers, along with data from wiki.answers.com.
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11 Comments so far
leave a comment“$1.5billion is spent on pet food every year. This is four times the amount spent on baby food.” Oh em geez!
*facepalm*
Dogs need dog food YEARS longer than humans need baby food. Also, the average dog stomach and caloric requirement have to both be higher than averages for babies.
So alarmist.
As an animal scientist involved in the pet care industry I would have to delcare this infographic as “fail” for the most part. It does however highlight the trend that people are spending more on their pets as they are recognized as “family” by a growing number of individuals.
I call shenanigans on your qualifications as a scientist. No properly educated professional uses teen-lingo a la “fail”…
As a university staffer, I see hundreds of postdocs (people who have obtained their Ph.D degrees) who are young adults, and those in the sciences (like DB Dictionary would be) have been heavily immersed in tech culture most of their lives. L337speak is not uncommon in such circles.
One word: Wrong!
I had dogs all my live.
I keep tedious records of every dime I spent.
On average each of my dogs cost me $220 per year.
Including first class food and 2 hip fracture operations (echo >$3000).
Don’t know where you got (guessed?) these numbers from.
Wow……the thing that caught my eye…..30,000 cats and dogs destroyed EVERY DAY in the U.S. Of my four pets, 3 are rescues. Down with puppy mills. My sister has a female rescue from a puppy mill. She is such a traumatized little minature dachshund. So sad, and its disgraceful these puppy mills are even allowed to exist.
Adopt from a shelter or rescue. Please.
But how much does each of those 7 pets cost in setup & per month?
Well, you can’t put a price on love, can you now?
Robert, I put “fail” in quotes because I was trying to relate with some of you internet folks. Apparently “fail” is short for failure. I don’t think it takes a genius to figure that out.
New puppy for two months with vet bills to get healthy is about $3,500. so far! Most expensive dog we’ve ever had!
I have 3 dogs and 3 cats, plus two children. I’ve never bought a single jar of baby food or formula, but buy dog and cat food regularly.