• Six of 10 US households owned a pet at some time during 2006; 64.0% of these households owned > 1 pet, and 21.2% owned ≥ 5 pets.
• Proportions of US households that owned dogs, cats, and horses slightly increased, compared with results from the 2001 AVMA survey, but the proportion of households that owned birds decreased.
• In 2006, total numbers of several types of specialty or exotic pets increased from values reported for 2001 and were similar to values reported for 1996.
Every 5 years, the AVMA surveys a large sample of households in the continental United States to determine prevalence of pet ownership, demographics of households that own pets, extent of use of veterinarians, and expenditures for veterinary medical services. In January 2007, questionnaires were mailed to 80,000 randomly selected US households; representatives from 47,842 (59.8%) households responded. Survey findings are available in the AVMA’s newly updated US Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook.1
The Survey
The person in the household most responsible for pet care was asked to complete the questionnaire. Survey respondents were asked to indicate how many pets they owned during the entire year and at year-end. Questions included the number of pets owned anytime during 2006; the number and ages of pets owned on December 31, 2006; the number of times pets were examined by veterinarians in 2006; and the total amount that was spent on veterinary services in 2006. Information was requested on 7 specific pet species (dogs, cats, birds, horses, fish, ferrets, and rabbits). Respondents were also asked to list any additional types of specialty or exotic pets owned, such as hamsters, snakes, and turtles. For purposes of the study, data on horses owned by households were included in statistical analyses; data on horses owned by ranches, farms, or other horse operations were excluded.
The number of US households that owned pets was estimated by multiplying the percentage of households that owned pets in each geographic area (dogs and cats by state, birds and horses by region, and all other pets by nation) by the total number of house-holds in each state, each region, or the nation, respectively. The number of households in each geographic area was determined from estimates by the US Census Bureau. Total number of pets owned by US households was estimated by multiplying the number of pet-own-ing households by the mean number of pets owned per household and summing the results across states or regions (where appropriate).
Results
Nationally, 59.5% of all US households owned at least 1 pet at some point during 2006; 57.4% owned a pet at year-end. Dogs and cats were the most common pets and were owned by 37.2% and 32.4% of pet-owning households, respectively. Compared with results of the 2001 AVMA pet-ownership survey,2 total numbers of pets were higher in 2006 for cats (increase of 10.9 million [15.4%]), dogs (increase of 10.5 million [17.0%]), horses (increase of 2.2 million [43.1%]), and birds (increase of 1.1 million [10.9%]; Figure 1). The proportion of US households that owned pets during 2006 increased by 1.2% relative to the 2001 value (58.3%). Of all US households in 2006, 21.6% owned dogs but not cats, 16.7% of households owned cats but not dogs, and 15.6% of households owned both. Thus, it was inferred that 53.9% of all US households owned dogs, cats, or both.
Total numbers of dogs, cats, birds, and horses owned by US households during 1996, 2001, and 2006.
Citation: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 232, 5; 10.2460/javma.232.5.695
Total numbers of dogs, cats, birds, and horses owned by US households during 1996, 2001, and 2006.
Citation: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 232, 5; 10.2460/javma.232.5.695
Total numbers of dogs, cats, birds, and horses owned by US households during 1996, 2001, and 2006.
Citation: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 232, 5; 10.2460/javma.232.5.695
The majority (64.0%) of pet-owning households owned > 1 pet in 2006. Of all pet-owning households, 36.0% had 1 pet, 23.8% had 2 pets, 11.9% had 3 pets, 7.1% had 4 pets, and 21.2% had ≥ 5 pets at the end of 2006. Among those households, 30.2% had dogs only, 24.3% had cats only, 15.9% had dogs and cats only, 1.0% had birds only, and 0.2% had horses only. The remaining 28.4% of pet-owning households had other combinations of pets.
Dogs and cats frequently coexisted within households (Table 1). Among dog-owning households, 41.0% also owned cats, whereas 47.0% of cat-owning households also owned dogs. Birds were owned by 6.7% of dog-owning households and 5.9% of cat-owning households. Horses were owned by 4.1% of dog-own-ing households and 3.9% of cat-owning households.
Distribution (%) of US pet-owning households that owned > 1 type of pet (dogs, cats, birds, or horses) during 2006.
| Type of household | Dogs | Cats | Birds | Horses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dog-owning | 100 | 41.0 | 6.7 | 4.1 |
| Cat-owning | 47.0 | 100 | 5.9 | 3.9 |
| Bird-owning | 64.8 | 49.7 | 100 | 5.6 |
| Horse-owning | 83.9 | 69.9 | 12.0 | 100 |
From 2001 to 2006, total numbers of several types of specialty or exotic pets increased, except for snakes (11.3% decrease) and other reptiles (excluding turtles and lizards; 66.7% decrease; Table 2). Fish, the most common type of specialty or exotic pet in 2006 (total number, 75.9 million), were owned by 7.8% of US households. Mean number of fish owned per fish-owning household was 8.4. Total numbers of pet livestock (11.0 million), rabbits (6.2 million), and pigeons and poultry (5.0 million) were also high but these pets were owned by smaller proportions of US households (0.6%, 1.6%, and 0.4%, respectively). Although total numbers of most types of specialty or exotic pets increased in comparison with results from the 2001 AVMA pet-ownership survey, total numbers of hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, and other rodents, as well as snakes and other reptiles (excluding turtles and lizards), remained lower than values reported for the 1996 survey.3
Numbers of various types of specialty or exotic pets in US households during 1996, 2001, and 2006.
| Type of pet | 1996 | 2001 | 2006 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean No. per owning household | Total No. (X 1,000) | Mean No. per owning household | Total No. (X 1,000) | Mean No. per owning household | Total No. (X 1,000) | |
| Fish | 8.9 | 55,544 | 7.7 | 49,251 | 8.4 | 75,898 |
| Ferrets | 2.0 | 791 | 2.1 | 991 | 2.1 | 1,060 |
| Rabbits | 2.6 | 4,940 | 2.7 | 4,813 | 3.3 | 6,171 |
| Hamsters | 1.9 | 1,876 | 1.2 | 881 | 1.5 | 1,239 |
| Guinea pigs | 1.9 | 1,091 | 1.2 | 629 | 1.6 | 1,004 |
| Gerbils | 2.8 | 764 | 1.9 | 319 | 2.3 | 431 |
| Other rodents | 2.4 | 1,053 | 2.5 | 786 | 2.1 | 949 |
| Turtles | 1.8 | 950 | 1.7 | 1,070 | 1.8 | 1,991 |
| Snakes | 4.1 | 900 | 2.1 | 661 | 1.5 | 586 |
| Lizards | 1.6 | 705 | 1.3 | 545 | 1.5 | 1,078 |
| Other reptiles | 2.8 | 924 | 1.9 | 598 | 2.9 | 199 |
| Other birds* | 13.2 | 4,423 | 9.2 | 2,894 | 10.7 | 4,966 |
| Livestock | 11.6 | 6,083 | 5.6 | 2,936 | 15.1 | 10,995 |
| All others | 3.3 | 1,225 | 2.4 | 2,013 | 3.1 | 3,664 |
Pigeons, doves, and poultry.
