--- title: "Is Pet Ownership Becoming a Luxury?\_\_" description: A new survey from Money and Healthy Paws Pet Insurance finds rising pet costs are changing how people think about pet ownership. authors: - name: Liliana Hall role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/liliana-hall/ bio: Liliana Hall joined Money in 2025. She is an Austin-based reporter for Money, where she covers a range of topics, including financial news, policy, banking, investing, passive income, financial planning and student loan debt. education: University of Texas at Austin at_money_since: 2025 articles: 141 covers: - Insurance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://x.com/lilihallllllll - https://www.linkedin.com/in/liliana-hall/ published: '2026-10-06T21:06:01.000Z' modified: '2026-10-06T21:06:01.000Z' section: Insurance tags: - Sponsored word_count: 735 canonical: https://money.com/is-pet-ownership-becoming-a-luxury/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Cat and lady](https://img.money.com/2026/09/Explainer-Healthy-Paws-Luxury-ownership.jpg) Sponsored by: ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/35945/1bb92553-9c42-4ba8-bff9-9da0ab7ac8f1.webp) Offer your life companion a pet insurance that nearly half a million pet parents trust: Healthy Paws. [Go to HealthyPawsPetInsurance.com](https://money.com/pr/l2c756a36c31?ap_referrer=%2Fis-pet-ownership-becoming-a-luxury%2F&apxa1=homepage) ## Key Takeaways - In a Money and Healthy Paws survey, 55% of pet owners say rising costs are making them think twice about getting another pet — or ruling it out entirely. - Healthy Paws data shows the average claim is $392, up 32% since 2020; emergency surgeries and hospitalizations can exceed $10,000. - Pet insurance can cover eligible vet expenses: 75% of insured pet owners say it significantly reduced their out-of-pocket costs, Healthy Paws and Money found. You can budget for dog food, annual vet visits and even the occasional destroyed couch. What’s harder to budget for is the surprise vet bill you never saw coming. Everyday pet expenses certainly add up. A serious illness or injury, though, can quickly become a financial burden. And as the cost of veterinary care [climbs](https://money.com/unexpected-vet-bill/), those risks are starting to shape not just how people budget for their pets, but whether they feel they can afford one at all. In a [new survey](https://www.healthypawspetinsurance.com/pet-insurance-research/the-future-of-pet-ownership-how-rising-costs-are-shaping-gen-z-budgets.html) of 1,542 pet owners from Money and Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, 55% said rising costs have made them less likely to get another pet, or led them to decide against it altogether. The survey also found that 60% of pet owners believe having a pet is becoming a luxury that lower-income households can’t afford, while 61% say rising costs are creating inequalities between pet owners. Taken together, the findings suggest that affording a pet increasingly means planning not just for the everyday expenses, but for the bigger costs that are much harder to predict. ## Pets are getting harder to afford The [cost of caring for a pet](https://money.com/is-pet-insurance-worth-it/) has climbed significantly in recent years. Healthy Paws data shows that average claim amount is $392, up 32% since 2020, while overall veterinary care prices have jumped roughly 43% since 2021. Those figures can become considerably higher if a pet develops health problems. About a quarter of owners with chronically ill pets [spent between](https://money.com/pet-owners-debt-vet-bills-rising-costs/) $5,000 and $10,000 on pet-related expenses in the past year. What’s even harder to calculate is how those costs can add up over the course of your pet’s life. Research [estimates](https://www.healthypawspetinsurance.com/pet-insurance-research/soaring-pet-costs-are-pushing-household-budgets-to-the-limit.html) that routine expenses for a dog or cat can total more than $50,000 over a 12-year lifespan. Still, that doesn’t mean pet parents are looking to spend less on their animals. A 2026 [survey](https://www.aicpa-cima.com/news/article/pets-are-family-and-budgets-show-it-new-aicpa-survey-finds-owners-prioritize-pet-care-and-long-term-planning) from the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) found that 69% would be more likely to reduce spending on themselves than on their pets if they needed to make financial cuts. ## Calculating how much to save is a challenge The unpredictable costs of pet ownership are particularly important to plan for. “The risk of facing a vet bill is what really changes the affordability of having a pet,” says Melanie Musson, a pet insurance expert with insurance comparison site [Quote.com](http://quote.com). You can estimate what you’ll spend on food, routine care and other basics, but your pet’s needs — and your expenses — can change as they get older or develop health problems. Determining how much to save for emergencies depends on your pet’s breed, age and overall health, along with the rest of your non-pet expenses. Musson recommends having a $10,000 financial cushion for pet-related emergencies. Ideally, you’ll never have to tap it, but having that cash available can keep a major veterinary expense from disrupting the rest of your finances. “That savings can help keep your pet alive and maintain your financial stability,” she adds. ## Saving enough for emergencies can be daunting In reality, most people probably don’t have that much extra money in a savings account, and growing a dedicated pet fund to five figures could take a long time. Fortunately, savings aren’t the only way to prepare for a major expense. Pet insurance can help cover eligible veterinary expenses. Although you’ll still have premiums, deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs, insurance can protect you from a huge vet bill that makes it hard to pay for other household expenses. Money and Healthy Paws [research](https://money.com/pet-owners-debt-vet-bills-rising-costs/) finds that 75% of insured pet owners say insurance significantly reduced their out-of-pocket expenses. The survey suggests that can affect more than owners’ finances. Among currently insured pet owners, 47% said they would pursue every recommended treatment for their pet regardless of cost, nearly twice the 24% of never-insured owners who said the same. There’s no single savings balance that guarantees you can afford a pet, and the goal isn’t necessarily to have $10,000 sitting in a separate pet account. But it’s important to make sure you have a plan for an expensive vet bill before you need one — whether that means savings, insurance or a combination of the two. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/is-pet-ownership-becoming-a-luxury/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/is-pet-ownership-becoming-a-luxury/", "name": "Is Pet Ownership Becoming a Luxury?  ", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-10-06T21:06:01.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/is-pet-ownership-becoming-a-luxury/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2026-10-06T21:06:01.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Is Pet Ownership Becoming a Luxury?  ", "articleSection": "Insurance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2026/09/Explainer-Healthy-Paws-Luxury-ownership.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "Explainer-Healthy-Paws-Luxury-ownership" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Liliana Hall", "url": "https://money.com/author/liliana-hall/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/liliana-hall/#author", "description": "Liliana Hall joined Money in 2025. 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