Pets and Pet Spending During the Pandemic: A Money Report

A year into the COVID-19 crisis, it’s clear the pandemic has affected relationships in all facets of Americans’ lives — including those with the animals they love.

A wide-ranging national poll of more than 1,300 pet owners conducted in early March by Money and Morning Consult explored not only changes to how owners interacted with their pets during the pandemic but what they spent on them — as well as what they might be willing to spend on medical bills, were the worst to happen to their animal.

We also looked at how and why Americans acquired new non-human companions during the past 12 months. Other questions covered pet-owners’ confidence in the vets entrusted with their medical care, and owners’ knowledge of pet insurance.

The results revealed a deepened relationship during the pandemic between humans and their pets, reflected in part through a willingness to spend almost anything to provide for their animals’ care. We also found that what Americans expect from pet insurance and what it usually delivers may often be at odds.

Americans and Their Pets During COVID-19

An increase in love, but not necessarily in work or spending

Even today, with lockdowns lifting and vaccinations expanding, Americans continue to spend an average of at least 20% more time during the day at home than before the pandemic, according to Google’s Community Mobility Data.

Holing up at home inevitably means more time with pets than was the case in the era of commuting, live events, eating out, and more. Fortunately, the trend has been mostly a positive development, our survey found. More than half of respondents said they value their pets more (58%) and are more affectionate (50%) to them now than they were in pre-COVID-19 times. And at least some of those (31% and 37%, respectively) who reported no change in those measures may feel that way because they think in absolute terms: they couldn’t value or love their pet any more than they did before the pandemic.

Dog and cat owners reported almost identical increases in the value and affection they lavished on their animal, as did owners of purebred and mixed-breed pets.

Interestingly, the more urbanized the pet owner, the more likely they were to say their pet outlook had positively changed in the past year. Suburbanites had middling increases in their feelings for their pet, but those with a rural home were notably less inclined than owners as a whole to report step-ups in the value (53% vs. 58%) or affection (41% vs. 50%) they feel for their pets now. Urbanites, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction from the norm — averaging 61% on increased value and 64% on being more affectionate.

The negatives to pandemic pet-ownership were fairly minor. A minority (11%) did report their pet annoys them more now.

A slightly higher, but still small (16%), proportion of owners reported trouble in keeping up with their pets’ needs. But increased dog walking doesn’t appear to be the issue here. Roughly one in five dog owners said they got help during the day before the pandemic with walking and other pet care. But only one in five of that group — who presumably would feel a burden now, having lost their assistance — said care for their pooch was more work now than when they had help.