--- title: Many Americans Prioritize Their Pets' Expenses Over Their Own Groceries description: Think you spend a lot of money on your dog or cat? A new survey found that U.S. pet owners shell out thousands of dollars every year. authors: - name: Mary Ellen Cagnassola role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/ bio: Mary Ellen (M.E.) Cagnassola is a former reporter at Money, where she covered Social Security, retirement, housing, and employment. Her work reflects her commitment to service and equity in consumer finance. education: Rutgers University, BA Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 205 covers: - Pets - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Pets - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-03-30T15:23:01.000Z' modified: '2026-02-12T18:24:03.000Z' section: Pets tags: - News - Pets word_count: 430 canonical: https://money.com/pet-spending-dogs-cats-survey/ type: NewsArticle 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/). ![Person with corgi puppy in nature background](https://img.money.com/2023/03/News-Pet-Owners-Spending-Money-Dog-Cat-Happy.jpg) It may sound barking mad to spend upwards of $3,000 a year on a dog or cat, but according to new data, Americans are more than willing to drain their bank accounts for their pets. In fact, owners say that buying stuff for their pets actually makes them happy: According to a new survey, 82% of owners said spending on their pets brings them the most gratification of any of their expenses. ## Get reliable coverage for your pet with Healthy Paws ### Care for your pet with confidence. Healthy Paws offers quality coverage with up to 90% reimbursement. Get a quick quote now by clicking on your state. [View Plans](https://money.com/pr/b1caef00b36f?ap_referrer=%2Fpet-spending-dogs-cats-survey%2F) ## What the data says Pet care site Rover.com released two surveys of 1,500 [dog](https://www.rover.com/blog/cost-of-dog-parenthood/) and [cat](https://www.rover.com/blog/cost-of-cat-parenthood/) owners in the U.S. that found the majority consider their pets a top financial priority, even at the expense of their own necessities. - Most pet owners (81%) said [inflation](https://money.com/difficulty-paying-bills-census/) is impacting their pet food bills, and 41% of dog owners have cut back on their own [groceries](https://money.com/saving-money-on-groceries-strategies/) as a result. - More than a third of pet owners (37%) said that there is no amount of money they would accept if it meant they could never have a pet again, and a quarter said it would take at least $1 million for them to give up their pets. - Almost half (44%) would take a lesser-paying gig if they could bring their pets with them. ## Let's get your pet covered! ### Healthy Paws takes care of costs for injuries and emergencies related to your pet's accidents. Click below to get a free quote! [View Plans](https://money.com/pr/b2c4dd574b9e?ap_referrer=%2Fpet-spending-dogs-cats-survey%2F) ## What's the cost of owning a dog or cat? - Americans are paying a lot of money every year for their pets. Nearly 75% said they expect to spend up to $1,000 to cover the cost of bringing home a new pet, and about 30% said the actual cost was higher than they anticipated. - Most dog owners say they spend about $1,188 annually. Bringing home a new dog in 2023 can range anywhere from $1,135 to $5,155, and dog essentials like food and flea medicine fun from $610 to $3,555. Dog owners are also spending between $1,390 to $4,095 a year on nonessentials. - Cat owners are also burning money on their fur babies, spending anywhere from $755 to $3,020 to bring home a new cat. The annual essentials cost cat owners between $325 and $1,600 every year, and non-essentials cost them $1,170 to $3,605. - Those numbers don’t account for surprise costs: [Emergency vet visits](https://money.com/how-much-is-an-emergency-vet-visit/) and optional office visits cost pet owners between $1,170 to $3,605 on average. - Those who opt for [pet insurance](https://money.com/best-pet-insurance/) (probably not a bad idea when you look at how much an emergency can cost) spend $240 to $360 a year for cat coverage and $360 to $720 for dogs. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/pet-spending-dogs-cats-survey/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Pets", "item": "https://money.com/pets/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Pet Care", "item": "https://money.com/pet-care/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Many Americans Prioritize Their Pets' Expenses Over Their Own Groceries" } ] }, { "@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/pet-spending-dogs-cats-survey/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/pet-spending-dogs-cats-survey/", "name": "Many Americans Prioritize Their Pets' Expenses Over Their Own Groceries", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-03-30T15:23:01.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/pet-spending-dogs-cats-survey/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/pet-spending-dogs-cats-survey/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-02-12T18:24:03.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Many Americans Prioritize Their Pets' Expenses Over Their Own Groceries", "articleSection": "Pets", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/03/News-Pet-Owners-Spending-Money-Dog-Cat-Happy.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Pet-Owners-Spending-Money-Dog-Cat-Happy" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Ellen Cagnassola", "url": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/#author", "description": "Mary Ellen (M.E.) 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