How the average dog and cat owner perceives their pets – Pet owner statistics

June 29, 12:43 AMPet Health ExaminerLorie Huston

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Many pet owners consider their pets part of their family.

A recent poll released by the Associated Press/Petside.com revealed that 50% of pet owners consider their pets as family members with status equal to that of other family members.

Statistics reveal more dog owners than cat owners

The statistics reported in this survey revealed that 72% of respondents own dogs, compared to 47% owning cats. Also reported were

• 12% of pet owners who own fish,
• 6% who own birds,
• 3% owning rabbits,
• 3% owning gerbils, hamsters, mice, rats or other small rodents,
• 2% owning horses,
• 1% owning turtles or tortoises,
• 1% owning snakes,
• 1% owning reptiles other than snakes, and
• 1% owning small amphibians (frogs, toads, geckos,etc).

Majority of pet owners consider pet as family member

One half (50%) of pet owners indicated that they consider their pets as much a part of their family as any other human family member. Another 36% of pet owners indicated that they considered their pets as part of their family but not comparable to other human family members. Only 13% indicated that they thought of their pets as part of their household but not part of the family.

Among individual segments of respondents, 66% of single women consider their pets as a full member of the family, while 52% of single men responded similarly. Among married pet owners, 46% of women and 43% of men consider their pets as full members of their family.

Dog owners treat pets as part of family more so than cat owners

In this poll, dog owners indicated that they were more likely to take their dogs on family vacations and include their dogs on holiday cards and/or family portraits than were cat owners.

In addition, 16% of pet owners confessed to taking their pets to a location where pets are not allowed, such as a hotel or store.

Other pet statistics

Almost 1/3 of the pet owners surveyed (30%) allowed their pets to share their bed, while 13% responded that their pets sleep outside.

Many pet owners (31%) admitted to sometimes feeding their pet "human food", while 12% said they always feed their pets "human food". Another 30% claimed to feed "human food" to their pets rarely, and 27% responded that they never feed their pets "human food".

Nineteen percent of pet owners confessed to buying clothing for their pets.