I am sure that I am not alone when I say that I wish I was sitting next to a warm fire right now...where did the nice fall weather go? I can always tell when fall has arrived when the Italian Greyhounds who "work" at the shelter start wearing quilted coats instead of just their regular casual wear.
I have always known that there are distinct differences between cat people and dog people. Now, there is a study that confirms my suspicions, along with some other concerning information. It turns out that having a cat is more attractive to single people, while living with dogs is more attractive to families.
The AVMA conducts surveys of pet owners every five years, and publishes the results in the U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographic Sourcebook. In the 2007 edition, dogs rule as the companion choice for families: 67.0 percent of dog owners are married compared to 61.8 percent of cat owners, and 52.6 percent of dog owners are families of three or more, compared to 47.0 percent of cat owners.
One finding that is very upsetting is that cat owners are much less likely to seek veterinary care for their animals, and they spend less on their animals compared to dog families, and this divide seems to be growing. At EBHS we see many cats easily surrendered, it seems like cats are the disposable companion for many people. For instance, when the owners of a cat get a new puppy and the existing cat does not like the new puppy - guess who ends up at the shelter? The data revealed that 82.7 percent of dog owners made at least one annual visit to a veterinarian, compared to 63.7 percent of cat owners.
The AVMA data also showed that the average expense per household on veterinary expenses for 2006 was $366.
The study also showed that almost 50% of pet owners considered their animal companions to be a member of the family. I thought that would be higher.
In 2006 there were 72 million canine companions in the US and 82 million feline companions. There were more households with dogs (43 million compared to 37 million for cat households), but many households with cats had more than one cat, which explains the disparity.
