Ownership of Less Traditional Pets on the Rise in the US

According to the latest data from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), nearly 57% of US households included a pet in 2016. Not surprisingly, the newly released 2017-2018 edition of the AVMA's Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook notes that the most popular pet in the country—living in about 38% of homes in 2016—is the dog.

The Sourcebook, which offers comprehensive data on pet ownership and related habits of US pet-owning households based on surveys of more than 50,000 pet-owning households, also notes that cats could be found in 25% of US households in 2016.

But the number of specialty and exotic pets living in the United States is creeping ever upward. More than 13% of US households owned a specialty or exotic pet (e.g. small mammals, reptiles, poultry, fish, livestock) at the end of 2016, a 25% increase from 2011. The largest growth in specialty pet ownership was seen in backyard poultry, with 1.1% of households owning pet poultry in 2016, an increase of 23% in 5 years.

Pet ownership is higher in rural states than in urban states. On average, 68.6% of homes in the top 10 rural states include pets, whereas pets can be found in only 48.8% of the top 10 urban pet-owning states.

Regarding veterinary visits, the Sourcebook notes that dog owners are more likely than cat owners to take their pet to the veterinarian. On average, dog-owning veterinary clients made 3 visits to the veterinarian in 2016, while cat-owning veterinary clients made 2.4 visits.