In 2019, the average annual cost of owning a dog in the United States was approximately $1,500. By 2025, that figure had climbed to nearly $3,200 — and for owners in major metro areas, or those with dogs that required any meaningful veterinary care, the number was significantly higher.

The cost of owning a cat, traditionally the more affordable option, jumped from roughly $900 a year to over $1,800 in the same period.

These are not outlier figures. They come from the American Pet Products Association's (APPA) 2025 industry report, which tracks spending across all major categories of pet ownership. The numbers reflect a transformation that has been building for years but has accelerated sharply since 2022 — driven by veterinary consolidation, supply chain disruptions, the Iran war's effect on energy and transportation costs, and a broader post-pandemic inflation that has hit pet-related services harder than almost any other consumer category.

The result: for a growing number of American households, keeping a pet is becoming a financial decision that competes directly with rent, groceries, and medical care.

Veterinary Costs: The Biggest Driver

Veterinary care is where pet inflation has hit hardest. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the "veterinary services" subcategory of the Consumer Price Index rose 60% between January 2019 and January 2026 — roughly triple the rate of overall inflation in the same period.

A routine annual wellness exam that cost $60–$80 in 2019 now typically runs $120–$175 in most U.S. markets. Emergency care costs have risen even more dramatically. A middle-of-the-night emergency visit for a dog with a gastrointestinal obstruction — not uncommon — can now easily generate a bill of $5,000 to $8,000.

The driver behind rising vet costs is not simply greed or inflation. It is structural: the veterinary industry has undergone a rapid consolidation wave. Private equity firms have acquired thousands of independent veterinary practices since 2015. By 2024, an estimated 25% of all U.S. veterinary practices were owned by one of roughly a dozen large corporate groups — including Mars Petcare (owner of VCA Animal Hospitals), JAB Holding Company (owner of National Veterinary Associates), and several others.

A 2024 Cornell University veterinary economics study found that practices acquired by private equity chains raised prices an average of 18% within two years of acquisition — compared to 6% price increases at independently owned practices over the same period. The authors attributed the difference to reduced local competition, centralized pricing, and the pressure of debt-service obligations on acquired practices.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has a veterinarian shortage. The AVMA estimated a shortage of approximately 15,000 veterinarians by 2025 — a gap created by flat enrollment at U.S. veterinary schools relative to growing pet ownership, combined with a wave of early retirements during the pandemic. Fewer vets means less competition, which means prices hold high.

Pet Food: Tariffs, Energy, and a Supply Chain That Never Fully Recovered

The average American dog owner spent $860 on pet food in 2025, up from $480 in 2019 — an 79% increase. Cat food costs rose roughly 65% in the same period.

Premium pet food has driven the top end of that increase. The humanization of pets — treating dogs and cats as family members rather than animals — has pushed millions of owners toward higher-cost options: grain-free formulas, fresh-cooked meal kits, raw food diets. These products have their own premium supply chains and have been hit hard by input cost inflation.

But even basic dry kibble and canned food got more expensive. Pet food manufacturing relies heavily on meat processing byproducts and grain. Beef and poultry prices rose sharply in 2022–2023 due to supply chain disruptions and avian flu outbreaks. Transportation and packaging costs spiked with energy prices. The Iran war's effect on global oil markets in early 2026 pushed diesel prices higher again, adding another round of freight cost increases to an industry that had barely stabilized.

U.S. tariffs on imported pet food ingredients and packaging materials have added further pressure. The APPA estimates that tariff-related cost increases on pet food inputs added approximately $2.8 billion to industry costs in 2025 — costs that were passed through to consumers.

Pet Insurance: The Promise and the Catch

Pet insurance was supposed to be the solution to catastrophic vet bills. And the industry has grown dramatically: an estimated 6.8 million pets were insured in the U.S. at the end of 2024, up from 2.4 million in 2019.

But pet insurance has its own cost problem. Premiums have risen sharply. The average annual premium for a dog rose from $560 in 2019 to $908 in 2025. Premiums for older dogs or breeds considered high-risk (French Bulldogs, for example, due to breathing issues; Golden Retrievers due to cancer rates) can run $2,000 to $3,500 per year.

And the coverage often disappoints. Most pet insurance policies don't cover pre-existing conditions, hereditary conditions, or routine/preventive care. Reimbursement rates vary, with most plans covering 70–80% of covered expenses after a deductible. When owners actually need the insurance — after a cancer diagnosis or orthopedic surgery — the total out-of-pocket cost often still runs into the thousands.

The North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) reported that the average claim paid per insured dog in 2024 was $1,130. The average annual premium was $908. For owners who stay healthy-pet lucky, insurance is a net loss. For those who aren't, it can mean the difference between treatment and euthanasia.

The Surrender Wave

The consequence of all this cost is visible in shelter data.

The ASPCA reported that shelter intake — the number of animals admitted to shelters — increased 24% between 2021 and 2025. Owner surrenders specifically (as opposed to strays or seized animals) rose 31% in the same period.

Shelter intake surveys consistently find that economic reasons — inability to afford food, veterinary care, or housing that allows pets — are the primary driver of owner surrenders. "We can't afford the vet bills" is now the most commonly cited reason given by owners surrendering dogs at shelters across the country.

Several major U.S. cities — including Denver, Phoenix, and Atlanta — have reported that their shelters are at or over capacity, creating conditions that, in the worst cases, lead to euthanasia of otherwise healthy and adoptable animals.

The Pandemic Adoption Boom Comes Due

There is an additional complicating factor: timing. The pandemic years of 2020–2021 saw a massive wave of pet adoption. Millions of Americans who were home all day, emotionally isolated, and looking for companionship adopted dogs and cats at unprecedented rates. Shelter adoption rates spiked. Breeder wait lists stretched to years. Prices for puppies hit all-time highs — $2,000–$6,000 for desirable breeds was common.

Those pandemic puppies are now 4–6 years old. They're entering the phase of their lives when health problems begin to appear. Hip dysplasia. Heart conditions. Cancer. The owners who adopted them in 2020 — many of whom had never owned a pet before — are now encountering veterinary bills they did not anticipate in a cost environment dramatically more expensive than what they knew when they adopted.

The combination of naive first-time owners, aging animals, and high costs is being felt across shelter systems, veterinary practices, and pet insurance claims simultaneously.

What Could Change

Several solutions are being proposed, though none are imminent.

Expanding veterinary school enrollment is the most structurally impactful option. The AVMA and American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) have called for federal support to expand vet school capacity. Several states are funding new programs. But veterinary education takes 8 years from undergraduate entry to licensed practice, so any increase in enrollment today won't reach the workforce until the early 2030s.

Allowing veterinary technicians to perform more procedures autonomously — similar to nurse practitioners in human medicine — is another option under discussion in several states. Opponents, largely veterinary associations, argue it risks patient safety. Proponents argue it is no riskier than routine care already performed by techs under supervision.

Antitrust enforcement targeting veterinary private equity consolidation has been discussed at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The Biden administration FTC opened investigations into several large veterinary chains; the Trump administration's FTC has been less active on this front.

The Bottom Line

Pet ownership in America has quietly become a significant economic stressor. The combination of veterinary consolidation, veterinarian shortages, supply chain and tariff-driven food cost increases, and the aging of pandemic-era adopted animals has created a crisis that is playing out in shelter intake data, in veterinary waiting rooms, and in household budgets. For the 70% of American households that own a pet — 90 million households total — the question of how to afford a sick animal is no longer theoretical. It is, for millions of families, a current and urgent problem without an obvious solution.