Posted on 11/02/2011 12:34:34 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Despite the anemic state of affairs in the U.S., there's at least one industry un-phased by the economic picture: the pet business. It's absolutely booming.
From 1994 to 2010, the American Pet Products Association reports the industry jumped a whopping $31.53 billion dollars.
People will spend about $50.84 billion dollars on their pets in 2011 alone, estimates the association, up from $48.3 billion in 2010.
Granted, more people own animals than they used to back in 1994. Today, Americans care for about 377.41 million household pets, meaning there are 27 million more pets than humans in the U.S.
But the major animal spending hike, besides the fact there's more Sparkys out there, has to do with something we can all relate to: medical care.
Vets and medical supplies for animals have just gotten more expensive. Within the last year alone, people spent $1 billion more on vet care, and another half-billion on medicine, bringing the grand total to $25.51 billion.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Most vets are major rip offs
Animals don’t have that evil streak as people do...well, excluding my own.
But I still spend the money on them. I think I’m their slave (somebody help me).
Count me in the chumps. I paid for cataract surgery for my Yorkie. Couldn’t bear him walking around bumping into things; blind at 6 years old.
Unemployed? Consider selling Dog Biscuit.
Better to be a dog in America than a kid in Somalia.
My theory is all the women who grew up during the height of the feminist movement in the 60s and 70s are all now childless spinsters with 14 cats.
My theory is many of the women who grew up during the height of the feminist movement in the 60s and 70s are now childless spinsters with 14 cats.
Our Vet at least dispenses medicine for our two dogs at
very little profit to himself. A number of OTC things at least wound up costing more at
COSTCO, for God’s sake.
Yeah, I will answer for my priorities. I have sponsored a child through World Vision for 15 years, and give to Shared Hope International every month, but I see your point.
Kids in Somalia aren’t my responsibility, I didn’t put them there, I didn’t screw up their country. Pets in my home are my responsibility, I put them there, I try not to let it get screwed up.
And that is why I started my Pet Sitting business! I have only one reservation open for the Christmas week. I’m booked pretty solid for the next 7 weeks!
I do still have 2 reservation slots available for Thanksgiving.
Plans for next spring include hiring one to two professional dog walkers.
That works out to $1/week average per household.
“Most vets are major rip offs”
Right you are al.
There is a trend today towards increasing profits at the expense of pets IMO. We encountered this new trend in the ‘90’s, and here is what we saw.
Old time Veterinarians we knew that could feel the animal, discern hot spots that could tell them precisely what the animal needed all of a sudden couldn’t be done anymore. NOPE, now all of a sudden the Vet that could look at the animal in the eye, and tell me such, and such a medicine would fix the little critter’s ailment yesterday now requires a $250.00 blood test, or urine test today.
Now they had to hold the animal over night to monitor it’s behavior, and of course run up costs to the owner of the pet.
What used to cost an office visit, and a prescription drug, now is the office visit, the second office visit when you return for your pet as well the cost of the monitoring over night, the tests that were run, and on, and on the list goes.
We searched and found an old time Vet that still practices the way he did over the many years, and we keep our costs down that way. We are back up now to 17 cats as we just took in a mother cat, and her two kittens so we can get them speyed, all females, four dogs, down to two horses, and the one Donkey we have left.
That’s what we encountered. The Vets are now hustlers for the big bucks.
The Vet we had been going to now owns a chain of Veterinary Hospitals since he started placing revenue over the Pets comfort, and health
RE: And that is why I started my Pet Sitting business!
And who’s going to sit your Pet Sitting business when you are out on vacation? LOL
My personal observations fit along with that, too. The pets fill in the void for the “I need something to take care of” niche where children used to be for many women. The invention of doggie purses (replacing baby slings) and pet strollers is proof of this.
But they taste so good.
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