U.S. cat owners spent an average of US$337.53 on cat food in 2025, according to a new report from the American Pet Products Association (APPA), “2026 Cat Report: Strategic Insights from the 2025 National Pet Owners Survey.” Meanwhile, the average dog owner spent US$101 per month on dog food, or more than US$1,200 a year, according to a different survey, this one from Tractor Supply.
That’s quite a disparity in spending. Obviously, one reason is because dogs come in a greater variety of sizes, some significantly larger than cats (which are all about the same size), and those medium to large dogs eat a lot more than cats do. Are other factors at play?
Survey components — methodology, pool of respondents, timing, etc. — can certainly influence the outcomes. APPA’s cat report came from its larger National Pet Owners Survey that it conducts annually and focuses on, as the title implies, ownership. The survey does delve into shopping habits, ownership expenses, lifestyles and other areas, but without seeing a full report, it’s difficult to know just how deep it goes into those areas.
The Tractor Supply survey involved 2,035 U.S. dog owners across all 50 states, plus, to add a professional view, 50 U.S. veterinarians and vet nurses/technicians. The questions, or at least the fully online report, seemed to be pretty detailed in asking about buying behavior and drivers, spending and the like. To be fair, such surveys and reports are not the retailer’s main business, so it makes sense that it makes the data completely available. APPA, on the other hand, derives income from selling its ownership reports.
Dog owners spend most on premium, fresh, organic
Regardless of survey differences, dog owners may also tend to buy more premium food options, according to the Tractor Supply survey:
- Of the monthly average spend of US$101 on dog food, US$86 goes toward premium, fresh or organic options, according to the respondents — in fact, 51% of these owners already purchase premium, fresh or organic dog food.
- Gen Z dog owners spend 24% more per month on dog food than baby boomers spend (US$107 vs. US$86).
- Respondents said they’re willing to pay a median of US$137/month (US$36 more than they currently do today) on dog food if they’re confident it would meaningfully improve their dogs’ health; gen Z owners said they’d pay up to US$148 per month. (Color me skeptical!)
- In evaluating premium dog foods, these owners said they consider “brand recognition” and “vet-recommended” a top factor, with each receiving a 30% selection.
- Comfortingly, veterinarians are the top source of information for the respondents in making decisions about their dogs’ health or nutrition (74%), followed by online reviews (47%), scientific or peer-reviewed research (46%) and friends and family (41%); 13% refer to social media pet accounts or influencers (18% for gen Z).
Though the number of veterinary professionals surveyed was small, especially compared to the dog owner total, their perspective on the ingredient labeling and claims that signal “premium” differs somewhat from that of owners. Among the latter group, 39% said they consider dog foods labeled “free from artificial additives” as premium; for the vets, it was only 24%. Similarly, 35% of owners chose “free from fillers (corn, soy, wheat)” compared to only 12% of vets.
Despite the inclusion of organic dog foods among the top spending data, only 15% of owners ranked
“certified organic/non-GMO” as important in terms of premium foods, and only 2% of vets. “Fresh, frozen ingredients” was last for both groups: 9% of owners and 2% of vets.
Number of ingredients just doesn’t compute
The seeming unimportance of fresh and frozen seems to conflict with another—rather head-scratching — set of data points, regarding the number of ingredients that indicate a premium dog food to these owners. “Most consumers say dog food with more than six ingredients is no longer ‘premium’ or ‘high-quality,’ the survey report said. “This threshold varies by generation: Gen Z tolerates up to seven ingredients, millennials six, gen X and baby boomers five.
The only dog foods that may even come close to that low number of ingredients would be fresh or frozen. But even then, only five to seven ingredients in a complete and balanced dog food just isn’t realistic, when you consider the number of nutrients and nutrition needs that diet must provide to a dog to keep it healthy. The vitamins and minerals that often need to be added to a dog food to meet nutritional requirements might total five to seven themselves.
Which makes me wonder: Did any of the 2,000 dog owners who responded to this survey even look at the labels of the dog foods sitting in their pantries or kitchens?
