The pet population numbers aren’t subtle. MRI-Simmons data reported in Packaged Facts’ “U.S. Pet Market Outlook 2026–2027” show growth in the number of cat households was 4.1% over the 2019–2025 period, compared with a 4.2% decline in the number of dog households. In this same vein, the number of households with kittens reached 99% of the number of households with puppies in 2025, compared with 66% in the pre-COVID year of 2019.
Despite evident efforts by pet industry to respond accordingly, significant runway remains for cat-focused offerings. Packaged Facts’ January 2026 Survey of Pet Owners shows that 72% of cat owners agree (strongly or somewhat) that the pet market sometimes treats cats “as second-class citizens, compared with what’s available for dogs.”
