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Oh and pet insurance, the biggest expense of them all, $830 a year!!! Am I nuts? Or am I like the rest of the world? I’d say the latter. According to a Business Insider article recently published, the average family spends about $126 (US $) a month on their pets (dogs $140, cats $93). So thankfully, it seems I’m the latter.
There are varying reports on the size of the pet industry that kind of make your head spin. That being said, most research firms are in the same range on the overall pet market. Key statistics show that in 2016, revenues overall were about US$63 billion according to the American Pet Products Association, and this is expected to rise to about US$72 billion in 2018. Now that is for EVERYTHING: toys, treats, food, care, veterinary services, boardings, training, and the like. It has experienced 5.4% average growth since 2002 and continues to grow. Not to mention, during the Great Recession, the market for pets remained status quo! People just spend and spend and spend. And there are a lot of people. Over half of US households own a pet, and that is about 80 million homes. In Canada, there are approximately 16 million cats and dogs and almost two-thirds of all households own pets. The Canadian pet market is about $5 billion. Now for healthcare specifically as it relates to pets, a published study by the Market Research Future group suggests that the Global Animal Healthcare market will reach about US$20 billion by 2023 increasing at a CAGR of 9.6% between 2017 and 2023. According to the study, this segment is growing extensively because people are becoming increasingly sensitive toward animals and the pain they go through during illness, injuries, recovery from surgery, anxiety and other ailments. Rising per capital income is leading to increase in demand for healthcare. Increase in R&D bringing more innovative products, more effective treatments and vaccines. The shortfall of all this is lack of awareness and knowledge due to lack on clinical trials. And we will get back to that point later. But the Global Companion Healthcare market appears to be fiercely competitive and fragmented with many established players with global presence. Brand reinforcement, mergers and acquisitions, and innovation remain a key trend with the key players in this market. The Asian market is expected to emerge as the fastest growing region during the forecast period, with China dominating, and India not far behind. True Leaf Medicine International, maker of hemp-based chews for dogs and cats, said that in 2018, sales of