Cat parents are pushing feline growth across retail and vet care

Version 2 — Full analysis

The U.S. pet market’s feline shift is becoming harder to dismiss as a niche trend. Newer reporting from Pet Age and APPA shows cat ownership reached 53 million U.S. households in 2025, up 5% year over year, with growth led by Gen Z and Millennials and amplified by a more visible cohort of male cat parents. At the same time, NIQ says cat products are outperforming every other species segment across both online and in-store channels, pointing to a broader realignment in consumer demand. Freedonia Group has pushed the point further, reporting that cat-owning households now outnumber puppy-owning households for the first time since Packaged Facts began tracking them. (petage.com; freedoniagroup.com)

The backdrop is a multi-year shift in both household formation and pet spending. APPA said cat-owning households climbed from 49 million in 2024 to 53 million in 2025, while its broader 2026 State of the Industry release described cats as a key growth driver in a U.S. pet market that reached $158 billion in 2025. Other market observers have been making a similar point for months: cats are benefiting from demographic changes, urban lifestyles, and value-conscious spending patterns that can make feline companionship feel more accessible than dog ownership for some households. Freedonia also pointed to apartment living, hybrid work, aging pet owners, and smaller households as structural tailwinds for cat ownership. (petage.com; freedoniagroup.com)

Pet Age’s framing is notable because it goes beyond headline ownership growth and describes a cultural shift in how cat parents engage. The outlet reported that 21% of cat parents hosted a holiday or birthday party for their cats in 2024, up sharply from 2018, and that 34% bought cat-themed merchandise. It also cited strong gains among Gen Z and Millennial men in 2024, before APPA’s 2026 industry report showed further ownership growth in 2025. In other words, the market signal isn’t just “more cats.” It’s more emotionally invested cat households, and that usually translates into broader demand for food variety, enrichment, wellness products, and services. That emotional intensity also helps explain why broader pet-food growth remains resilient even in a choppy economy: as Pet Age noted in separate brand commentary, food spending continues to function as an expression of attachment and care, even as brands struggle to differentiate in a crowded market. (petage.com; petage.com)

That consumer behavior is already showing up in category mix. NIQ said cat products are the only species segment growing both online and in-store, and it flagged treats, automated litter boxes, and premium-adjacent products as important growth pockets. NIQ also reported that cat parents use an average of 2.2 food types per week, with 26% using three or more, a sign that feeding routines are becoming more fragmented and more sophisticated. Pet Food Processing has likewise reported rising demand for cat-specific nutrition, with manufacturers emphasizing that feline growth is tied not only to premiumization, but also to the need for formulations built around obligate carnivore requirements and palatability. (nielseniq.com)

Industry commentary is increasingly explicit about the opportunity, and the gap. NIQ Vice President Andrea Binder said that “cats are driving the next wave of growth in the U.S. pet industry,” arguing that retailers and manufacturers that prioritize feline-focused assortments stand to capture incremental gains. Freedonia estimated that cats accounted for $46.2 billion in U.S. pet industry sales in 2025, or about 30% of the market, yet said assortments, services, and merchandising remain largely dog-centric. That mismatch helps explain why analysts and trade publications continue to point out that the category remains comparatively underbuilt versus dogs, with fewer brands, less innovation depth, and persistent complaints from cat parents that the industry still treats them as second-tier consumers. Freedonia specifically highlighted healthy aging, behavioral health, enrichment, smart technologies, subscription services, and better retail experiences as underdeveloped areas. That tension, strong demand but incomplete market adaptation, may be one reason the feline category still has runway. (nielseniq.com; freedoniagroup.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the most important point is that feline momentum is no longer confined to pet retail. CATalyst Council data reported by GlobalPETS show cats accounted for a record 24.7% of clinical visits in Q4 2025, after 12 consecutive quarters of feline visit growth, even as overall visit volumes declined. Today’s Veterinary Business, covering CATalyst Council’s report “Puppocalpyse, Kitten Craze and the Expectations Reset,” said the broader industry may continue to see weak visit growth through 2035 because first-year puppy visits have fallen to 62% of their 2018/2019 baseline, setting up smaller canine cohorts that could suppress dog visits for years. CATalyst chair Jon Ayers said the realistic long-term range for U.S. clinical visit growth is -2% to 0% through 2030, not the 2% to 3% rebound some in the industry are expecting. By contrast, kitten visits have remained roughly 8% to 10% above pre-pandemic levels over the past four years. Practices that reduce friction for cat visits, from handling protocols to scheduling and follow-up, may be better positioned to capture one of the few areas of sustained demand growth. (globalpetindustry.com; todaysveterinarybusiness.com)

There’s also a client-communication angle. If cat parents are spending more intentionally, seeking convenience, and experimenting with nutrition and enrichment, veterinary teams have a chance to shape those decisions before retail messaging does. That could mean stronger conversations around hydration, obesity prevention, dental care, environmental enrichment, multi-cat household dynamics, and the risks of delaying routine care because cats appear “fine” at home. It also supports more intentional feline-specific marketing and lower-stress, feline-friendly experiences, which CATalyst leaders have described as among the biggest organic growth opportunities available to practices. The commercial rise of cats doesn’t automatically close the longstanding feline care gap, but it does create a better opening to do so. (nielseniq.com; todaysveterinarybusiness.com)

What to watch: Expect more feline-specific launches, more shelf space and merchandising built around cat wellness and convenience, and more pressure on practices to convert rising cat affinity into regular preventive visits. The biggest whitespace may be in services and solutions designed for actual feline lifestyles, not dog categories repackaged for cats, especially in behavior, aging, enrichment, smart tech, and subscription support. On the clinical side, CATalyst Council’s 2026 updates will be worth watching closely as practices recalibrate growth plans around a softer canine pipeline and a stronger feline one. (nielseniq.com; freedoniagroup.com)