Older adults say pets give them purpose, but costs are rising
Bottom line
A new University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging finds that pets remain deeply important to older adults, even as affordability pressures are rising. In a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults age 50 and older fielded in September 2025, 55% said they have a pet, and 83% of pet parents said their animals give them a sense of purpose, up from 73% in 2018. But 31% said having a pet strains their budget, and cost was cited by 33% of non-pet parents in this age group as a reason they do not have a pet, up from 21% in 2018. The poll also found older adults in 2025 were less likely than those surveyed in 2018 to say pets help them enjoy life, feel loved, reduce stress, or support routine and activity, suggesting a more complicated picture of companionship under current financial pressures. (ihpi.umich.edu)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the findings reinforce that older clients often see companion animals as central to daily structure, emotional health, and social connection, not as optional household expenses. That makes cost conversations especially sensitive, and increasingly necessary. Separate 2026 research from PetSmart Charities and Gallup found 94% of veterinarians say clients’ financial considerations sometimes or often limit recommended care, while 48% said their education did not prepare them at all for those discussions. AAHA also reported that nearly half of pet parents say unexpected pet expenses cause financial concern, and that many still underestimate the lifetime cost of care. (petsmartcharities.org)
What to watch: Expect more attention on affordability tools, clearer treatment-plan conversations, and community support models aimed at helping older pet parents keep animals in the home. (ihpi.umich.edu)
Pets are still a major source of meaning for older adults, but the financial side of care is getting harder to ignore. A February 2026 report from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging found that 83% of pet parents age 50 and older say their pets give them a sense of purpose, while 31% say those pets strain their budget. The survey points to a growing tension for older households: companion animals are emotionally valuable, but increasingly expensive to keep. (ihpi.umich.edu)
The findings build on a 2018 version of the same poll and show both continuity and change. Pets remain common among older adults, with 55% of respondents age 50 and older reporting they have one, most often a dog or cat. Compared with 2018, however, today’s older pet parents were more likely to say pets give them purpose, but less likely to say pets help them enjoy life, feel loved, reduce stress, stay physically active, stick to a routine, or cope with physical or emotional symptoms. The University of Michigan researchers suggest those shifts may reflect broader financial pressures, changing household circumstances, and the growing demands of caring for aging people and aging pets at the same time. (ihpi.umich.edu)
The affordability signal is one of the clearest takeaways. Among older adults without pets, 33% said cost is a main reason they do not have one, up from 21% in 2018. Among those who do have pets, budget strain was more common among women, respondents with household incomes below $60,000, people reporting fair or poor physical or mental health, and those living with a disability that limits daily activities. The poll was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, using online and phone responses from 2,698 adults ages 50 to 95 in September 2025. (ihpi.umich.edu)
That broader affordability backdrop is showing up across veterinary care. In January 2026, PetSmart Charities released Gallup research showing 94% of veterinarians say clients’ financial considerations sometimes or often limit their ability to provide recommended care. The same study identified a communication gap: 81% of veterinarians said they often or always recommend a lower-cost alternative when care is declined due to cost, but prior pet parent research cited by the group found 73% of pet parents who declined care due to affordability said they were not offered a more financially accessible option. Meanwhile, 48% of veterinarians said their training did not prepare them at all for financial conversations. (petsmartcharities.org)
Industry data point in the same direction. AAHA’s 2025 update to the Pet Lifetime of Care Study found nearly half of pet parents say unexpected expenses are a financial concern, up from about one-third in 2022. The association also highlighted a large gap between what people expect to spend and what lifetime care may actually cost, estimating expenses of up to $60,602 over 15 years for a dog and up to $47,106 over 15 years for a cat. Because AAHA’s figures come from an industry-backed lifetime-cost model, they should be read as directional rather than as a universal bill for every household, but they underscore why even routine recommendations can feel out of reach for fixed-income clients. (aaha.org)
Why it matters: For veterinary teams, this story is less about sentiment than about care delivery. Older pet parents may be highly motivated to pursue care because the human-animal bond is so strong, yet still be unable to absorb diagnostics, chronic disease management, mobility support products, dental care, or emergency treatment. Practices serving large senior populations may need to treat affordability as a clinical access issue: discuss likely long-term costs earlier, normalize tiered treatment plans, train teams to have nonjudgmental financial conversations, and connect clients with payment options, charitable funds, transportation help, foster support during hospitalization, or local social-service partners. The Michigan report also notes that concern for a pet can become a barrier to an older adult receiving their own medical care, which has implications for discharge planning and cross-sector coordination. (ihpi.umich.edu)
Expert framing from the University of Michigan report is also useful for practice communication. The researchers emphasize that for many older adults, companion animals are family members, and they explicitly advise health professionals to ask whether patients have pets at home and who could help care for them if the person becomes ill or hospitalized. That logic translates well to veterinary medicine: conversations about future caregiving capacity, mobility, transportation, and backup support may become just as important as discussions about vaccines, medications, and nutrition in senior-pet-parent households. (ihpi.umich.edu)
What to watch: The next development to watch is whether practices, nonprofits, and health systems move from recognizing affordability strain to building more formal support pathways for older pet parents, especially around chronic care, emergency funding, and contingency planning for hospitalization or functional decline. (ihpi.umich.edu)