Pet Care Costs Soared 19% for Cats, 12% for Dogs in Last 3 Years, Study Shows

Many owners underestimate costs and are unprepared to pay for pet care.

Evelyn Pimplaskar
Evelyn PimplaskarEditor-in-Chief, Director of Content
  • 10+ years in insurance and personal finance content

  • 30+ years in media, PR, and content creation

Evelyn leads Insurify’s content team. She’s passionate about creating empowering content to help people transform their financial lives and make sound insurance-buying decisions.

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Chris Schafer
Edited byChris Schafer
Chris Schafer
Chris SchaferDeputy Managing Editor, News and Marketing Content
  • 15+ years in content creation

  • 7+ years in business and financial services content

Chris is a seasoned writer/editor with past experience across myriad industries, including insurance, SAS, finance, Medicare, logistics, marketing/advertising, and many more.

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MacKenzie Korris
Reviewed byMacKenzie Korris
MacKenzie Korris
MacKenzie KorrisInsurance Copy Editor

MacKenzie Korris is an insurance copy editor with a producer’s license for property and casualty insurance in Missouri. He has years of experience in print and digital media, and strives to craft actionable, inclusive copy that fosters smart decision-making through reader autonomy. He has a journalism degree from Saint Louis University.

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Taking care of one’s best friend is getting more expensive. The average lifetime cost of caring for a dog is $60,602, according to a new study by Synchrony. For cats, the lifetime cost is $47,106.

That’s a nearly 12% increase for dog care since 2022, and just over 19% for cats.

Though owners appear to generally know that pet care is expensive, nearly 80% underestimate the actual lifetime costs, according to the study, which analyzed data from CareCredit, Synchrony’s pet and vet financial product.

“Our research shows that while 60% of dog owners, 61% of cat owners, and 59% of ‘pocket-pet’ owners see [pets] as family, many are unaware of the true financial commitment,” Jonathan Wainberg, senior vice president and general manager at Synchrony, said in a press release.

Pet parents struggle to understand and manage costs

More than 75% of pet owners consider their pets to be family members, best friends, or their children, the study found. But many severely underestimate how much it will actually cost to take care of their pets over the animals’ average lifespans.

Type of Pet
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Average Lifespan
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What Pet Parents Expect Care to Cost
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What It Actually Costs
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Dog15 years$8,158Up to $60,602
Cat15 years$5,735Up to $47,106
Small companion animals 6 years$2,977Up to $14,938
Source: Synchrony’s 2025 Pet Lifetime of Care Study

Nearly half of pet owners in Synchrony’s study said an unexpected pet-related expense caused financial concern in 2025. Roughly one in 10 pet parents who faced a surprise cost struggled to pay for it. And the same ratio had to seek financial assistance to care for their pets.

In fact, 26% of pet owners said an unexpected $250 pet care expense would cause them stress. For 23%, their threshold would be a $1,000 emergency expense.

Yet while 20% said they worry about future unexpected expenses, less than one-quarter have savings or insurance to help cover emergency pet care costs. But the vast majority — 92% — would do whatever it takes to cover their pets’ unexpected costs.

How pet parents pay for emergency vet costs

By all accounts, debt is a problem for Americans — and paying for emergency pet care is adding to the burden.

A recent Insurify survey found that more than 68% of double-income couples with no kids (DINKs) have worked more hours, racked up credit card debt, or put less into their savings accounts in order to pay for their pets’ needs. This parallels Synchrony’s findings that 50% of dog owners and 61% of cat owners put unexpected pet care costs on their credit cards. And 36% of small companion animal owners said they’d borrow from family or friends to pay a surprise veterinary bill.

Synchrony’s study found low rates of pet insurance adoption across all pet types. Overall, less than 25% of pet parents had savings or pet insurance to help pay for emergencies.

Pet
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Percentage of Owners With Pet Insurance or Savings
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Percentage Who Considered Pet Insurance
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Dogs20%47%
Cats20%49%
Small companion animals24%32%
Synchrony’s 2025 Pet Lifetime of Care Study

What’s next: Pet insurance costs rising, too

Along with food, toys, and veterinary care, pet parents must also consider the rising cost of pet insurance.

Synchrony’s study found that dog owners are spending more annually for pet health insurance and wellness plans: $198$313 and $422$701, respectively.

The average annual cost of an accident and illness pet insurance policy was $386 for cats and $749 for dogs in 2024, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. That’s up 11% for dogs and 1% for cats since 2023, NAPHIA’s data indicates. Since 2020, average premiums rose 22% for dogs and more than 5% for cats.

Evelyn Pimplaskar
Evelyn PimplaskarEditor-in-Chief, Director of Content

Evelyn Pimplaskar is Insurify’s director of content. With 30-plus years in content creation – including 10 years specializing in personal finance – Evelyn’s done everything from covering volatile local elections as a beat reporter to building fintech content libraries from the ground up.

Before joining Insurify, she was editor-in-chief at Credible, where she launched and developed the lending marketplace’s media partnership’s content initiative and managed the restructuring of the editorial team to enhance content production efficiency. Formerly, as tax editor for Credit Karma, Evelyn built a library of more than 300 educational articles on federal and state taxes, achieving triple-digit year-over-year growth in e-files from organic search.

Her early career included work as a content marketer, vice president and managing officer of a boutique public relations agency, chief copy editor for 14 weekly Forbes publications, reporting for large and mid-sized daily newspapers, and freelancing for the Associated Press.

Evelyn is passionate about creating personal finance content that distills complex topics into relatable, easy-to-understand stories. She believes great content helps empower readers with the information they need to make important personal finance decisions.

Chris Schafer
Edited byChris SchaferDeputy Managing Editor, News and Marketing Content
Chris Schafer
Chris SchaferDeputy Managing Editor, News and Marketing Content
  • 15+ years in content creation

  • 7+ years in business and financial services content

Chris is a seasoned writer/editor with past experience across myriad industries, including insurance, SAS, finance, Medicare, logistics, marketing/advertising, and many more.

Featured in

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MacKenzie Korris
Reviewed byMacKenzie KorrisInsurance Copy Editor
MacKenzie Korris
MacKenzie KorrisInsurance Copy Editor

MacKenzie Korris is an insurance copy editor with a producer’s license for property and casualty insurance in Missouri. He has years of experience in print and digital media, and strives to craft actionable, inclusive copy that fosters smart decision-making through reader autonomy. He has a journalism degree from Saint Louis University.