by Shannon Landry
July 20, 2026
The pet industry overall has had to face a harsh reality: cats remain an underserved minority across much of the market.
As the number of kitten-owning households surpasses those with puppies for the first time since Packaged Facts started tracking these populations, the pet industry overall has had to face a harsh reality: cats remain an underserved minority across much of the market.
For years, discussions about the cat market have centered on nutrition. Fresh foods, functional ingredients, premium formulations, and specialized diets have dominated industry headlines as manufacturers work to capture growing consumer demand for healthier pet foods. While these innovations have undoubtedly expanded options for feline nutrition, they also risk overlooking a broader reality: many cat owners still believe the pet industry isn’t designed with them in mind. That perception represents one of the most significant growth opportunities in today’s pet market.
Packaged Facts’ January 2026 Survey of Pet Owners found that approximately half of cat owners believe various sectors of the pet industry sometimes treat cats as “second-class citizens.” General retailers selling pet products and providers of non-medical pet services were most likely to draw negative cat-owner sentiment, but no sector was left unscathed, suggesting that the challenge is not confined to one category but spans the entire customer experience. As cats continue gaining importance within the U.S. pet market, closing this “cat care gap” may prove to be one of the industry’s most valuable long-term growth strategies.
The pet industry’s emphasis on dogs has been a sound business strategy. Dogs outnumbered cats in U.S. households and generate higher spending across virtually every category, driving much of the industry’s innovation pipeline. As growth in the dog population has stalled, a reevaluation is in order. Packaged Facts estimates that cats accounted for $46.2 billion in U.S. pet industry sales in 2025, representing 30% of total market spending. Their share has grown steadily in recent years, particularly within non-food pet supplies and veterinary care. At the same time, MRI-Simmons data show cat-owning households continuing to increase while dog ownership has declined modestly since 2020, reflecting broader demographic and economic changes affecting American households. Manufacturers have responded by expanding feline nutrition options, but these offerings are nowhere near those available to dog owners, and many other parts of the industry continue to lag behind evolving consumer expectations as well.
When consumers say cats receive “second-class” treatment, they are expressing something much broader than dissatisfaction with product availability, shedding light on the overall experience of being a cat owner. Walk through many retail stores and the difference remains noticeable. Dog owners often encounter expansive aisles devoted to toys, enrichment, travel accessories, apparel, training products, and seasonal merchandise. Cat sections, by comparison, frequently devote most of their space to food and litter, with relatively limited selections of furniture, enrichment products, travel accessories, and premium lifestyle items. This imbalance becomes even more apparent outside traditional retail. Veterinary care, grooming, boarding, daycare, training, and other non-medical services remain overwhelmingly dog-focused despite the growing economic importance of cats. As more households choose cats for practical lifestyle reasons, these gaps become increasingly difficult to ignore.
Understanding why consumers gravitate towards cats helps explain where future opportunities lie. First and foremost, cat owners love their cats, as much as dog owners love their dogs. Packaged Facts survey results show that the overwhelming majority of cat owners have cats for companionship and because, simply put, they love cats.
That said, the shift towards cat ownership is also being impacted by factors other than affection. Packaged Facts’ February 2026 survey found that the most common reasons owners choose cats instead of dogs include their ease of care, their ability to remain home alone during the day, their quieter nature, and their compatibility with smaller living spaces. Lower-income households are also more likely to cite lower feeding costs and housing limitations as important factors.
These motivations reflect larger societal shifts:
For many consumers, cats fit naturally into these changing lifestyles. Yet many products and services available today still reflect assumptions built around traditional dog ownership. Companies that develop solutions specifically for apartment dwellers, busy professionals, aging pet owners, and multi-cat households may find themselves better aligned with tomorrow’s pet owner than companies simply adapting existing dog products.
Retailers may have perhaps the greatest opportunity to reshape the cat owner experience. The continued growth of e-commerce reflects a desire for convenience but also importantly allows cat owners to access broader assortments than many physical stores provide, particularly for specialized diets, premium litter, furniture, and enrichment products. Subscription programs have become especially valuable for recurring purchases such as food and litter, eliminating the burden of transporting bulky products home.
Brick-and-mortar retailers have an opportunity to respond beyond simply adding more cat products. Rethinking how the category is presented, merchandising around complete care solutions rather than individual products, could encourage larger basket sizes while reinforcing that cats deserve the same level of innovation and attention long afforded to dogs.
The strongest opportunities may lie in categories that have historically received less attention. Healthy aging provides one example. More than half of cat-owning households now include cats seven years of age or older, creating growing demand for products supporting mobility, cognitive health, weight management, arthritis, and chronic disease management. Behavioral health represents another emerging area. Packaged Facts found that while 44% of cat owners express concern about their pet’s anxiety and stress levels, only 11% report purchasing products specifically targeting feline stress and anxiety during the previous year. This gap suggests significant room for both product innovation and consumer education. Similarly, enrichment, smart home technologies, litter systems, wellness monitoring, subscription services, and customized care solutions all offer opportunities to improve the overall ownership experience.
The industry’s future success with cats may depend less on introducing another premium formulation than on understanding how cat owners evaluate the entire ecosystem surrounding their pets. Cats today account for nearly one-third of all pet industry spending while their household population continues to grow. Their owners demonstrate deep emotional attachment, strong commitment to their pets’ health, and a willingness to invest in products that genuinely improve quality of life, all while feeling overlooked by manufacturers, retailers, and service providers.
Companies that rethink merchandising, expand service offerings, develop products around modern feline lifestyles, and curate experiences specifically for cat owners will be well positioned to benefit from one of the pet industry’s most significant long-term opportunities. For decades, innovation in the pet industry largely followed the dog. As cats become an increasingly important driver of market growth, the companies that succeed may be those that stop asking how to adapt dog strategies for cats and instead begin designing pet care experiences with cats in mind.
Want to learn more? Check out Packaged Facts' new report Cats: US Pet Market Trends and Opportunities, 3rd Edition, or visit our Pet Knowledge Center for more pet industry coverage.
About the blogger: Shannon Landry is the Research Director for Packaged Facts and a veteran market research analyst. Landry regularly presents at industry conferences including Petfood Forum, GlobalPETS Forum, the Pet Food Association of Canada’s annual conference, and the National Animal Supplement Council’s annual conference. She also has a bi-monthly column in Pet Food Processing and is a regular contributor to PETS International.
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