Americans lavish $20 billion a year on their pets, Barron's says.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 1996--Pampering the family pet has become a $20 billion industry in the U.S., Barron's reports in its April 1 issue. Barron's says pet owners are shelling out for everything from gourmet foods to hip-replacement operations. Pet products now run the gamut from car safety seats to fashion items like press-on toenails. Even surprise birthday parties for Fido. And the spending doesn't end with the death of a pet. Grieving families have been known to arrange expensive funerals complete with maudlin maud·lin adj. Effusively or tearfully sentimental: "displayed an almost maudlin concern for the welfare of animals" Aldous Huxley. See Synonyms at sentimental. music and high-priced wooden caskets. Barron's pegs the rapid rise in pet care spending (as much as 15% a year) to shifting demographics and changing lifestyles. Oddly enough, the magazine reports, this increase in spending may be linked to the shrinking size of the average American family American Family is a photographic artwork exhibition by Renée Cox. See also
Pet food sales in the U.S. -- much of it premium food -- now total $10 billion a year (well above the $7 billion spent worldwide on baby food). Barron's says that's whetting the appetite of some big human-food companies: Nestle bought the Alpo pet food business and H.J. Heinz purchased Quaker Oats' North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. pet food operations. Other players in the premium pet food business include Ralston-Purina and Mars, the closely held A phrase used to describe the ownership, management, and operation of a corporation by a small group of people. In a closely held corporation, the same people often act as shareholders, directors, and officers, and no outside investors exist. candy giant. Americans are spending gobs of money to keep their pets healthy. In any of the bigger animal hospitals, you might see doctors on staff specializing in oncology, opthamology, dermatology and neurology. It is now pretty routine to hear of dogs and cats being given CAT scans and blood transfusions, not to mention open-heart surgery open-heart surgery Any surgical procedure opening the heart and exposing one or more of its chambers, most often to repair valve disease or correct congenital heart malformations (see congenital heart disease). , pacemakers, kidney transplants and orthodontic orthodontic (ôr´th  dän´tik),adj braces to correct overbites. And it's not uncommon to hear of dogs and cats being treated with the anti-depressant drug, Prozac. The new opportunities in veterinary medicine veterinary medicine, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of animals. An early interest in animal diseases is found in ancient Greek writings on medicine. Veterinary medicine began to achieve the stature of a science with the organization of the first school in the are spurring growth in yet another pet market, medical insurance. A California company currently writes policies covering 75,000 dogs and cats. Barron's calls pet care one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. economy -- something investors might want to explore sinking their canines into. Barron's, the business and financial weekly, is published by Dow Jones & Co., which also publishes other periodicals, The Wall Street Journal, electronic business information services See Information Systems. , including Dow Jones Telerate, and the Ottaway group of community newspapers. CONTACT: Lawrence G. Budgar, 212/416-2606 |
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