Americans and their pets

I just read a very eye-opening article in BusinessWeek Magazine entitled The Pet Economy.

August 6, 2007 BusinessWeek Cover Picture

Here are a few "fun facts" from the article:

• Americans now spend $41 billion a year on their pets
• The yearly cost of buying, feeding, and caring for pets is in excess of what Americans spend on the movies ($10.8 billion), playing video games ($11.6 billion), and listening to recorded music ($10.6 billion) combined.
• 42% of dogs now sleep in the same bed as their owners (up from 34% in 1998)
• PetSmart is rolling out new "pet hotels" inside their stores ($31/night) that feature private suites, raised platform beds, TVs airing shows from Animal Planet, "bonebooths" where pets can take calls from their owners, cats get live fish tanks to watch in their rooms, and many other "luxury" features

I'm not here to poke fun at this because I'm as much to blame for this trend as many other Americans. I don't buy designer clothes for my cat but I do buy Iams food and keep him well stocked with toys, catnip, and an assortment of things for him to sharpen his claws on. One day I do intend to buy him a really fancy cat tree, I just haven't seen any for sale in Italy yet. What can I say? Pumpkin is part of the family!