Americans are set to spend more on their pets than they have since 2001

Inspired by this article by the New York Times, in which home decor and consumer news writer Michelle Higgins tells us about ways to spy on your dogs, I took a look at how much Americans spend on their domestic animals each year.

Americans are set to spend more on their pets in 2018 then they have in any of the past 16 years. Collectively, Americans are expected to spend more than $72 billion this year according to data from the American Pet Products Association. The biggest increase comes from a jump in vet costs.

Though there was a nearly $5 billion dip in spending in 2006, total spend has risen every year since then. And spending in each of the five categories the APPA tracks is expected to increase in 2018, except live animal sales, which is expected to stay about the same as 2017. Other services, including grooming, boarding, training, pet sitting, pet exercise and pet walking, are expected to remain about the same as 2017 as well.

I made a simple line graph with D3.js to show the trend.