This Cute Pet

TOTAL PET OWNERSHIP- the American Veterinary Medical Association's 2007 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook. Pet ownership tends to be higher in wide-open states -- especially those out West -- and lower in heavily urban states, according to the AVMA.

Ownership by percentage of households with pets:

Rank State Pct.
1 Vermont 74.5%
2 Idaho 73.4%
3 Oregon 73.1%
48 Maryland 50.2%
49 New Jersey 49.5%
50 New York 49.2%


HOUSEHOLDS WITH DOGS
Rank State Pct.
1 Wyoming 56.0%
2 Oklahoma 55.8%
3 New Mexico 54.5%
48 New Jersey 27.4%
49 New York 26.1%
50 Massachusetts 23.3%

HOUSEHOLDS WITH CATS
Rank State Pct.
1 Maine 56.4%
2 Vermont 53.3%
3 Oregon 52.2%
48 Illinois 26.9%
49 New Jersey 26.8%
50 Louisiana 23.3%

According to the 2007 "U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographic Sourcebook" (Sourcebook) published by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) there are 43 million dog owning households compared with 37.5 million cat owning households.

There are 81.7 million cats compared to 72 million dogs. Women were the primary caregivers to most of them. About 64% of all pet-owning households owned more than one pet, and those pet owners spent a total of $24.5 billion on veterinary care in 2006.