For Fido And Friends, Times Aren't So 'Ruff'
When the going gets tough, the tough have shown they become serious softies about their furry and feathered friends.
Despite the recession, this year Americans are expected to increase their spending on pets to $45.4 billion, up $2.2 billion from last year, according to the American Pet Products Association. Meanwhile, over the same period of time, retail spending on human luxuries, like those bought at department stores, are down double-digit percentages.
Pet products and services are experiencing a financial boomlet in part because of changing attitudes toward pets — as well as a growing industry marketing a broader array of services designed to mimic the luxuries humans offer themselves.
Drug companies are chasing a lucrative market for veterinary drugs. Doggie spas and day cares are catering to baby boomers and childless couples with disposable income. Catalogs are offering more safety and specialized care products. And television shows like National Geographic's Dog Whisperer and movies like Bolt are telegraphing that pets should play a vaunted role in family life.
"During rough economic times, people really look inward, to what's important — that being their family and, in this case, pets as well," says Paul Mann, chief executive of Fetch Pet Care, a national pet-sitting and dog-walking company.
Fetch has seen its business increase nearly 200 percent during the recession — perhaps even because of it. More people are working longer hours to make up for co-workers who have been laid off, Mann says, and find themselves in need of pet-sitting and dog walking.
And with unemployment rising, the people spending more time at home — getting more face time with their pets — might be more inclined to make pet product purchases.
A Member Of The Family
Andrea Doughty is a Washington, D.C., resident and lifelong pet owner who harbors great love for her lanky gray deerhound, Hunter. She admits spending far more on his care than she had on pets past, in part because of a greater general awareness she has now for things like nutrition.
"I try to feed him food that's — if not organic — raised all natural," Doughty says. Hunter feasts daily on chicken carcasses, as well as premium kibble. Doughty says she thinks about it as an exchange of luxury — in down times, giving the dog an extra treat or two is far cheaper than, say, taking the family to the Caribbean.
And when Hunter recently had a seizure, which prompted a $500 vet visit and a subsequent MRI scan that cost several thousand more, Doughty says she didn't think twice about plunking down that kind of money.
"He's a member of our family, you know" she says.
Speaking personally, I do know. We are among the 62 percent of U.S. households that live with pets. Our cat, Phoebe, and black Labrador retriever, Lucy, have incurred their share of both discretionary and uninsured medical costs.
When Phoebe started losing weight last year, I began feeding her a premium line of canned food. She liked it, and somehow I never stopped. And after a dog trainer recommended all-natural food for Lucy, we abided.
French Food For The French Bulldog?
Our penchant for buying things for our pets has landed us on every pet catalog's mailing list, from Orvis to FetchDog, to a company called In The Company Of Dogs. These catalogs offer a panoply of products I recall not being on the market when I was a child — including things like pet car seats, programmable feeders and air freshener-like plug-ins that emit pheromones that calm anxious puppies.
Despite trying to adhere to a stricter household budget plan we dubbed "chill on the bill," we occasionally place orders for new dog collars and — I confess — the plug-in pheromone thing.
But Mike McDermott has clearly surpassed us. McDermott squires a French bulldog named Mac around our neighborhood. Mac and our dog Lucy are best friends.
McDermott — whom we like to call Mac Daddy — recently spent $2,400, plus the cost of a speeding ticket, for an emergency room visit after having given Mac a lamb bone that prompted the dog to vomit blood.
Mac recovered nicely.
"We considered ourselves lucky," says McDermott, who also cooks chicken for Mac every night.
But that's not all.
"On our Sunday morning walks we go to the Praline French restaurant and I always get him a quiche, because he's a French bulldog so he can have his Quiche Lorraine on Sunday morning," McDermott tells me.
I insinuate McDermott might be insane.
"No, no," he says. "I think I'm like a very normal dog owner."
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RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
Americans may be scrimping and saving on some things, but they're spending more than ever on their pets. The American Pet Products Association says pet owners will spend more than 45 billion dollars this year, up more than two billion from last year.
NPR's Yuki Noguchi has this report.
(Soundbite of cat crying)
YUKI NOGUCHI: Meet Phoebe, our beloved black and white cat whose ear infection recently set us back $140. Phoebe also turns her nose up at anything that's not Gourmet Classics.
(Soundbite of can snapped open)
NOGUCHI: She prefers this premium canned food but only in the seafood and tomato bisque flavor. We are, commercially speaking, complete suckers for our pets, a fact definitely not lost on the pet catalog firms. Every day we receive new ones from Orvis, FetchDog, and In the Company of Dogs.
Like many families these days, we try to abide by a household austerity plan. In spite of this, our black Lab, Lucy, gets regular shipments of dog beds, special training collars and nylon chew toys. It turns out we are not alone in our countercyclical spending.
(Soundbite of dog barking)
NOGUCHI: At a Washington, D.C. dog park, I encounter Hunter, a 5-year-old Deerhound. He stands a waist high and has the face of a Dr. Seuss character. Hunter feasts daily on chicken carcasses and specialty food courtesy of Andrea Doughty who says these days she's comfortable spending more time and money on Hunter.
Ms. ANDREA DOUGHTY: It's a heck of a lot cheaper to maybe buy your dog a few extra treats and take them to the park or, you know, than it is to go to the Caribbean.
NOGUCHI: Treats are relatively inexpensive compared to human luxuries like vacations and clothing. Also with unemployment on the rise, people are spending more time at home giving their pets more face time. And pet industry people say pets have become the central focus among baby boomers whose kids have left home or among young professionals who are delaying having children.
Norms have also changed as pet ownership has increased in the last two decades. The bigger market has spawned a bigger universe of pet products and services, like car seats and electronic toothbrushes for pets, or organic foods, even plug-in air centers that calm nervous puppies.
One of the most significant growth areas include animal medical services. Doughty says Hunter recently had a seizure, and the vet bill came to $500.
Ms. DOUGHTY: They recommended he needed to see a neurologist. Hunter had an MRI, and that costs a couple of thousand dollars.
NOGUCHI: Did you flinch? Did you think twice?
Ms. DOUGHTY: No. No. You know, he's a member of our family, you know?
NOGUCHI: Pet industries are starting to mimic human industries in many ways. Drug companies are investing in veterinary medicines and that, in turn, has spawned a growing market for pet health insurance.
Mr. PAUL MANN (Chief executive, Fetch Pet Care): We provide a lot of services for humans and now the services for pets are starting to catch up.
NOGUCHI: Paul Mann is chief executive of Fetch Pet Care, a national pet-sitting and dog-walking business. He says business has increased nearly 200 percent despite the recession, partly because people have had to go back to work and partly because when the going gets tough the tough become total softies about their pets.
Mr. MANN: During rough economic times, people really look inward to what's important, that being their family and, in this case, pets as well.
NOGUCHI: No pet I've ever met has it better than Mac.
(Soundbite of dog snarling)
NOGUCHI: Mac lives a few doors down and is our dog, Lucy's, best buddy. Mike McDermott is the man we call Mac Daddy. Technically, he's Mac's owner but it's clear who's really in control.
Mr. MIKE MCDERMOTT: On our Sunday morning walks, we go to the praline French restaurant and I always get him a quiche, because he's a French bulldog so he can have his quiche Lorraine on Sunday morning.
NOGUCHI: Do you consider yourself slightly insane?
Mr. MCDERMOTT: No, no. I think I'm like a very normal dog owner.
NOGUCHI: Yuki Noguchi. NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
