Can Americans be more obsessed with our dogs and cats?
Speaking for myself, the answer is no, I cannot possibly be more obsessed with my two dogs. The reason is simple: Our animal companions give us so much — they’re always happy to see us; they don’t judge; they live in the moment; they don’t speak (more of a con than a pro for me, actually); and on and on.
It’s no secret that pet ownership has increased. “Roughly two-thirds of American homes have at least one pet, up from 56 percent in 1988, according to the American Pet Products Association, and Americans spent $136.8 billion on their pets in 2022, up from $123.6 billion in 2021,” Linda Baker wrote in an article in The New York Times titled “Are We Loving Our Pets to Death?”
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The article is part of an insightful Times special section on pets, which also includes a story on the rising costs of veterinary care — “veterinary prices have soared more than 60 percent over the past decade,” according to the piece — and the affordability of pet insurance — only “about 4 percent of pet owners have insurance, and even for them, the options are limited.”
I can speak from experience on that front. Our younger dog, Benito, has elbow dysplasia, a genetic condition that prevents elbow joints from developing normally. We have pet insurance, but we have spent a few thousand dollars on veterinary care to address his condition.
We’re lucky that we can afford it. But many people cannot afford their own health care bills, let alone their furry friends’ care.
It seems like pet ownership was much simpler years ago, doesn’t it? Now we have dog cloning options, pricey pet psychics, dog immunotherapy, and a growing array of products, businesses, and services to cater to the needs of our dogs and cats (and wild birds! Scroll down to see what I mean).
This spawning cottage industry of pet providers also includes veterinary social workers in animal hospitals to help people manage their grief when their pet dies, something that I find myself thinking about more and more these days. Our older dog Santo is approaching 11. As someone I know said to me recently, I can hear the clock ticking.
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The ultimate (and extremely high) price we pay for all that unconditional love — and every single thing about our beloved animal companions that makes us grow obsessed with them and love them a little too much — is that they’re with us for only a very short time. Not to be dramatic, but I bet most of us animal owners would pay that price a thousand times over.
This is an excerpt from ¡Mira!, a Globe Opinion newsletter from columnist Marcela García. Sign up to get this in your inbox a day early.
Marcela García is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @marcela_elisa and on Instagram @marcela_elisa.
