Pet toy purchases sit inside a much larger U.S. pet-care market. The American Pet Products Association (APPA) reported $158 billion in U.S. pet-industry expenditures for 2025, while its purchasing-behavior research identifies pet food, treats, and toys as the three leading categories bought online. The figures below place pet toy statistics in that broader context, with measurement years and projections kept separate.
Contents
- The U.S. pet market around toy purchases
- How many households own dogs and cats
- Where pet owners buy products
- Online purchasing and the role of toys
- Dog and cat household patterns
- Care trends that shape product choices
The U.S. pet market around toy purchases
Pet toys are one part of a market that spans food, supplies, veterinary care, and services. APPA’s 2026 State of the Industry press release reported $158 billion in U.S. pet-industry expenditures in 2025, an increase of 3.7%. APPA projected $165 billion in expenditures for 2026 and said full-year 2026 growth was expected to be near 4.4%. Of that projected growth, APPA estimated roughly 2% would be driven by inflation.
APPA’s industry trends and stats page reported $152 billion in U.S. pet-industry expenditures for 2024 and listed the following 2024 categories:
| 2024 category | Reported spending |
|---|---|
| Pet food and treats | $68.3 billion |
| Supplies, live animals, and over-the-counter medicine | $34.4 billion |
| Veterinary care and product sales | $41.0 billion |
| Other services | $14.3 billion |
The same APPA page projected 2026 spending of $69.7 billion for pet food and treats, $35.6 billion for supplies, live animals, and over-the-counter medicine, $42.4 billion for veterinary care and product sales, and $14.9 billion for other services. Toys belong most naturally with the supplies category, but the supplied APPA figures do not provide a standalone U.S. toy-sales total.
There is also a year-label distinction in APPA’s published figures. The industry trends page listed projected 2025 U.S. pet-industry sales of $157 billion, while its page for 2025 actual sales reported 2024 U.S. pet-industry spending at $158 billion. These figures should be read as reported or projected values from different APPA releases and page contexts, not combined into a single growth calculation.
How many households own dogs and cats
The potential audience for dog and cat toys is large. APPA’s 2026 State of the Industry press release said 95 million U.S. households owned at least one pet in 2025. Dog ownership reached 53% of U.S. households, up from 51% in 2024. APPA also reported 71 million U.S. households owned dogs in 2025, with the increase representing about 4 million additional dog-owning households year over year.
Cat ownership reached 39% of U.S. households in 2025. APPA reported that 53 million U.S. households owned cats in that year, and that cat ownership increased 5% year over year. These household counts help explain why toys are a recurring pet-product consideration across both canine and feline households, even though the supplied research does not break out toy ownership or toy spending by species.
Ownership growth was not uniform across pet types. APPA reported that Gen X dog ownership increased 12% year over year and Gen X cat ownership increased 8%. It also reported year-over-year increases of 25% for bird ownership, 20% for reptile ownership, and 17% for freshwater fish ownership. Those figures describe ownership changes, not toy purchases, but they show that pet-product demand extends beyond dogs and cats.
APPA’s 2025 Dog & Cat Report press release provided an earlier cat-ownership reference point: 49 million U.S. households owned a cat in 2024, and cat ownership increased 23% in 2024. Because the release measures a different year from the 2026 State of the Industry figures, the two reported percentages should not be treated as the same annual comparison.
Where pet owners buy products
Shopping behavior is one of the clearest available indicators for how pet toys reach buyers. APPA’s purchasing behaviors of pet owners in 2024 reported that nearly 80% of all dollars spent on pet care came from omni-shoppers, meaning buyers using both online and in-store channels. The same APPA research said 57% of buyers shop both in-store and online, 39.7% buy exclusively in-store, and 3.35% buy exclusively online.
APPA also reported that 36% of pet owners increased their online purchases in the past year. This matters for toy discovery because APPA identified pet food, treats, and toys as the top three items purchased online. The result is a direct category-specific statistic for pet toys, although it does not state toys’ individual share of online orders or total online spending.
At the end of 2023, more than 113 million households were buying pet products, according to APPA’s purchasing-behavior research. APPA reported an average value of $738 per pet-product buyer at that time, up 7.4% from the previous year. That average covers pet products broadly rather than toys specifically, so it should not be used as an estimate of average toy spending.
| Shopping measure | APPA figure | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Buyers shopping in-store and online | 57% | Purchasing behaviors of pet owners in 2024 |
| Buyers purchasing exclusively in-store | 39.7% | Purchasing behaviors of pet owners in 2024 |
| Buyers purchasing exclusively online | 3.35% | Purchasing behaviors of pet owners in 2024 |
| Pet owners increasing online purchases | 36% | Past year, reported in 2024 research |
| Average value per pet-product buyer | $738 | End of 2023 |
The channel figures describe buyer behavior rather than product performance. They indicate that a pet toy can be encountered through a blended shopping journey, while the category ranking establishes that toys are among the leading online pet-product purchases reported by APPA.
Online purchasing and the role of toys
The strongest direct pet toy statistic in the supplied APPA research is the category ranking: pet food, treats, and toys were the top three items purchased online. This places toys alongside two repeat-purchase categories, but the source does not specify the order within those three categories, the percentage of buyers purchasing toys, or the dollar value of online toy sales.
Brand recognition may influence how some owners evaluate products. APPA reported that 73% of Gen Z dog owners consider brand name important when purchasing pet products. The corresponding figure was 69% among Gen Z cat owners. Among Millennials, 67% of dog owners and 70% of cat owners considered brand name important.
These percentages apply to pet products generally, not toys alone. They can therefore describe the purchasing environment for toys without proving that a particular toy brand is preferred. They also show a difference by owner generation and pet type:
| Owner group | Brand name important |
|---|---|
| Gen Z dog owners | 73% |
| Gen Z cat owners | 69% |
| Millennial dog owners | 67% |
| Millennial cat owners | 70% |
For readers comparing toys, the available statistics support attention to shopping channel and brand consideration, but they do not support claims about which toy designs, materials, prices, or features sell best. No such product-level breakdown was reported in the supplied APPA figures.
Dog and cat household patterns
The number of pets in a household can affect the setting in which toys are used. APPA’s 2025 Dog & Cat Report press release said single-cat households fell from 64% in 2018 to 58% in 2024. Over the same period, households with two cats increased by 8%, while households with three or more cats increased by 36%.
The release also reported that 48% of cat owners use some type of training method with their cat. In related ownership figures, 32% of cat owners had a leash, 22% owned a harness, and 27% owned a non-flea collar. These are accessory and behavior measures rather than toy measures, but they show that cat-product ownership includes activity, handling, and training-related items in addition to play products.
Cat owners also reported celebration and merchandise behaviors. APPA said 21% of cat owners hosted a holiday or birthday party for their cats in 2024, and 34% purchased pet-themed merchandise. Neither figure identifies toy purchases, so they should not be read as toy-demand rates. They do indicate that cat ownership can include discretionary and lifestyle-oriented spending beyond basic care.
Dog owners likewise reported activity connected to daily life. APPA said 53% of dog owners take their dogs on foot for daily errands at least once a week. Among owners who travel with their dogs, 74% traveled by plane in the last year and 87% traveled by car in the last year. These measures describe mobility, not play frequency, but they provide context for the range of situations in which owners may think about pet products.
Care trends that shape product choices
APPA’s 2024 Dog and Cat Owner Insight Report recorded substantial growth in calming-product use since 2018: 168% for dogs and 174% for cats. In 2024, 59% of dog owners and 52% of cat owners said they used some type of calming product.
Among dog owners who give supplements, 15% used an anxiety or calming supplement in 2024, compared with 4% in 2018. These figures concern calming products and supplements, not calming toys. They should not be used to estimate the share of owners buying enrichment or comfort toys.
Weight-related measures were also reported. APPA said 12% of dog owners and 17% of cat owners said their veterinarian considers their pet obese. It reported that 11% of dog owners and 13% of cat owners had prescribed weight-loss diets for their pets.
Vitamin and supplement use reached 50% of dog owners and 32% of cat owners in 2024, according to the same APPA insight report. Taken together, these figures show a pet-care market in which owners make purchases for behavior, wellbeing, and health as well as play. They provide useful context for pet toy statistics, while the available APPA data still leaves toy-specific sales, ownership, replacement rates, and product-type preferences unquantified.