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Six signs pets are the economy's new big spenders

Some 82.5 million American households, or 68 percent, include domestic animals. Americans spent an all-time-high $55.7 billion on their pets last year, and spending will inch close to $60 billion this year. Here are six things driving the pet spending boom.

6. Pet industry investments

Nick Ut/AP/File
tore co-owner, Janene Zakrajsek feeds a dog a gourmet meal at the Pussy & Pooch Pet Lifestyle Center store in Beverly Hills, Calif. An industry spokesman said Americans spent an all-time high of $55.7 billion on their pets in 2013 and will creep close to $60 billion this year on Thursday, March 13, 2014.

  • By Lee Smith CNBC

It may be a long time before Fido can invest in Purina stock, but we humans can pick up the slack in the meantime. The industry is sturdy—it kept growing year by year for well over a decade, shaking off the Great Recession like a spaniel shaking off the water from a dip in a pond. In fact, it's been expanding at a steady 4 percent to 6 percent rate a year since the APPA started record-keeping in 1996.This leaves investors with plenty of ways to place long-term bets on pets.

Investment opportunities range from big public companies like PetSmart to Zoetis. In addition, many smaller companies are looking for private-equity investment.

"At some point this industry might slow down, but it's not going to be in 2014," said Carol Frank, managing director and pet-industry specialist for SDR Ventures Investment Bank of Denver. "There are hundreds of new products coming out."

For the full list of reasons pets are becomng a major consumer group, visit CNBC's original story: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101491970

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Mark Sappenfield
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