Influx

As Influx mentioned in a post last week , pets seem to be getting more and more pampered. Apparently, there is no such thing as a pet owner any more, they are now called “pet parents” and parents usually spend lots of money on their offspring,

Retail giant Petsmart is no longer content to fight it out in the low margin world of pet supplies and has moved into a new business with higher margins, pet lodging

PetsHotel offers overnight pet stays for around $30. Pets get their own rooms with televisions, 24 hour care and quality play-time.

Petsmart is now looking to rapidly expand this business.

Boarding kennels have been around since the year dot, but this is the first time that someone has tried to build a single national brand out of the idea.

According to statistics from the American Pet Manufacturers Association (APMA), it looks like its never been a better time to be in the pet business.

- 69 million homes in the US own a pet
- 45% of US households own more than one pet
- The US cat population is 90 million
- The US dog population is 74 million
- Pet expenditure in 2006 is estimated to be $38.4 billion, up from $17 billion in 1994
- The pet food category is estimated to be worth $15.2 billion in 2006