Is Love On The Wane? Valentine Spending on Pets is Down. Really?

Personal Finance site Finder.com conducted research to  find out what Americans will be spending on their pets this Valentine’s Day and surprisingly, its less than last year.

In fact, of those who plan to spending money on Valentine’s Day, just 11.0% will treat their dogs to something special — that’s nearly a third of the pooches gifted last year (28%).

It doesn’t look so great for cats either. Only 6.5% of our feline friends will receive a gift on Valentine’s Day, compared with 17% that enjoyed presents last year.

When you consider how much we plan to spend, cats again get the short end of the stick for Valentine’s: an average $32.48 will be spent on our dogs with only $29.01 on our kitties.

Women are the most generous when it comes to spending money on their pets, with 11.8% purchasing for their dogs and 7.5% for their cats. In contrast, 10.2% of men will be buying for their dogs and 5.6% on cats.

Interestingly, while less people are purchasing presents for their pets, collectively they’re spending much more. An estimated $822.9 million is expected to be spent – that’s $69 million more than what we spent on our pets last year ($753 million).

According to Jennifer McDermott,a  Consumer Advocate for Finder.com less cats will also see presents on February 14 this year than last too, with the amount dropping from 6.5% compared to 17% last year.

“Surprisingly though, despite the drop in volume, expenditure has increased and overall, more money will be shelled out on our furry loved ones than last year which makes it safe to say America’s love for their furry family members is still strong.”

Whew …

So what are you planning to gift your fur kids this year?