Cat food is a substantial part of the wider pet food economy. In the United States, cat food sales reached $15.33 billion and 2,565,367 tons nationally in 2024. The market is supported by 49 million U.S. households that owned a cat in 2024, while China’s pet food market reached $22.2 billion in the same year. The figures below describe the market’s scale, formats, ingredients, and consumer context.
Contents
- U.S. cat ownership and purchasing
- U.S. cat food market size
- Dry, wet, and product coverage
- Ingredients and supply chains
- Ingredients used in cat food
- China’s pet food market
- China’s cat food channels and trade
U.S. cat ownership and purchasing
The American Pet Products Association’s 2025 Dog & Cat Report counted 49 million U.S. households owning a cat in 2024. Cat-owning households rose from 40 million in 2023 to 49 million in 2024, an increase of 23%. These household figures provide the consumer base behind the U.S. cat food market, although they do not represent the number of individual cats.
The composition of cat-owning households also changed between 2018 and 2024. Single-cat households declined from 64% to 58%. Households with two cats increased by 8%, while households with three or more cats increased by 36%. A larger share of multi-cat households can affect the quantity and variety of food purchased, but the supplied figures do not quantify spending by household type.
The APPA report also records broader engagement with cats. In 2024, 48% of cat owners used some type of training method, up 41% from 2018. Leash ownership reached 32%, up 52% from 2018; 22% owned a harness, up 69%; and 27% owned a non-flea collar, up 50%.
Cat-related purchasing extended beyond food. Twenty-one percent of cat owners hosted a holiday or birthday party for their cats in 2024, a 250% increase from 2018. Thirty-four percent purchased pet-themed merchandise, up 89% over the same period. These statistics describe the broader consumer setting around cat ownership rather than cat food sales themselves.
Food and nutritional products were common purchase categories. Thirty-eight percent of cat owners purchased premium food in 2024, and the same percentage purchased basic food. Nineteen percent purchased mixers or toppers. Twelve percent purchased pre- and probiotic diets. In addition, 34% gave their cats vitamins or supplements, with vitamin and supplement use up 70% from 2018. Multi-vitamins were the most popular supplement type among cat owners in 2024.
U.S. cat food market size
The Pet Food Institute and IFEEDER’s 2025 Pet Food Production and Ingredient Analysis reported total U.S. pet food industry sales of $51.7 billion in 2024. U.S. pet food production totaled 9.8 million tons, and manufacturers used more than 600 safe, nutritious ingredients across U.S. pet food production.
Within that industry, national cat food sales totaled $15.33 billion in 2024 and represented 2,565,367 tons. The value and volume measures describe different aspects of the market: sales value indicates the reported dollar scale, while tonnage indicates the physical quantity sold. Neither figure is a forecast.
The same analysis identified a wide range of ingredients and supply inputs. Pet food manufacturers purchased $13.2 billion in farm products used as ingredients in dog and cat food in 2024. Farmers supplying those ingredients relied on $9.8 billion in materials and services from their suppliers, and those suppliers purchased $7.6 billion in equipment, labor, and services from other industries.
Ingredient demand shifted compared with the 2019 analysis. Demand for marine ingredients increased 95%, while demand for meat and poultry ingredients increased 34%. These are changes versus the earlier analysis period, not year-over-year growth rates for cat food sales.
Dry, wet, and product coverage
Dry food was the largest cat food format by volume in the 2025 PFI analysis. Dry cat food accounted for 62% of cat food volume, but 41% of cat food value. Wet cat food accounted for 46% of cat food value. The difference between the volume and value shares shows that format comparisons depend on whether the measure is physical quantity or sales value.
The ingredient study used a large product set. It selected 1,472 cat food products, including 1,342 unique cat food products, and those products covered 95% by volume of Nielsen data before filtering. After matching and filtering, coverage fell to 84% overall by volume. A total of 173 cat food products could not be matched through online research, and 1,297 products remained in the final study object set.
Private-label products represented 11.4% of cat food products in the study. The analysis standardized 602 pet food ingredients into nutrient groups. Of those standardized ingredients, 275 were animal protein ingredients, 79 were plant carbohydrates, 43 were plant proteins, 22 were plant fats, and 13 were animal fats.
| U.S. cat food measure | 2024 result |
|---|---|
| National sales | $15.33 billion |
| National sales volume | 2,565,367 tons |
| Dry food share of volume | 62% |
| Dry food share of value | 41% |
| Wet food share of value | 46% |
| Final study object set | 1,297 products |
The product-study figures are coverage measures for the PFI analysis, not a complete count of every cat food product sold in the United States. The study’s 84% overall coverage after filtering and its unmatched-product count should be kept in mind when interpreting the ingredient results.
Ingredients and supply chains
Upcycled ingredients were a major part of the 2024 U.S. pet food picture. U.S. pet food makers incorporated more than 3 million tons of upcycled ingredients into dog food and over 1 million tons into cat food. Across pet food, upcycled ingredients accounted for 44% of ingredients by weight, or 4.1 million tons.
The cat-specific buying analysis counted 2,218,528 tons of cat food ingredients. Upcycled ingredients accounted for 1,062,226 tons in that analysis. In the as-sold analysis, upcycled ingredients made up 51% of cat food ingredients by weight. The distinction between the buying analysis and the as-sold analysis matters: the reported measures use different analytical views of the ingredient supply.
The PFI analysis also reported ingredient values as bought for selected cat food inputs. Poultry products were valued at $564 million, animal protein meals and fats at $253 million, and broth at $196 million. These are ingredient-value measures, not retail sales values for finished cat food.
Across U.S. dog and cat food, chicken and chicken products were the most-used ingredient group by weight at 2,208,736 tons. Grains were second at 1,842,677 tons, including 1,587,505 tons of milled grains. Beef and beef products totaled 1,256,276 tons. Marine products totaled 502,013 tons and had the highest ingredient value at $3.5 billion. Beef and beef products had an ingredient value of $2.44 billion.
Ingredients used in cat food
The cat-food buying analysis provides more specific quantities. Beef fat was the top cat-food animal fat at 28,345 tons. Animal fat used in cat food totaled 22,382 tons, while chicken fat used in cat food totaled 14,950 tons.
Plant-related ingredients included 251,533 tons of corn and 200,255 tons of corn protein meal. Soybean meal totaled 72,364 tons. Specialty crops included 7,758 tons of peas, 7,846 tons of dried beet pulp, 4,807 tons of dried peas, and 2,190 tons of lentils.
These ingredient quantities should not be added to the broader national totals without a defined common scope. Some figures describe cat food specifically, while others cover U.S. dog and cat food together. Some refer to ingredient weight and others to ingredient value. Keeping those boundaries explicit prevents the figures from being treated as interchangeable.
China’s pet food market
The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Shanghai Agricultural Trade Office’s 2025 Pet Food Market Update reported that China’s pet food market reached $22.2 billion in 2024. The market grew 9.2% year over year in 2024 and had a 22.4% compound annual growth rate from 2013 to 2024. Current pet food market penetration was around 20%, compared with over 90% in developed European and North American markets.
The USDA’s 2024 update reported a $9.8 billion Chinese cat food consumer market in 2023 and a $10.3 billion dog food consumer market. China’s cat food consumer market grew 7.6% in 2023, compared with 3.9% growth for dog food. The 2025 update reported that China’s cat consumption market grew 10.7% in 2024, while the dog market grew 4.6%.
Average annual spending per pet cat in China was about $28.56 in 2024, up 4.9% from 2023. China’s total pet food production reached 1.6 million tons and increased 9.3% in 2024. Shandong and Hebei contributed over 70% of China’s total pet food production. Tianjin produced 35,500 tons, up 58.5%, while Henan produced 11,800 tons, up 119%.
The consumer data also includes snack purchasing. About 42% of Chinese dog owners bought snacks monthly, compared with 37% of Chinese cat owners. Senior cats increased from 3% to 11% of China’s total cat population, a change that may be relevant to product segmentation, although the supplied statistics do not quantify senior-cat food sales.
China’s cat food channels and trade
China had 93,986 operating pet stores as of December 31, 2024. More than 70,000 were comprehensive pet stores, 16,500 were single-product pet stores, and nearly 7,000 specialized in live pets.
The USDA channel figures show a mixed online and offline market. Tmall accounted for 35% of Chinese online and offline pet sales channels, followed by Taobao at 15%, Pinduoduo at 10%, Douyin/TikTok at 8%, and JD.com at 7%. Pet stores accounted for 13%, pet hospitals for 7%, and other channels for 5%. Prescription pet food sales rose 66% on online channels in China.
China’s total pet food imports under HS 2309.10 were $499.8 million in 2024, down 11.4%. U.S. pet food exports to China reached a record $296.6 million and rose 15% in 2024. China imported $211.3 million of retail packaged dog and cat food from companies registered in Zhejiang Province under general trade. Shanghai-registered companies imported $29.5 million of retail packaged U.S. dog and cat food, while Guangdong-registered companies imported $29.6 million under general trade.
Regulatory registration figures add context to that trade. In 2024, 114 U.S. facilities were registered with GACC, including 19 newly added or renewed since January 2023. MARA approved 255 SKUs of imported U.S. pet dog and cat foods in 2024; those SKUs represented 43.9% of total approvals. These are registration and approval measures, not estimates of future sales.