Cat food statistics show a large U.S. consumer category shaped by millions of households, a substantial cat population, and a wide mix of animal, plant, marine, broth, and water ingredients. The figures below bring together U.S. ownership measures from the AVMA 2024 Sourcebook, ingredient and value measures from the 2025 IFEEDER report, and sales-format data from the 2020 IFEEDER report. Their measurement periods and methods are different, so they should be read as separate snapshots rather than one continuous time series.
Contents
- U.S. cat ownership
- Cat food ingredients by tonnage and value
- Animal, plant, and specialty ingredients
- Dry and wet cat food sales
- Upcycled ingredients
- How the studies measured cat food
U.S. cat ownership
The AVMA 2024 Sourcebook reported that 32.1% of U.S. households owned cats in 2024. The same source counted 42.2 million U.S. cat-owning households and a total U.S. cat population of 73.8 million. These are ownership and population measures for 2024, not a count of cat food purchases.
The average cat-owning household had 1.8 cats in 2024, according to the AVMA 2024 Sourcebook. Average veterinary spending per cat-owning household was $433 per year in that reporting. Veterinary spending is a separate household expenditure measure; it does not represent food spending.
The AVMA 2024 pet ownership survey had 7,539 respondents. The 2024 sourcebook was based on surveys conducted in 2023 and 2024, while its reporting covered cat ownership, cat population, pet-owner demographics, and veterinary expenditures. That timing matters: the sourcebook’s publication year and the survey fieldwork period are not identical.
Together, these figures describe the potential U.S. audience for cat food. They do not establish how often households buy food, how much each cat eats, or what any individual owner pays.
Cat food ingredients by tonnage and value
The 2025 IFEEDER report measured 2,218,528 tons of cat-food ingredients bought for cat foods, with a reported ingredient value of $3.169 billion. Its as-sold analysis used 2,091,444 tons. The distinction between as-bought and as-sold is part of the report’s measurement framework, so the two totals should not be treated as interchangeable.
The largest reported cat-food ingredient groups by tonnage were farm or mill-based ingredients at 862,247 tons, meat and poultry products at 501,936 tons, and animal protein meals and fats at 352,273 tons. Water ingredients totaled 255,470 tons, marine ingredients totaled 181,126 tons, and broth ingredients totaled 65,486 tons.
The value ranking was different from the tonnage ranking. Marine products were the top cat-food ingredient group by value at $1.501 billion. Farm or mill-based ingredients were valued at $655 million, while meat and poultry products were valued at $564 million. Animal protein meals and fats were valued at $253 million, and cat-food broth was valued at $196 million.
| Cat-food ingredient group | Reported tonnage | Reported value |
|---|---|---|
| Farm or mill-based ingredients | 862,247 tons | $655 million |
| Meat and poultry products | 501,936 tons | $564 million |
| Animal protein meals and fats | 352,273 tons | $253 million |
| Water | 255,470 tons | Not separately supplied |
| Marine ingredients | 181,126 tons | $1.501 billion |
| Broth | 65,486 tons | $196 million |
The 2025 report also presented broad as-sold categories. Animal protein-related ingredients accounted for 950,218 tons, plant carbohydrates for 435,962 tons, plant proteins for 343,544 tons, and water for 255,470 tons. Animal fats accounted for 69,724 tons, specialty crops for 32,022 tons, plant fats for 2,711 tons, and plant fats and carbohydrates for 1,793 tons.
Animal, plant, and specialty ingredients
Within the animal-protein grouping in the 2025 IFEEDER report, chicken byproduct meal was the leading reported ingredient at 195,805 tons. Chicken and liver ranked second at 170,041 tons. The third-leading animal-protein ingredient was reported at 74,324 tons; the supplied reporting does not identify that ingredient by name.
Beef fat was the top animal-fat ingredient at 28,345 tons. Animal fat ranked second at 22,382 tons, followed by chicken fat at 14,950 tons. These measurements are ingredient tonnage figures, not retail package sales.
Corn was the top plant-related ingredient at 251,533 tons, followed by corn protein meal at 200,255 tons and soybean meal at 72,364 tons. In the specialty-crop group, dried beet pulp accounted for 7,846 tons, peas for 7,758 tons, dried peas for 4,807 tons, and lentils for 2,190 tons.
The report also compared broad ingredient-group shares across pet food overall. Farm or mill-based products represented 44.5% of overall pet-food ingredient tonnage and 25.7% of overall ingredient value. Meat and poultry products represented 26.5% of tonnage and 35.9% of value. Animal protein meals and fats represented 16.9% of tonnage and 7.8% of value.
Marine products represented 5.4% of overall pet-food ingredient tonnage but 26.5% of overall ingredient value. Broth represented 2% of tonnage and 4.2% of value. These overall pet-food shares are broader than the cat-food-specific tonnage and value figures above, so they should not be used as cat-food-only percentages.
Dry and wet cat food sales
The 2020 IFEEDER report recorded total cat-food sales of 1.85 million tons, valued at $6.37 billion. That is a 2020 snapshot and should not be combined directly with the 2025 ingredient totals, which use a different reporting period and focus on ingredients rather than the same sales measure.
Dry cat food represented 65% of cat-food volume in the 2020 IFEEDER report. It represented 45% of cat-food value. Wet cat food represented 44% of cat-food value. The supplied figures do not provide a complete matching volume share for wet food or a complete value split for every other format.
This difference between volume share and value share is useful when reading category statistics. A format can account for a larger share of physical volume than of value, while another format can hold a comparatively larger value share. The reported dry and wet percentages are category shares from the 2020 study, not feeding recommendations or measures of nutritional quality.
Upcycled ingredients
Upcycled ingredients were a major part of the cat-food results in the 2025 IFEEDER report. Cat food used 1,062,226 tons of upcycled ingredients, valued at $830 million. Upcycled ingredients made up 51% of cat-food ingredients on an as-sold basis, while other ingredients made up 49% on that same basis.
Across pet food overall, the 2025 report counted 4.1 million tons of upcycled ingredients. They represented 44% of total pet-food ingredients and were valued at $3.4 billion overall. These overall pet-food figures are not substitutes for the cat-food-specific totals; they describe the broader pet-food category.
The 2025 report’s comparison with its prior study also showed changes in the ingredient list. It identified 364 ingredients that were new versus the prior study. Those ingredients accounted for 532,671 tons on an as-sold basis and 642,398 tons on an as-bought basis in the 2025 study.
The report said 41 ingredients from the prior study were not present by name in the current study. Those 41 prior-study ingredients accounted for 31,663 tons in the earlier study. It also said 237 ingredients were present in both studies; those shared ingredients accounted for 194,425 fewer tons on an as-sold basis in the current study.
Because ingredient names and study measures changed between reports, these comparisons indicate reported changes in the studies’ ingredient records. They do not, by themselves, prove that a particular ingredient disappeared from every cat food or that a particular product formula changed.
How the studies measured cat food
The 2020 IFEEDER report used a Nielsen-based study that found 18,197 cat-food records. From those records, the study selected 633 unique cat-food products for further analysis. Those 633 products accounted for 95% of cat-food volume in the Nielsen data.
In that same 2020 study, 19.6% of cat-food products were private label. The study found 65 non-private-label cat-food products with approximate matches for ingredient analysis. This means the product-selection and ingredient-analysis stages did not cover the same number of products.
The 2025 IFEEDER report separately described 2,218,528 tons of cat-food ingredients for as-bought analysis and a value of $3.169 billion. It also reported that cat-food ingredients were distributed across California, Texas, and Florida as leading consumption states. The supplied report does not provide state-by-state tonnage or value, so those states should be understood as identified leading consumption states rather than ranked quantities.
The report reviewed six fresh cat-food brands and said their sales totaled 4,344 tons. That figure describes the six brands included in the review, not the entire fresh cat-food category. Across the statistics above, the most important context is the measurement unit: households, cats, veterinary dollars, ingredient tons, ingredient value, product records, and category sales each answer a different question about life with cats and the food they eat.