Cat veterinary statistics show both how common cats are in U.S. homes and how varied their health risks can be. In 2024, 42.2 million U.S. households owned cats, representing 32.1% of households, while the national cat population reached 73.8 million. The figures below cover veterinary spending, infectious disease, skin and respiratory conditions, dental health, parasites, rabies, blood types, and body weight.
Contents
- U.S. cat ownership and veterinary spending
- Skin, asthma, and respiratory health
- Coronavirus and feline leukemia statistics
- Bartonella, FIV, rabies, and bite risks
- Heartworm and dental disease
- Blood types and transfusion considerations
- Weight and preventive veterinary care
U.S. cat ownership and veterinary spending
The 2024 AVMA U.S. pet ownership statistics report that 32.1% of U.S. households owned cats in 2024. That amounted to 42.2 million cat-owning households. The same source counted 73.8 million cats in the United States, and cat-owning households averaged 1.8 cats per pet-owning household.
The CDC Cats page gives a separate broad estimate: nearly 40 million U.S. households have pet cats. Because the estimates come from different sources and measurement approaches, they should not be treated as a single survey result.
Average veterinary spending per cat-owning household was $433 per year in 2024, according to the AVMA U.S. pet ownership statistics. The 2024 AVMA Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook draws on 2023 and 2024 survey data. Its 2024 pet ownership survey had 7,539 respondents, while the 2023 survey had 6,979 respondents. These respondent counts describe the surveys behind the sourcebook; they are not counts of cats or veterinary patients.
| U.S. cat ownership measure | Reported figure | Period or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Households owning cats | 32.1% | 2024 |
| Cat-owning households | 42.2 million | 2024 |
| U.S. cat population | 73.8 million | 2024 |
| Average cats per pet-owning household | 1.8 | 2024 |
| Average veterinary spending per cat-owning household | $433 per year | 2024 |
The ownership numbers help explain why relatively uncommon conditions can still affect many animals nationally. They also show why household-level spending is different from an individual cat’s medical cost: the AVMA figure is an average for the cat-owning household.
Skin, asthma, and respiratory health
Feline skin diseases affect between 6% and 15% of feline patients, according to Cornell Feline Skin Diseases. Within Cornell dermatology patients, 22% had evidence of two skin diseases, and 6% had three distinct skin diseases. Those percentages describe the dermatology-patient group, not every cat. Cornell also notes that the skin can comprise up to one-quarter of a cat’s body weight.
Feline asthma affects between 1% and 5% of cats, according to Cornell Feline Asthma: What You Need To Know. A separate Cornell estimate, in Feline Asthma: A Risky Business for Many Cats, places the number of cats in American homes suffering from acute or chronic asthma at 800,000 or more. That estimate is about 1% of the nation’s domestic feline population. The two percentages and the national estimate are not interchangeable: one is a reported prevalence range, while the other is an estimate of affected cats in American homes.
These figures put respiratory signs into perspective without making a diagnosis from symptoms alone. A cat with recurring coughing or breathing difficulty needs veterinary assessment because the reported asthma range covers a broad population and does not identify the cause of an individual cat’s signs.
Coronavirus and feline leukemia statistics
Feline infectious peritonitis, or FIP, arises in about 10% of cats infected with feline enteric coronavirus, according to Cornell Feline Infectious Peritonitis. The statistic describes progression among infected cats; it is not the percentage of all cats that develop FIP.
Feline coronavirus exposure is more common in crowded settings. Merck’s FIP overview reports FCoV seroprevalence of about 15% in single-cat households and free-roaming cats. In high-density environments such as multicat households, catteries, shelters, rescues, and hoarding situations, seroprevalence is about 50% to 90%. Among affected cats, FCoV infection progresses to FIP in about 5% to 12%.
Feline leukemia virus, or FeLV, is reported by Cornell Feline Leukemia Virus to affect between 2% and 3% of all cats in the United States and Canada. Merck reports that approximately 3% of U.S. cats were infected with FeLV in 2010. In a large 2017 study covering the United States and Canada, FeLV prevalence was 3.1%.
| FeLV prevalence measure | Reported figure | Geography and period |
|---|---|---|
| All cats | 2%–3% | United States and Canada; Cornell report |
| U.S. cats | About 3% | 2010 |
| Study prevalence | 3.1% | U.S. and Canada; 2017 study |
| Veterinary-hospital cats | 2.3% | Europe; 2019 prospective study |
| Veterinary-hospital cats | 5.5% | Southern Europe; 2019 study |
| Veterinary-hospital cats | 0.7% | Northern Europe; 2019 study |
The 2019 European prospective study reported overall FeLV viremia prevalence of 2.3% among cats visiting veterinary hospitals, with 5.5% in southern Europe and 0.7% in northern Europe. These results are tied to veterinary-hospital populations and the study’s geography; they should not be read as a current worldwide rate.
Bartonella, FIV, rabies, and bite risks
Bartonella henselae bacteremia has been documented in 30% to 40% of domestic and adopted shelter cats, according to CDC Veterinary Guidance for Bartonellosis. Kittens and cats younger than 2 years have a higher likelihood of Bartonella infection than older cats. No vaccines are currently available for cats against Bartonella.
The CDC Cats page reports that about 20% to 80% of reported cat bites and scratches become infected. The broad range reflects reported injuries and infection outcomes rather than a guarantee that any particular scratch will become infected.
Cornell On the Lookout for FIV reports that about 4% of all feral cats in the United States are infected with FIV. This is a feral-cat estimate and should not be applied automatically to indoor cats or the entire U.S. cat population.
Cats are the most commonly affected domestic animal in U.S. rabies reports, with approximately 200 to 300 cases each year, according to CDC Rabies Outbreak in an Urban, Unmanaged Cat Colony. More than 90% of reported animal rabies cases in the United States occur in wildlife, according to CDC About Rabies. At least 7 out of 10 U.S. rabies deaths are linked to bats. More than 100,000 Americans receive rabies vaccination after a potential exposure each year, and more than 3 out of 4 Americans live in a community where animals carry rabies.
Around the world, domestic dogs cause more than 95% of the estimated 70,000 human rabies deaths each year, according to CDC About Rabies. For a healthy dog, cat, or ferret that exposes a person or pet to rabies, CDC Information for Veterinarians recommends approximately 10 days of confinement and observation. Rabies exposure decisions require public-health or veterinary guidance rather than informal risk estimates.
Heartworm and dental disease
Heartworm disease in cats usually involves only 1 to 3 worms, according to Merck Heartworm Disease in Cats. Cats are somewhat more resistant to heartworm infection than dogs, but they are more likely to die of heartworm infection than dogs. Cats are not a natural host of heartworms, according to FDA Keep the Worms Out of Your Pet’s Heart.
The bloodstream findings also differ sharply between species. Only 20% of cats with heartworm disease have microfilariae in the bloodstream, compared with 80% to 90% of dogs with heartworm disease. A negative finding in a cat therefore does not carry the same meaning as the corresponding finding in a dog.
Dental disease is widespread early in life. Merck Periodontal Disease in Small Animals reports that up to 70% of cats have some level of periodontal disease by age 2. The “up to” wording indicates an upper reported level, not a claim that 70% of every cat population has the condition.
Blood types and transfusion considerations
Cats have four known blood types—A, B, AB, and mic—according to Merck Blood Groups and Blood Transfusions in Cats. In the United States, about 99% of cats are type A. Type B queens have especially strong anti-A antibodies.
Blood-type distribution and antibody strength matter in transfusion medicine. The 99% figure is a U.S. population statistic, while the presence of multiple blood types means that a veterinarian still has to treat blood compatibility as an individual medical issue. A population majority does not remove the need for appropriate testing before transfusion.
Weight and preventive veterinary care
In a 2022 survey, 60% of cats in the United States were overweight or obese, according to FDA Is My Dog or Cat a Healthy Weight? The FDA’s One Health: It’s for All of Us also cites an Association for Pet Obesity Prevention survey in which 59% of dogs and 60% of cats were overweight or obese in the United States.
The two cat figures are close, but they come from the stated 2022 survey and the cited Association for Pet Obesity Prevention survey rather than one clearly identical measurement. They should be presented as separate reported results, not combined into a new average.
Taken together, these cat veterinary statistics show why routine care has to cover more than one category of risk. Common problems include periodontal disease and excess weight, while infectious disease rates vary by age, environment, geography, and whether the population consists of household cats, shelter cats, feral cats, or veterinary-hospital patients. The figures also show why source, measurement period, and population definition matter whenever a percentage is used to understand a cat’s health.