Pet owners are increasingly willing to make sacrifices for their animals, but rising medical costs are putting that devotion to the test.

Among the more than 1,500 dog and cat owners surveyed by Money and Healthy Paws Pet Insurance in a recent poll, 77% said they consider their pet to be “like a child.” Yet 76% said there is a price point at which they would consider declining a veterinarian’s recommended treatment.

This contradiction highlights the dilemma modern pet owners face: a desire to provide their pets with the best possible care, but not always having the financial resources to make that happen.

The issue stems from several factors. First, the good news: veterinary medicine is more specialized and advanced. Our pets can get treatment at specialty oncology or cardiology clinics, and there are more treatment options for illnesses that were a death sentence in the past.

Then there’s the less-than-ideal: everyday supplies like a small box of puppy pads or a 15-pound bag of kibble, are more expensive than they were just a few years ago. Veterinary care, in particular, has become dramatically more expensive, with costs skyrocketing past the rate of inflation that’s already crippling the purchasing power of everyday Americans.

By some estimates, the price of veterinary care alone has jumped 60% in the last 10 years, and household incomes aren’t keeping up. For the 95 million U.S. households that own a pet, this increase marks a breaking point that has nothing to do with love and everything to do with financial constraints.

More than half of pet owners polled by Money and Healthy Paws said an unplanned vet bill under $1,000 would cause “significant financial stress,” and nearly one in five said any surprise vet expense, regardless of size, would strain their finances — even among high-income households. Nearly half (44%) of pet owners earning more than $100,000 a year said a vet bill below $2,000 would be stressful.

Nearly a quarter of pet owners rely on credit to pay for vet care, a strategy that works only as long as they can keep up with payments. But charging a sudden and very expensive vet bill to a high-interest credit card can quickly trap pet owners in a cycle of debt: a March 17, 2026 consumer credit analysis from The Century Foundation and Project Borrowers found that over 40% of U.S. adults struggle to pay their credit cards bills each month.

Without access to savings, insurance or affordable financing options, many pet owners may soon find themselves skipping important routine care, or second-guessing a trip to the ER when their pet needs critical care. In that reality, the cost of caring for a beloved pet becomes a luxury fewer Americans can afford.

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