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According to a quick business article in the New York Times, Americans spend $40.8 billion on their pets in 2007. That number is up from $29.5 billion just five years ago. We lavish more money, time, attention, and love than ever on our little critters, which includes 88.3 million cats. So what are we spending that money on exactly.

Vet bills have increased over the years. Owners spent $9.8 billion on trips to the vet, with the average household spending $363 on cats above and beyond routine visits. A growing trend in the pet industry is health insurance. With surgical advances in the vetrinary sciences growing, more cures are possible for our treasured pets. This means more cost. And people are less and less willing to put a pet down due to an expensive surgery. So, people are turning to pet insurance.

Services for pets are also on the rise. Kennels have always been around, but now luxury pet hotels and even day care are popping up around the country. Also, more and more hotels are allowing pets to stay in the rooms, meaning more people travel with their pets. For those who cannot travel and prefer not to stay at kennels, pet sitting services have also increased. For a daily fee, a sitter will come to your house a couple times a day and play with and feed your animal.

Americans love their pets more than ever, and experts agree that spending on them is only going to increase even more in 2008.