Delivering ‘Pawesome’ Insights for National Pet Month

Pets are more than just animals — they’re beloved members of our families. As pet parents know, our furry friends bring us comfort, companionship, and unconditional love every day, holding a special place in our hearts and homes. To honor and celebrate the joy that pets bring into our lives, we took a look at our pet-related purchase data to uncover fun insights about just how much we love our furry friends…

Is America Team Dog or Cat? 

The age-old debate of “cats versus dogs” has long been a topic of playful rivalry between the two household pets, both of which have maintained their positions as the most popular pets in America for decades. While we don’t take a stance in this debate, we do have insight into which states are Team Dog versus Team Cat, based on pet food purchases…

🐶Raise the Woof: Dogs dominate in the U.S. with 36 states showing more dog food purchases, including the entire South, and nearly all of the West Coast, Midwest, and a bit of the East Coast. 

😼Feline Good: Fourteen states plus Washington, D.C. are team cat, including nearly the entire Northeast – New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, and others – as well as Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington. 

“Pro tip: Instacart is the ultimate solution for all your pet essentials, especially bulky items like bags of food and cat litter where delivery straight to your doorstep would be helpful. This is especially true in urban areas where transportation options may be limited. In fact, last year alone, we helped to deliver more than 60 million pounds of cat litter – enough to fill up 18.7 Olympic-size swimming pools!” – Laurentia Romaniuk, Instacart’s Trends Expert

Bone Appétit!

If you’re wondering what Americans feed their pups when they’re being good girls and boys, we’ve got the scoop. Here are the top 5 dog treat brands sold via Instacart. 

Meow you doing?

Based on our purchase data, here are the top 5 cat treat brands that have clawed their way to the top.

Beyond Cats and Dogs: America’s Unique Pet Preferences 

Aside from dogs and cats, we wanted to know what other pets are popular in every U.S. state, so we looked deeper into Instacart’s pet food purchase data, and the results do not disappoint… 

🐹Having a Hay-Day: Hay for small animals is the most common type of pet food sold in 26 states after cat and dog food. This is a popular food for pets like guinea pigs, chinchillas, tortoises, and rabbits, among others, while other small animals like hamsters and mice nest and play in hay.

🦜Im-peck-able: Bird food is popular in 23 states. From parakeets to canaries, many Americans flock to the colorful feathers and playful personalities of pet birds.

🐠Gill-tastic. In terms of household pets, the state of Nevada is more likely to have fish as pets aside from cats and dogs. Nevadans clearly swim toward pets that don’t need walking or training.

🐰Ear-resistible. Idaho is the only state whose household pet preference leans towards rabbits and bunnies! Idahoans clearly love their cute and affectionate companions, likely because they are social animals and are known to bond closely with their owners. 

Shop and Save

To help pet owners celebrate and save this month, Purina will be offering $4 off of $20 on eligible treats and cat litter from May 1-31 via Instacart. This discount is eligible platform-wide and will be auto-applied at checkout. Additional terms apply.

Happy National Pet Month! 🐕🐈‍⬛🐇

Adjusted for Growth:

We adjust Instacart growth percentages by the overall growth of total orders via Instacart. Doing so removes the influence of our platform growth so we can focus on the change in consumer behavior.

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Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.