Pet insurance is becoming more common in the United States, with the North American Pet Health Insurance Association reporting a 17.1% growth in the total number of pets that were insured in 2023, for a total of more than 5.6 million insured animals.
Overall, 14.8% of dogs in the U.S. and 26.2% of cats were insured in 2023. Dogs comprise the majority of insured pets, however, accounting for 78.6% of covered animals. Since 2020, the number of insured pets in the U.S. has grown by an average of 22.6% each year.
There are three standard varieties of pet insurance policies:
- Accident and illness plans;
- Accident-only plans; and
- Routine wellness plans
Combination accident and illness pet insurance plans are the most popular. The combined plans usually cover injury and sickness (broken bones, cancer, etc.), while accident-only plans only cover accident-related issues. Wellness plans can usually be included as an add-on to these policies.
Pet insurance policies function a lot like human health plans, in that when shopping for pet insurance owners can select their plan's annual maximum coverage, deductible and reimbursement percentage. However, many pet insurers have required waiting periods for coverage, which vary carrier to carrier.
Overall, the most popular dogs in the U.S. are mixed breeds, as many pet parents opt for adoption or rescue rather than purchasing a pure-bred pup. In the slideshow above, however, we’ll look at the ten most popular pure-bred dogs in 2025 according to Adopt a Pet.
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