Pets, it seems, have figured out something the rest of us haven’t. Being adorable is a surprisingly lucrative career. Unemployed and living rent-free, we have been watching furry freeloaders live the dream for years, from Bruiser in Legally Blonde to Stella in Modern Family. A Louis Vuitton bag for the commute, a Chanel collar for dinner, and a spa day thrown in because lying on the sofa and basking in the sun all afternoon can get exhausting.
Pets have always been family. What has changed is just how much of our lives now revolve around them. Their birthdays now come with cakes and guest lists; holidays are planned around whether they can tag along; and leaving them behind can require more emotional negotiation than leaving your two-year-old with a babysitter. The modern pet seems to have acquired a surprisingly large say in how the household runs.
Obviously, the spending has followed. Globally, the pet-care market was worth $273.42 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach nearly $500 billion by 2034. Meanwhile, India’s pet-care industry was valued at ₹30,434 crore in 2024 and is expected to balloon to ₹2.1 lakh crore by 2032, driven by rising pet ownership, urbanisation, and a growing appetite for pet health and wellness. Globally, there are hotel chains that are rolling out luxury amenities to pamper not just human guests but also four-legged ones. At The Plaza in New York, signing up for the Pampered Pup Package means that your pooch can look forward to an Evian-filled water bowl and a customised bathrobe. The Mandarin Oriental across the US and Europe has private shopping and grooming experiences for your pets, while The Lygon Arms in England’s Cotswolds has a spa day package that allows humans and their furry companions to get facials and nail care together. In urban India too, most pet parents are spending upwards of ₹5,000 a month on their four-legged family members, with travel emerging as a major spend. Some pets, frankly, seem to have better holiday plans than us.
So, how much are pet parents actually spending on this new, increasingly pampered generation of pooches? We spoke to five of them to find out where the money goes, what they’re happy to splurge on, and just how much it costs to give a pet the good life.
Chloe, the Birkin-toting Toy Poodle
Location: Bengaluru and London
Pet parent: Rajkumar Dhushyant Anil
Biggest expense: Travel. A single Bengaluru-London private charter can cost up to ₹1 crore
Most extravagant spend: A ₹15 lakh shopping spree for clothes
“Chloe is definitely the snobbier one of my two dogs. She stopped using her own carrier and started using my mum’s Gucci tote. She would jump out of anything else, and the only place she would stay calm was in this bag. We eventually got her a Goyard and a Louis Vuitton of her own, but she still tends to find herself in my mum’s Birkin or Gucci more often than either of those. She definitely has a liking for some of the nicer things in life. Chloe travels with us, but we don’t put her in cargo, so we only take her if we’re flying private. We try to take the dogs everywhere with us when we can, and travel is probably where most of the spending goes. We sometimes charter a jet to take them along. From Bengaluru to London, that can be around ₹75 lakh to ₹1 crore.”
Boris Johnson, the Allergic Frenchie
Location: Mumbai
Pet parent: Farah Trehan
Biggest expense: Dog nanny that costs ₹30,000 a month
Most extravagant spend: ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 on toys in one go
“Boris is exactly like his namesake. He hates blue-collar workers, bites security guards and delivery guys, and chases them into lifts. He’s also allergic to everything. He’s allergic to the salt in the air, and last monsoon we found out he’s also allergic to the rain. He needs a medicated bath every three or four days, and his medical bills alone crossed ₹1.5 lakh last year. If a pigeon comes to the window, he’ll shit himself and start barking. Even the breeze blowing sideways sets him off. He’s basically a very expensive, angry little man.”
Benji, Dhan Mill’s Star Shih tzu
Location: Delhi
Pet parent: Vrinda Sachdev
Biggest expense: Grooming + healthcare that comes to ₹10,500 to ₹20,500 a month
Most extravagant spend: ₹60,000+ to take his entourage of caretaker and cook on a trip to Hyderabad
