Best USA Cities for Cats

by Michael
(London, UK)

Photo by Michael

The ten best USA cities for cats, according to a website called, catalystcouncil.org are: Tampa, Phoenix, San Francisco, Portland (Ore.), Denver, Boston, Seattle, San Diego, Atlanta and Minneapolis (an Ithaca, N.Y., was also mentioned). The idea is to set some standards for other cities to follow. The criteria for selecting these cities was:-

cat ownership per capita,
the level of veterinary care,
level of microchipping and
cat-friendly local ordinances.

Availability of shelters was not included in the criteria but will be for the 2010 list.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s 2007 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook:

In the USA, the number of cats owned (81.7 million) outnumbers that of canines (72 million)
In the USA, visits to the vet fell about 11 percent between 2001 and 2006
USA animal shelters are seeing more cats given up than dogs.

Best USA Cities for Cats to Household Pets

Best USA Cities for Cats -- source: CATalyst Council, which is a national initiative made up of animal health organisations, welfare organizations and corporations to champion the cat.