The amount of money that pet owners spend on their beloved pets is reportedly at an all-time high in the United States. Americans spent $55.7 billion on their pets in the past year alone.

Pet spending started to get tracked back in 1996’s and 2013 was the highest year yet. In that year, Americans spent $21 billion, but when adjusted for inflation that’s $31.3 billion.

The American Pet Products Association’s Bob Vetere attended the Global Pet Expo in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday and said out of the nearly $60 billion spent on pets last year, $21.6 billion of it was spent on feeding them.

According to NBCNews, the amount of money pet owners spend on their pets in 2014 is expected to be even higher.

"What is feeding a large part of the growth now are the baby boomers who have become empty-nesters and are looking for some other ways to find the love and affection they used to get from their kids," Vetere told The AP.

Vetere also pointed out that human food and diet trends are starting to impact that of pet food trends.

image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons