What are the ten most popular pets in the US?

Answer 1

That will depend how you wish to quantify the numbers: by the total of homes or by the total number of animals.

According to the AVMA, who cited the 2007 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook, if you go by the total number of owned animals, cats appear to be first:

1. Cats 81,721,000
2. Fish 75,898,000
3. Dogs 72,114,000
4. Birds 11,199,000
5. Livestock 10,995,000
6. Horses 7,295,000
7. Rabbits 6,171,000
8. Other Birds 4,966,000
9. All Others 3,664,000
10. Turtles 1,991,000
11. Hamsters 1,239,000
12. Ferrets 1,060,000
13. Guinea Pigs 1,004,000

If you go by the number of owner households, dogs are first:

1. Dogs 43,021,000
2. Cats 37,460,000
3. Fish 9,036,000
4. Birds 4,453,000
5. Horses 2,087,000
6. Rabbits 1,870,000
7. All Others 1,182,000
8. Turtles 1,106,000
9. Hamsters 826,000
10. Livestock 728,000
11. Lizards 719,000
12. Guinea Pigs 628,000
13. Ferrets 505,000

Answer 2

The ten most popular pets in the US are dogs, cats, fish, birds (including parrots), small mammals (such as guinea pigs and hamsters), reptiles (such as snakes and turtles), horses, rabbits, livestock (such as chickens and goats), and exotic pets (such as sugar gliders and hedgehogs).