Pet Industry News
The deals, launches, and strategic moves behind the brands and operators shaping the industry.
Escalade Buys ASL Solutions, Betting on Pet Hard Goods
Escalade, the public sporting goods company behind Goalrilla and STIGA, has acquired ASL Solutions, a founder-owned manufacturer of insulated dog and cat houses. The deal, terms undisclosed, hands Escalade a rotational molding capability it didn't have before and marks its first move into pet hard goods.
Elanco Says Pet Spending Is a "Protected Budget Item." The Number Behind That Claim Is 7%.
Elanco released new consumer research on June 3 showing 91% of U.S. pet owners maintained or increased pet health and wellness spending through the recent inflation cycle, with 38% spending more. The company pegged 2025 animal health industry growth at 7% — up from the 20-year 5% trend — and projects the global market grows from $42B to $60B over the next decade. The release is the most useful new data point in the pet category resilience story since APPA's 2026 forecast.
Connected cat hardware finds its international playbook in Canada
Whisker opened Canadian pre-orders today for the Litter-Robot 5, EVO, and LitterHopper 5. It's the first international expansion of the new generation, and a stress test of whether U.S.-only DTC pet hardware can travel.
Pet care SaaS turns toward the franchise tier, one chain at a time
MoeGo added Central Bark to its Premium Partner portfolio, the fourth chain-tier move in two weeks alongside Kennel Connection, Sparkle Grooming, and Yardi/PetScreening. The chain layer of pet care services is where the SaaS competition is consolidating.
Boehringer Just Validated the TAM for Hidden-Condition Detection in Vet Tech
Boehringer Ingelheim's "Going Beyond" survey of 1,046 veterinarians across 51 countries found 87% of pet vets cite hidden conditions detection as the most overlooked part of their role. The data functions as demand-side TAM validation for any company building early-detection vet tech.
Wag Trendz Bets a Patent Filing Can Beat Ruffwear in Cooling Harnesses
Wag Trendz launched NeoCool on May 27, a patent-pending cooling dog harness with third-party-validated airflow claims of 2.5x traditional harnesses. The structure of the launch (utility-style IP filing, quantified performance, vet-credentialed co-founder) separates it from typical "patent-pending" pet marketing.
Purina Splits Tidy Cats Into Three SKUs to Block DTC Litter Challengers
Tidy Cats Performance+ launched on May 26 with three single-problem SKUs at matched $16.69 pricing. The move is a positioning concession to Pretty Litter and the DTC litter wave, meeting them on their own architecture at mass-shelf pricing.