Pet Industry News
The deals, launches, and strategic moves behind the brands and operators shaping the industry.
Pets will shape travel plans for 68% of owners, Subaru survey finds
A Subaru-commissioned Talker Research survey of 2,000 pet-owning drivers, released October 13th, 2026, says 68% expect their pet to affect travel plans this year and 73% would drive instead of fly to bring the pet. New in this release, 10% may host, 10% may shorten a trip and 8% may skip gatherings. In our view, the trip-length and planning numbers are the ones sitters and kennels can use.
Doubtless hands its North American business to a new leader
Doubtless named Karl Wiley to lead its North American business from October 12th, succeeding the retiring Kirk Haggard. The release gives no growth targets or strategy change. We put the move in the context of a fast-growing, thinly penetrated U.S. pet insurance market.
Zoetis says Simparica Trio beat NexGard Plus on resistant heartworm, in groups of eight dogs
Zoetis says Simparica Trio protected 3x more dogs than NexGard Plus against a resistant heartworm isolate, based on 8 dogs per group. By our math the dog-level gap is not statistically significant, and efficacy differs by 1.4 points.
BARK extends its Crocs partnership to a customizable dog bed
BARK and Crocs are expanding their partnership from Pet Crocs shoes into a customizable dog bed, collars, leashes and toys. The bed costs $100 to $110 as a subscriber-only add-on on bark.co, and with no sales figures or crocs.com terms disclosed, we read it as a retention play.
Loblaw reformulates PC Nutrition First and prices it against specialty retail
Loblaw says its reformulated PC Nutrition First dry dog and cat food is veterinarian-formulated and costs up to 40% less per 100g than select specialty foods. Its own chart names Purina Pro Plan, Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin, and by our math shows gaps of 32% to 61%.
PetPace brings its vital-signs collar to Chewy
PetPace's $299.99 vital-signs collar went on sale at Chewy on October 6th, 2026, its third channel after its own site and Amazon. Chewy files it under GPS & Activity Trackers next to AirTags and rival trackers, and PetPace keeps the subscription that runs the monitoring.
Cat food owner hands North America to its marketing chief
MPM Products, the owner of Applaws, Reveal and Encore, has named global CMO Samantha Greenwood president of North America. The US brings in more than 40% of company revenue, and we read the pick as fitting Partners Group's cat-focused growth thesis in a pet food category APPA expects to grow about 2% in 2026.