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.
Fi Just Boxed Itself Into a Two-Way Pet GPS Race in Europe
Fi expanded its connected pet collar to a 38-country footprint on June 2, adding nine new European paid markets including Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The expansion lands three weeks after Bending Spoons closed its acquisition of Tractive — Fi's largest global competitor — in a deal valued in the high three-digit millions of euros. The U.S.-native pet GPS category is now in a three-way international race with Tractive and Life360.
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.