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.
Pet Screening Just Became a Default Field in the U.S. Rental Stack
Yardi has integrated PetScreening's pet and assistance-animal profiles into its Renter Essentials platform, embedding pet underwriting in the lease-origination workflow used across multifamily housing. The collaboration standardizes pet acceptance at scale and unlocks the most valuable unbuilt dataset in the pet-housing economy.
Tractor Supply Buys VIP Petcare, Builds a Vertically Integrated Pet Care Platform
Tractor Supply acquired VIP Petcare, the largest U.S. mobile veterinary network, from PetIQ in a deal that brings 2,700 clinic locations and 1M+ pets served annually under retailer ownership. Combined with Allivet pharmacy, Tractor Supply now controls every layer of pet care it sells, reshaping the competitive map for Petco, Chewy, and independent rural vets.
The Next Pet-Tech Vertical-SaaS Bet Is Still Running on Paper
DogBase, a working-dog operations and training platform, secured up to €100,000 in syndicated angel investment after winning the 2026 Latitude59 pitch competition. The funding is below most editorial thresholds, but the working-dog vertical-SaaS thesis is the next obvious step after vet-clinic and daycare SaaS proved professional pet-services verticals will pay for purpose-built software.
Florida Pet Services Association returns to Jacksonville for its 2026 'Bridges' Summit
The Florida Pet Services Association returns to Jacksonville August 13–15 for its 2026 Summit at the Jacksonville Humane Society, themed "Bridges." Early-bird ticket pricing closes May 31. Programming covers education, business and operations, networking, and a hiring intensive, aimed at pet sitters, walkers, trainers, groomers, boarding facilities, daycares, vets, rescues, and pet-industry vendors across Florida and beyond.
The 88% number that explains vet diagnostics
A new MarketsandMarkets report sized the global veterinary point-of-care diagnostics market at $1.19 billion in 2026, projecting $1.72 billion by 2031 at 7.7% CAGR. The operator-relevant data point is buried under the headline: 88% of category revenue is consumables. That ratio explains why instruments get subsidized, why menu expansion compounds, and where the structural risks sit.
IDEXX adds tapeworm to Fecal Dx menu, pressuring clinic microscopy
IDEXX added taeniid tapeworm detection to its Fecal Dx reference-lab menu on May 26. In a veterinary diagnostics category where 88% of revenue comes from consumables, each menu addition deepens the moat against in-house microscopy and competing reference labs. The competitive question is who matches — and how fast.