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5 Breakout Trends That Will Shape the Future of Pet Care
From AI triage to gut-driven nutrition, here’s what operators need to be watching now.
Collin Armstrong
November 19, 2025
Issue #269
November 19, 2025
Quick Hits:
🛡️ Tartar Shield becomes first chemically active pet toothpaste awarded VOHC Seal for tartar control
The pet care landscape is evolving beyond the now obvious "humanization" narrative.
As we head into 2026, a new wave of trends is gaining momentum, rooted in science, data, real-world community, and a savvier pet parent.
These aren't your typical pet trends. They're high-signal shifts that could reshape competitive advantages.
From AI-driven vet triage easing a strained healthcare system to dog social clubs reinventing customer acquisition, these developments point to pet care moving from reactive problem-solving to proactive performance optimization.
Here are 5 emerging trends that you should watch closely.
1. AI-Driven Veterinary Triage Takes the Pressure Off
A chronic veterinarian shortage is creating a structural capacity crunch in pet healthcare. Nearly 40% of U.S. vets are 55 or older and approaching retirement, according to AAVMC data.
One analysis projects a need for approximately 41,000 more companion-animal vets by 2030, but given current training capacity, we're facing at least a 15,000 vet shortfall.
The result?
Weeks-long appointment wait times and frustrated pet owners.
This gap is quietly being filled by AI-powered symptom checkers and triage tools that guide pet parents on next steps before they ever reach a clinic.
These tools parse an owner's description of symptoms and determine whether the issue needs home care, a tele-vet consult, or an urgent in-person visit.
By filtering cases, AI triage helps overtaxed clinics focus on pets who truly need hands-on care.
The UK's Joii Pet Care app offers a free AI-driven symptom checker and finds that nearly 70% of pet issues can be resolved via remote consult, avoiding unnecessary vet visits.
Similarly, U.S.-based Petriage's digital triage tool assesses pet symptoms and advises if medical attention is needed, according to recent market reports.
After a slow start, veterinarians have swiftly warmed to AI tools.
A 2024 survey found 39% of vet practices are interested in using AI, and nearly half of vets want to learn more about adding AI to their workflow.
In Europe, Vet-AI reports its custom large language model can triage with 81% clinical accuracy, outperforming generic AI models.
The company trained its system on more than 400,000 real consults containing 4Bn data points.
These AI triage solutions aren't operating in isolation.
Major pet insurers and retail clinics partner with services like whiskerDocs to give customers 24/7 nurse hotlines, deflecting minor questions away from claims and appointments.
Dutch has also implemented AI tools that help automate the vet’s workflow by leveraging tech for both pre & post-consultation admin work (i.e. summarizing medical histories, photos, transcriptions, treatment plan creation, etc.)
For founders, AI triage represents a new front door of vet care.
This technology can lower customer acquisition costs for telehealth providers by catching pet owners at their point of concern.
It improves clinic productivity and creates new data moats from millions of symptom case logs. Expect insurers to reward AI's role in reducing claim costs, potentially even tying reimbursement models to AI pre-screening.
2. Real-World Pet Communities Beat Digital Ad Fatigue
After years of DTC brands relying on Instagram and Google ads, the pendulum is swinging back to in-person engagement as a growth hack.
Skyrocketing digital customer acquisition costs and scroll fatigue among pet parents are driving savvy pet companies to invest in offline experiences as the new way to be discovered.
Pet parents today crave shared social experiences with their animals.
They're joining "third spaces" designed for dogs and people to mingle. Consider the rise of members-only dog clubhouses.
In North Carolina, Wilmington's Ruff Draft bar and dog park allows owners to sip craft beer while their dogs romp off-leash, charging $5 day passes or $150 yearly memberships.
The appeal is obvious. Your dog becomes your drinking buddy.
While not every venture succeeds (a high-profile luxury dog park/bar in Alpharetta, GA opened with fanfare but shuttered within months due to execution issues), the concept is validated by others like Skiptown, which recently opened its third upscale location.
Pet owners are proving they'll pay for community, with monthly or annual dog park memberships becoming the new gym membership.
DOG PPL had grown to 1,700 members by last summer.
Memberships start at $120/mo for a single dog, going up to $170 for three dogs. So conservatively they’re bringing in at least $200K/mo from memberships since opening in 2021.
Pet brands are also rediscovering the power of experiential marketing.
Companies are hosting "barkery" pop-ups inside local coffee shops, sponsoring dog-friendly yoga classes, or teaming up with boutique pet stores for micro-events.
These offline activations not only delight attendees but feed the content engine. A single well-produced event can yield a trove of Instagrammable moments and email signups, fueling a full online funnel afterward.
The economics are compelling. A brand might spend $5,000 to host a dog beach day or sponsor a "pup crawl," directly interacting with hundreds of passionate pet owners.
In return, they get email addresses, social followers, and heartfelt goodwill that leads to higher lifetime value. Compare that to burning the same budget on Facebook ads for cold audiences.
For emerging DTC brands, aligning with these events or creating their own pop-ups can generate high-intent customers at a fraction of the usual CAC.
Real-life engagement is an underpriced asset in 2026. Pet parents are hungry for social outlets, and brands that provide them will earn trust and loyalty that no Facebook ad can buy.
3. The Gut Microbiome Becomes Pet Wellness Ground Zero
Forward-looking pet wellness brands are shifting focus from glossy "grain-free" marketing to what's happening under the hood—the gut microbiome.
Mounting research links a dog's intestinal flora to everything from allergies and immunity to anxiety and even aggression.
Pet parents are starting to ask not whether food is premium, but what it does for their dog's gut and overall health.
Some of the most exciting findings tie the gut to pet behavior and mood.
Studies have shown that anxious or aggressive dogs have measurably different gut bacteria profiles than calm dogs.
In 2025, a Scientific Reports study demonstrated that machine learning could predict a dog's anxiety level based on its gut microbiota composition, implicating certain bacteria like Blautia in canine anxiety.
Veterinarians are also eyeing the gut-skin axis.
Allergic dogs have significantly different gut microbiomes than healthy dogs, suggesting that chronic itching or ear infections could be ameliorated by restoring gut balance.
This emerging science is driving a new wave of "psychobiotic" pet supplements aiming to ease anxiety via the gut, and diets for sensitive-skin dogs that include gut-soothing ingredients.
As pet nutrition gets more scientific, postbiotics are stepping into the limelight.
These beneficial compounds produced by probiotic bacteria are shelf-stable and consistent, making them attractive for pet food use.
Major ingredient suppliers are now offering fermented functional ingredients specifically for pets. Cargill's EpiCor Pets, for example, is a fermented yeast postbiotic touted to support immune and gut health in dogs.
The fermented pet ingredients market is projected to roughly double from about $567M in 2025 to over $1B by 2035.
We're witnessing the pet version of the precision nutrition playbook.
Rather than one-size-fits-all premium diets, companies are formulating foods and supplements tailored to specific functional outcomes.
Services like AnimalBiome will sequence your dog's gut bacteria from a stool sample and then sell you a personalized "Gut Restore" kit.
AnimalBiome reports that more than 80% of pet parents see improvement in their dog’s digestive symptoms after a course of Gut Restore, according to aggregated customer outcome data.
The gut economy in pets is ripe for innovation and differentiation.
Successful brands will differentiate not by fancy flavors, but by scientific credibility and results.
This trend also opens doors to recurring revenue. If you help a dog beat itchy skin via a monthly gut supplement, that owner becomes a long-term customer.
4. Pet Biohacking Moves from Elite Athletes to Everyday Dogs
The same way health-conscious humans now use foam rollers, infrared mats, and wearable trackers, pet owners are adopting "biohacking" practices to optimize their animals' wellness and performance.
What was once seen only in elite canine rehab centers or agility sports is trickling down to everyday pet routines.
A growing number of owners are doing proactive fitness work with their dogs, well before any injury or old-age issues set in.
On TikTok and YouTube, canine fitness content is surging.
Dog physical therapists are becoming minor influencers, preaching that walks are not enough for a truly fit dog.
Products like FitPaws balance discs and inflatable platforms are selling briskly to mainstream pet parents.
The company's new FitKinect system is explicitly marketed for dogs of all ages, from rehab to peak performance, emphasizing building confidence in movement for senior dogs as much as for agility stars.
Recovery therapies are being canine-ified and downsized for home use.
Meanwhile, pet-specific device makers are launching products like the PetSPemf pad, and Buddie Therapy, which is essentially a dog bed with built-in PEMF and red light programs for pain relief, stress relief, and accelerated healing.
Beyond products, a new wave of canine conditioning and mobility services is emerging — small-format rehab centers, hydrotherapy studios, and certified canine fitness trainers offering structured strength, balance, and core-work sessions modeled after human PT.
These aren’t your feel good “puppy yoga” classes; they’re evidence-based programs designed for aging dogs, overweight pets, and active breeds that need proactive injury prevention.
As owners shift from reactive care to mobility optimization, these studios create demand for at-home recovery tools (PEMF, infrared, vibration, stability gear) and open the door for device + subscription models built around guided exercise plans.
For founders, mobility is becoming a stable, high-margin category as pets live longer and weight-related issues rise.
5. The Longevity Revolution Focuses on Healthspan
Rather than a gimmicky quest to make dogs immortal, a serious science-driven effort is underway to tackle the biology of aging in pets.
The real movement taking shape is a recalibration of pet healthcare toward extending healthy lifespan, not just lifespan. It's about healthspan, maximizing the years in which a pet is vigorous and disease-free.
Researchers are treating aging itself as a disease process in dogs, studying how factors like muscle loss, metabolic slowdown, and chronic inflammation can be mitigated.
Veterinary schools like Tufts have partnered with human gerontologists to address sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) in a One Health approach, since dogs develop muscle loss very similarly to humans.
Large grants are flowing into canine aging research.
The AKC Canine Health Foundation's latest cycle specifically lists aging as a focus area alongside cancer and orthopedics.
Programs like the Dog Aging Project are yielding insights on how weight, diet, and environment influence a dog's aging trajectory. One crucial finding from the famous Purina study showed that dogs on a 25% calorie-restricted diet lived approximately 1.8 years longer on average and delayed chronic disease onset (intermittent fasting for dogs?).
As more pets reach old age, an entire sub-category of senior pet products is expanding beyond senior kibble formulas.
We're seeing growth in diagnostics and monitoring for early disease, blood tests that can screen older dogs for cancer markers or kidney function changes before symptoms arise.
Companies are even developing "aging clocks" for dogs using DNA methylation to objectively measure a pet's biological age and track interventions.
Critics sometimes dismiss pet longevity as marketing, but new research outputs are giving it clout.
Recently, a first-of-its-kind study by Cornell University with The Farmer's Dog provided hard data that nutrition can improve markers of aging.
In the year-long trial on senior dogs, those switched to a fresh, minimally processed diet showed lower levels of AGE (advanced glycation end-products) and other biochemical signs of reduced chronic inflammation, plus higher antioxidant levels. Their metabolic profiles essentially shifted to a "younger" state.
The aging population of pets is a stable, expanding market with emotionally invested customers.
Every additional healthy year of life for a beloved pet is hugely valuable to owners, both emotionally and financially. For businesses, this means opportunities in geriatric-focused offerings, from advanced foods and supplements to services like senior pet fitness programs, home hospice support, or age-tech.
“Flights for dogs” is quietly becoming a breakout search category, up ~33% YoY and hitting its highest volume ever this past summer.
What’s interesting is that this isn’t a one-off spike — the 5-year trajectory shows steady growth with a sharp climb beginning in early 2025.
That lines up with two macro shifts…(1) more owners traveling with pets due to remote work and lifestyle shifts, and (2) rising anxiety around airline pet policies, which pushes people to research everything from cargo rules to pet-friendly carriers to private charter alternatives.
This is demand driven by confusion as much as convenience.
For brands, this signals a widening gap (and opportunity) in pet travel support.
Searchers aren’t just looking for flights — they’re looking for clarity, paperwork guidance, and safer options.
Companies offering concierge travel services, pre-flight health prep, airline-specific checklists, or even travel-friendly products (crates, calming aids, carriers) stand to benefit.
As pet travel becomes more normalized and owners spend more to avoid stress or risk, expect this search trend to keep climbing and for the pet-travel ecosystem to grow around it.
See you Friday!
