Pet Medications in the US, 9th Edition

Report Overview

The pet medications market, long driven by owners’ concern for their pets’ health, currently faces challenges from reduced veterinary visits, a declining dog population, and economic pressures affecting spending decisions.

Key Questions Answered in the Study

• How big is the pet medications market? 
• What share of pet medications sales are through veterinary clinics? 
• What is the main reason pet owners don’t give their pets medications? 
• What type of product makes up the largest share of pet medication sales? 

Pet health and wellness has taken center stage in the past several years in the pet market, driving sales even when pet owners indicate they are scaling back on pet spending. A heightened awareness of their pets’ health and a willingness to spend on products that contribute to it have resulted in the success of products like pet supplements and functional pet foods, which offer specific health benefits.

The pet medications market has long relied on pet owners’ concern about their pets’ health but has recently been challenged by decreased veterinary usage, a drop in the dog population, and economic challenges that have forced pet owners to make spending decisions that sometimes haven’t worked out in the pet medications market’s favor. Much of the growth in this market has been the result of inflation rather than volume increases in the past several years, but there are opportunities for marketers and retailers to educate consumers about the importance of pet medications in their pets’ wellness regimen and show them that these products aren’t “extras” to be cut but essential products to keep their pets health and happy.

This Packaged Facts report analyzes the $12.6 billion US pet medications market. It presents historical sales data (2019-2024) and projected sales (2025-2029) by animal type (dog and cat) and sales channel (veterinary channel and retail channels), and various breakouts by product type (prescription and over-the-counter products, medications by general type, and parasiticides by type). The report also evaluates company market share and competitive analysis on industry competitors including Boehringer Ingelheim, Elanco, Merck, Virbac, and Zoetis in the prescription space and Central Garden & Pet, Ceva Animal Health, Hartz Mountain Corp., PetIQ, and Vetoquinol in the over-the-counter market.

The report evaluates retail channel trends from both the veterinary channel and retail channel perspective. The marketing and new product trends discussion focuses on parasiticide products, primarily flea, tick, and heartworm products. Consumer data, drawn largely from Packaged Facts’ proprietary November 2024 and January 2025 Surveys of Pet Owners, covers purchase rates by product type retail channel, demographic breakouts, and psychographic data that provides insight into pet owner attitudes connected to pet medications.

Pet Medications Growth Moderates

After the inflation-fueled increases of 2020-2022, growth in the US pet medications market has moderated, increasing 2.1% in 2024. The relatively high market gains are now a thing of the past, and the pet medications market has struggled to maintain growth. Although inflationary conditions have subsided across most consumer markets, many pet medications marketers have continued to raise prices into 2024, meaning that even the moderate growth this market has experienced has to be viewed through the lens of dollar increases rather than volume.

US retail sales of pet medications reached $12.6 billion in 2024, inclusive of sales through veterinarians, brick-and-mortar stores, and online retailers. As in the previous edition of this report, the veterinary sector experienced lower overall growth than the retail sector, due in large part to the growing role of online sales in the pet medications market and lower veterinary usage. Market growth continues to be affected negatively by the entry of less expensive generic options into the market upon patent expiration, particularly as these generic versions infiltrate brick-and-mortar and online channels, where margins are lower. However, the strong pipeline of patented prescription drugs, not to mention continued high prices, has kept widespread sales erosion at bay.

Pet Health Remains Top Priority

Despite economic challenges, pet owners remain committed to keeping their pets healthy. Packaged Facts survey results from November 2024 show that well over half of pet owners agree that they would be willing to cut back on their personal expenses to make sure their pets are healthy, with one quarter strongly agreeing. Anecdotal evidence supports this sentiment, with a June 2024 New York Times article sharing stories of pet owners who had gone into debt to pay for their pets’ medical bills. A LendingTree survey from August 2024 showed that over one-third of pet owners have taken on debt due to pet ownership, with medical emergencies being the prime reason. Pet owners’ willingness to go to such extents to maintain the health of their pets is one of the reasons the pet industry as earned a reputation as “recession-proof”.

This increased focus on pet health has been building for some time, but the escalation can be traced to the impact of the pandemic. Packaged Facts survey results from January 2025 show that many pet owners are paying more attention to their pets’ health in the wake of COVID-19, with some buying more immune health or stress/anxiety products as a result. The same survey showed that the majority of pet owners look for products to improve their pets’ health and wellness and to make their lives more comfortable.

Pet Medications in the US Report Methodology

The information contained in this report was obtained from primary and secondary research. Primary research includes national online consumer polls of US adult pet owners (age 18+) conducted by Packaged Facts on a regular basis to measure purchasing patterns and attitudes with regard to pet products and services, with the majority of the data coming from our November 2024 and January 2025 survey. The surveys have a sample size of adult dog and cat owners, screened for response quality, and representative of the US population on the demographic measures of age, gender, geographic region, race/ethnicity, household income, and the presence/absence of children in the household. The November 2024 survey includes responses from 638 dog owners and 423 cat owners, and the January 2025 survey has responses from 1,209 dog owners and 862 cat owners.

This report also relies on data from MRI-Simmons’ booklet-based surveys that are fielded on an ongoing basis. The study releases cited in this discussion represent roughly 14-month data roll-ups, with the survey releases named based on the season in which the fielding ended, rather than calendar years or standard seasonal periods. Field dates for the most current Fall 2024 survey were August 2023 through October 2024. MRI-Simmons Fall 2024 survey release data are best described as 2023-2024 figures, and so on with historically trended data.

MRI-Simmons survey releases represent exceptionally large sample sizes that are representative of the national population. For the MRI-Simmons Fall 2024 study release, the sample size was 51,522 adults, including 25,906 dog or cat owners, 19,917 dog owners, and 12,432 cat owners.

For the MRI-Simmons-based demographic tables in this discussion, geographical divisions are defined as follows, based on US Census sub-divisions:

• New England

• Middle Atlantic

• Midwest (East North Central and West North Central)

• South (South Atlantic, East South Central, and West South Central)

• Mountain

• Pacific

Pet Medications in the US Report Details

Key Participants Driving Trends in the US Pet Medications Market