Pet Medications in the US, 8th Edition

Report Overview

For more than a year, the US has seen unrelenting inflation across all consumer packaged goods categories, and pet owners have not been spared. During 2022, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was up 9.2% for pets/pet products, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). For the pet medications market, 2020 and 2021 were boom years, but the market’s lackluster 3.7% growth during 2022 is actually indicative of unit sales losses stemming from higher prices, fewer veterinary visits, and a declining dog population. Also crimping dollar sales growth is 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.

At the same time, a strong pipeline of patented prescription drugs is helping to keep dollar sales growing. The pet medications market surpasses $12 billion for the first time in 2022, and Packaged Facts expects growth to continue at a modest but steady pace through 2027. Pet health remains the foremost market driver, bolstered by the pandemic and the intensified human/animal bond. Also working in the market’s favor is more convenient access to prescription pet medications available online, with Chewy.com, WalmartPetRx.com, Petco.com, and PetSmart.com all diving in headfirst. Pet medications marketers continue to invest heavily in research, incorporating promising developments in human health to bring new treatment options to ailing pets.

Pet Medication Sales Threated by Higher Prices, Drop in Vet Usage

Pet medications benefited from pet owners’ pandemic heightened health awareness and closeness with their pets, but as inflation has taken its toll on pet owners’ wallets, many dog and cat owners have, at least for the time being, placed pet medications in the discretionary category. Among prescription pet medication purchasers, although 35% increased their spending in 2022 compared to 2021, 8% decreased their spending. Millennials and Gen-Xers are especially likely to have decreased their spending, at 12% each.

Pet Medications Among Top Pet Health Products

Along with “pets as family”, pets owners’ focus on the health and wellness of their furry family members remains a market linchpin. While pet health was already the foremost pet market driver pre-pandemic, it grew in stature during lockdowns because humans were in closer contact with their pets and sharing some of same health concerns, such as immune response and managing anxiety. Data from Packaged Facts’ February 2023 Survey of Pet Owners underscore the high level of health awareness, with the majority of them – 68% of dog owners, 67% of cat owners, and 66% of other pet owners – agreeing that they look for products to improve their pet’s health and wellness. In the same survey, as in previous pet owner surveys conducted by Packaged Facts, although pet food tops the list as the “most important” pet health product – cited by 81% of pet owners – flea/tick medications (57%) and heartworm medications (47%) take the number two and number three spots.