VetWatch.com - The veterinary profession's premier resource center for information on the issues that matter most.

Packaged Facts Commentary

Packaged Facts reports on a variety of topics that impact pets and the veterinary industry from their Pet Population and Ownership Trends in the U.S., 6th Edition. Source: Packaged Facts January 2022 Survey of Pet Owners

Telemedicine and “Smart” Health Product Trends

Packaged Facts’ January 2022 survey shows that “smart” products and pet wearables appeal to 34% of Millennials/Gen Zers and 24% of Gen Xers. Technology also holds tremendous appeal among time-pressed pet owners: 20% of dog or cat owners agree that “technology is allowing me to save time on pet care”, and 20% agree that “technology is allowing me to spend more quality time with my pets”. These are early days numbers.

Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility

As with American shoppers at large, pet owners’ top shopping priorities are product quality, product affordability, shopping convenience, and brand name. But those appeals are far from groundbreaking, such that forward-looking pet industry participants are strategically targeting new wave consumer mindsets as the next step in humanization and premiumization. High on this list is corporate progressiveness on sustainability, strongly associated with participation in pet welfare causes and corporate transparency about values, operations, and labor practices. Heralding the future of pet industry marketing successes, interest in sustainability and transparency increases among the younger pet owners likely to be affected by climate change more severely.

ITR Economics Outlook

ITR Economics CEO, Brian Beaulieu and team share an outlook on the economy and how it might impact the animal health industry providing business leaders with economic information, insight, analysis, and strategy. ITR Economics is the oldest privately held, continuously operating economic research and consulting firm in the US.

In this slide ITR Economics looks at the monthly change in Veterinary Expenditures compared to overall Retail Sales over the past two decades. Veterinary expenditure rate of change has remained stronger than the retail sector and generally has lagged on major changes.

The source of the data for the Vet Expenditure series is the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The data changed when the BEA released their annual data revision on 9/30/2022, which affected data back to January 2017. The big dip that was previously showing was in April and May of 2020, during early COVID. There was likely a lapse in reporting that was eventually rectified, and the BEA revised the data in their annual revision.

Should you have questions regarding the trends in expenditures, we recommend you contact an Account Executive at ITR Economics to assist. They can be reached at itr@itreconomics.com.

Monthly commentary (click to view)

For the YTD ending October 31, 2022, year over year reporting showed changes from the previous month’s results among the respective categories ranging from (-1.0%) to +1.4%. Core and Lifestyle vaccine indices for canine and feline patients were at +2.2% growth across the 32,000+ practices and shelter locations in the Animalytix Marketplace. YTD Kennel Cough vaccine purchases, which provide a measure of the pet mobility, were at (-0.2%) growth. Purchases of chronic care medications and surgical consumables were (-3.2%) and (-0.2%) respectively while parasiticide growth is positive at +3.8% YTD compared to PYTD.

Among the VetWatch™ Bellwether reporting zones for Core/Lifestyle Vaccine Purchase growth vs PYTD, the Columbus, OH zone leads all markets with +6.2% growth. Growth for the Miami, FL zone performance was notable at +5.3% while Los Angeles, CA was the laggard in the group at (-2.1%) growth vs PYTD.

1 Select your zone from the map below.

*Map displays YTD Core & Lifestyle Vaccines sales courtesy of Animalytix

Key

< -50%

-50% to -30%

-30% to -10%

-10% to -5%

-5% to 0.0%

+0.0% to +5%

+5% to +10%

+10%

Data last updated November 04 with YTD results through October 31.

2 Select a category below to see year to date category growth %'s.

Core & Lifestyle Vaccines
Kennel Cough
Chronic
Canine/Feline F/T/HW Parasiticides
Surgical
*The VetWatch sample reflects 32,000+ small animal practices and shelters including mixed and miscellaneous practices as well as emergency, rescue, spay and neuter hospitals in the US.

The next update will be scheduled after Dec. 1st. Enjoy the holidays!

Monthly commentary (click to view)

This week’s totals for reported parasiticide purchases across all segments year to date through the week ending March 6, are ahead of 2020 results by an extremely robust +12.2% among the 32,000+ practices and shelter locations in the Animalytix Marketplace. The most significant YOY change in the market is the +49.7% growth in the canine combination flea and heartworm products (e.g. specifically Simparica Trio), as substitution continues to occurring at the expense of products from the canine flea and tick preventatives which are experiencing a decline softening decline of (-1.9%) YTD. Canine heartworm preventatives purchases moved ahead of 2020’s record strong sales for the same period, posting growth of +2.6%. Feline flea and heartworm preventatives are now ahead of last year at a robust +8.8% growth.

Among the leading “Bellwether” parasiticide market zones, Greenville, SC now leads with +32.0% growth in total parasiticide purchases followed by Philadelphia, PA at +31.8%. Among the lagging “Bellwether” zones is Los Angeles, CA at +1.9% versus the same YTD period in 2020 bringing all “Bellwether” parasiticide market zones into the positive YTD.

1 Select your zone from the map below.

*Map displays YTD Canine/Feline F/T/HW Parasiticide sales courtesy of Animalytix

Key

< -50%

-50% to -30%

-30% to -10%

-10% to -5%

-5% to 0.0%

+0.0% to +5%

+5% to +10%

+10%

2 Select a category below to see year to date category growth %'s.

Canine Flea/Tick
Canine Heartworm
Canine Flea & Heartworm Combos
Feline Flea / Heartworm
*The VetWatch sample reflects 32,000+ small animal practices and shelters including mixed and miscellaneous practices as well as emergency, rescue, spay and neuter hospitals in the US.

Monthly commentary (click to view)

For the month ending October 29, 2022, aggregate YTD practice revenues are at +5.1% net growth versus YTD 2021 for the ~3,000 reporting practices. Period performance growth in unique patients(pets) is at (-1.5%). Unique client and invoice growth posted (-1.6) and (-2.4%) growth respectively vs PYTD results.

Among the listed “Bellwether” market zones, Philadelphia, PA lead with +10.7% YTD revenue growth while unique patient growth was at +2.7%. St. Louis, MO was notable among the laggard zones, finishing at (-0.4%) revenue growth and (-3.0%) growth in unique patients vs PYTD.

Following more current trends, the national 3-week rolling average for practice revenue growth was at (-0.7%). Five of the nine Census Divisions posted positive revenue growth for the current rolling 3-week average. The rolling 3-week average revenue growth index is designed to provide a more immediate view of growth trends (e.g., market velocity). A positive value indicates rolling revenue growth vs the prior year reported 3-week period.

1 Select your zone from the map below.

Map displays YTD total hospital revenue courtesy of Animal Care Technologies
*Indicates Merged Zone Group

Key

< -50%

-50% to -30%

-30% to -10%

-10% to -5%

-5% to 0.0%

+0.0% to +5%

+5% to +10%

+10%

2 Select a data point below.

Unique patients (pets)
Unique clients (persons)
Total invoices
Total revenue

Veterinary Trend Watch

Monthly insight for US veterinary market trends

Welcome to VetWatch, the veterinary profession’s premier resource center for insight and information on the issues that matter most.

1 Select your zone from the map below.

Key

2 Select a category below to see year to date category growth %'s.

1 Select your zone from the map below.

Key

2 Select a category below to see year to date category growth %'s.

1 Select your zone from the map below.

Key

2 Select a data point below.