Skip to main content
Home

Main Menu

  • take action
    • make a donation
    • monthly giving
    • other ways to give
    • donate faqs
  • ways to adopt
    • find a pet
    • adoption centres
    • adoption events
  • partner with us
    • our grants
    • adoption partners
    • partner resource centre
    • faqs
  • about us
    • leadership
    • financials
    • news & PR
    • careers
  • our stories
    • community impact
    • journey home
    • unconditional love
    • disaster response
  • our research

Main Menu

  • take action
    • make a donation
    • monthly giving
    • other ways to give
    • donate faqs
  • ways to adopt
    • find a pet
    • adoption centres
    • adoption events
  • partner with us
    • our grants
    • adoption partners
    • partner resource centre
    • faqs
  • about us
    • leadership
    • financials
    • news & PR
    • careers
  • our stories
    • community impact
    • journey home
    • unconditional love
    • disaster response
  • our research

adopt

donate

community impact

Many Pet Owners Interested in Non-Traditional Veterinary Care Options

written by

Staff Writer

April 29, 2025

Study finds pet parents also rely on non-veterinary sources for information about their pet's health 

share

The recently released PetSmart Charities-Gallup State of Pet Care Study revealed the rising costs of veterinary care are pressing many U.S. pet owners to seek more convenient and affordable options for their cats and dogs. Those may not always mean the traditional trip to the vet, and it's exactly why PetSmart Charities has committed significant funding to support for innovative care models. 

According to the study, about four in 10 pet owners say they would be interested in each of three non-traditional veterinary services — including community clinics, in-home visits or telemedicine. Accessibility to services such as these remains a barrier and more can be done to connect pet parents with solutions that meet their needs. 

Despite this interest, relatively few reported having used these avenues of care, with only 16% of pet parents having ever visited a community clinic, 8% participating in a telehealth appointment and 8% receiving a home vet visit. This could be from a lack of services available, and why we continue to encourage local leaders to identify and/or create new models based on specific needs of their community.

Nearly Four in 10 Pet Owners Interested in Non-Traditional Veterinary Care

Pet parents across demographic groups — regardless of age, race, and income — express interest in non-traditional care options. However, groups who were least likely to visit the veterinarian in the past year express above-average interest in community clinics. These included more than 48% of pet owners aged 18 to 29, and 47% of those living in households earning less than $60,000 annually. There are not significant differences by subgroups in interest for home visits and telehealth appointments. Increasing the availability of telemedicine may provide pet parents with a lower cost option or reduce geographic barriers to accessing care.

 Among those pet owners who previously declined traditional care because it was not practical for them or their pets, 46% say they were not offered a more convenient option. 

Pet Parents Also Consult Non-Veterinary Sources for Care 

When their pets are sick or injured, most pet owners (81%) still seek guidance from a vet, either in person or remotely. But vets are not the sole source of information for many pet owners — 44% of pet owners say they consult online resources for their pet’s health, and 22% seek advice from friends or family. While these sources can be of help, there are times when a health issue could become more significant without appropriate guidance.

Pet Owners Turning to Non-Veterinary Sources for Guidance

Just over one in six (17%) rely solely on non-veterinary sources for pet health advice. This is especially true of groups who are most likely to say they have declined or foregone veterinary care in the past, including young, low-income or Black pet owners.

Pet Owners Relying on Non-Veterinary Sources, by

Bottom Line

As pet healthcare costs rise and more pet owners make the difficult choice to forgo needed care, we need a broad coalition of stakeholders in business, philanthropic and nonprofit spaces to advocate for and create solutions. Pet parents are interested in non-traditional care options that meet the needs of their pets and budgets.

 Use of these types of services remains limited, perhaps because they are not widely available or not discussed as alternatives to traditional veterinary office visits. These unique services and models can mean more veterinary teams won’t have to turn away patients due to finances, and instead offer viable solutions. Expanding community-based, mobile, or telehealth solutions could help bridge this care gap and ensure more pets receive the treatment they need. And that’s good for pets, for people and for veterinary teams that want to help.

Learn more about how the PetSmart Charities-Gallup State of Pet Care Study works.

Survey Methods 

Results for the PetSmart Charities-Gallup State of Pet Care study are based on a combined web- and mail-based survey conducted with 2,498 dog and cat owners in the United States. Gallup surveyed 2,307 U.S. adults who indicated they currently owned at least one dog or cat via a web-based survey Nov. 13-20, 2024. Gallup also surveyed an additional 191 dog and cat owners via a mail-based survey Dec. 2, 2024-Jan. 9, 2025, to reach pet owners who may not have access to the internet. 

Gallup used the Gallup Panel to randomly select respondents to participate in the study. The Gallup Panel is a probability-based panel of U.S. adults who are randomly selected to join the panel primarily through address-based sampling (ABS), as well as random-digit-dialing (RDD) telephone surveys. 

Gallup weighted the obtained sample to match national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education and region for the population of U.S. dog and cat owners. This was achieved by weighting all respondents who entered the survey — including those who indicated they did not currently own a dog or a cat — to demographic weighting targets of the total U.S. adult population, based on the 2024 U.S. Current Population Survey. Respondents who indicated they did not currently own a dog or cat were then removed from the dataset prior to analysis. 

For results based on the total sample of 2,498 U.S. dog and cat owners, the margin of sampling error is ±2.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Margins of error for subgroups are larger. The reported margin of sampling error includes computed design effects for weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

See Our
3

Impact in Action

community impact
Low Cost Veterinary Care Resources
CanadaCanadian Animal Task Force Society  |…
read more arrow-right-primary
community impact
Announcing PetSmart Charities of Canada 2025 Adoption Prep Grantees
PetSmart Charities of Canada has helped more than 400 thousand pets across Canada find loving homes through our in-store adoption…
read more arrow-right-primary
community impact
2023 Annual Report
Together we made the world a better place for pets and those who love them. We’re proud to share our 2023 Annual Report and invite you…
read more arrow-right-primary
Home

adopt

donate

  • donate
    • make a donation
    • other ways to give
    • donate faqs
  • adopt
    • find a pet
    • adoption centres
    • adoption events
  • partner
    • adoption partners
    • our grants
    • partner resource centre
    • faqs
  • about us
    • leadership
    • news & PR
    • careers
    • financials
    • contact
  • articles
    • community impact
    • journey home
    • trending tales
    • unconditional love
  • impact

contact us

say hello

send a message

stay connected

CAPTCHA
6 + 10 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.

©2024 PetSmart Charities of Canada, Inc. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use Privacy Policy Site map

 

 
1100 Burloak Drive, Floor 2, Burlington, Ontario L7L 6B2 1-289-313-6400
woman hugging a small brown dog
community impact

Creating families through our…

Helping 400,000+ pets find homes through in-store adoptions at PetSmart since 1999
read morearrow-right-primary
Nicole and Rosie
journey home

Meet Rosie, our 400,000th…

“When I saw her, I just knew that was my cat. It was meant to be.”
read morearrow-right-primary
a man looks down at a white puppy looking adoringly back at him
community impact

Love Heals: An Access to Vet…

With your support, we’re helping pets stay together with their families by making veterinary care more accessible and…
read morearrow-right-primary
woman hugging a small brown dog
community impact

Keeping Families Together

Taking better care of pets builds healthier communities.
read morearrow-right-primary
Scout the dog
journey home

Unconditional Love Helped…

Scout was found on the side of the road paralyzed from the waist down. She was rushed to receive medical care, but the staff…
read morearrow-right-primary