706: The End of Easy Growth in Pet Care?
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Is the pet industry slowing down, or is it simply evolving? In this episode, we explore recent projections showing pet industry growth moderating from pandemic-era highs while still expanding overall. We discuss how changing consumer behavior is impacting pet sitting and dog walking businesses, why outcomes matter more than services, and how trust is becoming a critical differentiator. We also examine the growing influence of cat ownership and what it means for pet care providers. Finally, we share practical ways pet sitters can position themselves for success as the industry enters its next phase of maturity.
Main topics:
Pet industry growth slowdown
Consumer spending behavior shifts
Outcome-focused service marketing
Growing cat ownership trends
Trust and premium positioning
Main takeaway: “The businesses that survive are going to be the ones that, when the client gets their credit card statement or their bank statement and they see your name, they don’t cringe—they’re excited.”
When clients see your business name on their bank statement, what do they feel? If the answer is excitement, relief, gratitude, or peace of mind, you’re building something valuable. The pet industry is changing. Growth is still happening, but consumers are becoming more intentional about where they spend their money. The businesses that thrive won’t necessarily be the cheapest. They’ll be the ones that solve meaningful problems, build trust, and consistently deliver value. Don’t focus on being the lowest-priced option or even the highest priced. Focus on becoming the service your clients can’t imagine living without.
Links:
Episode 703: Cat Sitting Roundtable: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/703
Episode on PSI Global Standards: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/640
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
Meghan 0:01
The pet industry isn't dying. Morgan Stanley projects pet industry growth slowing from roughly 9% annually during the pandemic boom to around 4% moving forward. Many pet business owners hear that and panic, but that's not the story. The industry is still expected to grow from 200 billion to $240 billion so the question isn't whether money is flowing into pet care, it's about where it's flowing, and that's what we're going to talk about today on this episode. Hi, I'm Megan, I'm Collin. We are the host of Pet Sitter Confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. We thank you for joining us today. We also want to thank our sponsor, Pet Sitters Associates, and our newest Patreon member Sarah, thank you for following along with the podcast, loving it and supporting it with the $5 dachshund level. We are so appreciative, and thank you very much. Collin and I went full time in this business in 2019 and so if you also started in 2019 and you look to last year, 2025 it was unusual people during this time. They got a lot of pets, especially during the pandemic. Everybody wanted a pet, a companion to stay home with, to keep company. Everybody then worked from home. People were brought home, a lot of them spitting in their chairs all day, because they had nothing to do, but they had more disposable income, and they spent that freely over the past few years, a lot of pet businesses grew like ours, simply because demand exploded. We didn't have to do a whole lot of marketing and advertising because there was this big demand for it.
Collin 1:33
And now, though, it's moved into a slightly different phase, and that's what that top line number was of this 910, 12% annual growth slowing now to 4% moving forward, and this is really because a lot of things are coming together, a lot of things are aligning here, really. Consumers are a lot more budget conscious, they are looking at prices all around them, they're looking at where they can cut, where they can reduce their spending, not because they don't want to spend, but because they need to, because prices around, around everything. I mean, go to the grocery store, go buy a pair of shoes. We all see this. Our cons, our customers, our clients are doing the same thing, and they're doing a lot more price shopping, a lot more price comparison across everything as well. And if we think about that in the context of our dog walks, they're looking at our dog walks, our pet sits, our pet taxis, and going, okay, what's out, what else is out there? What are my options for this?
Meghan 2:34
Well, and again, because of the pandemic, it brought everybody home, people were looking for side jobs and ways to make money, and a lot of them took up the pet sitting and dog walking, and so, because there's a lot more competitors out there, there are a lot more options, and people, because they're more price sensitive, they go, well, I see a bunch of options, and I don't want to spend too much, so I'm just going to figure out which one's the cheapest and go with them,
Collin 2:55
they're trying to find that value, what's the value to them, and in order to get there, many people are trying to make some trade-offs, and what that typically looks like, and we see it in our own business of, okay, well, for the potty break let out, I might not use you, but I need you for my two or three week long vacation, I'm going to splurge and make sure I get the value for that kind of care, but for those quick little potty breaks, I don't need a full blown premium service,
Meghan 3:23
or it could be that they don't want to spend all the money for their two week long vacation in Europe, and they're going to have their neighbor come over and stay the night and do most of the day, but the neighbors at work, and so they need you to come over and supplement the midday visit for them.
Collin 3:37
So, growth of just people needing their right, that demand was exploding. That's being pulled back here. And for us pet sitters and dog walkers, we might not able to just rely on the fact that everybody wants a pet sitter. We are having to start to explain why they want us specifically, why they need us, what we actually provide. I mean, there were times where, and there still are, where people call and they say, "Dog walker, and you say, "I'm a dog walker, and they say, "Great, walk my dog, and say, "Okay, I'll see you on Monday. A lot of those easy transactions, but now we've seen a lot more back and forth discussion, a lot more. Let me think about this. Let me make sure this is a good fit. Let me plan this.
Meghan 4:20
I have to go talk to my husband about it, or just go talk to my wife,
Collin 4:23
and what we see during this, looking back, is that during the boom, during that massive growth of 2019 into 2025 growth covered up a lot of weaknesses in businesses, a lot of business, and this isn't just in the dog walking and pet sitting industry, this is businesses across the board, there was this massive growth, and businesses that were weaker, maybe businesses that should not have grown as much, still grew because the demand was there. And now, what is going to happen is businesses that don't have their systems in place, don't have that good structure, don't have that ability to commute. Communicate and market and build those connections, they may see and struggle to grow like they have the last five years.
Meghan 5:07
Yeah, we're starting to see this cool off period, not necessarily a decline, but more of a cool off, because you know, you, yes, there were a lot of pets that were obtained in the past few years, and they all needed vet care, and they needed dog walkers and pet sitters, and all this sort of stuff, but we can't keep going up at that same trajectory, you know. There were a lot of people who sadly returned the pets that they got over the pandemic, it wasn't the right fit, or they went back to work and they were like, I don't know what to do with this lab now. Who's not just kind of being destructive at my home? And so now we are seeing this cool off period. There is a part that should excite us, though. The Morgan Stanley report for the pet care space said that the services, the pet care services, are actually continuing to gain their share of total pet spending, so it wasn't talking about the retail side, so not the toys, not the treats, not the products, but the services, and that should really speak to something here, because consumers are still spending money on yes, vet care and health care and prescriptions for their pets, grooming, and then yeah, the dog walking and pet sitting services. This connects to a broader trend that people are buying fewer pet things and more pet experiences and outcomes. We've talked about this on the podcast before of how can you make your dog walk not just a dog walk anymore? How can you elevate it? How can you make it an experience that people want to see their dog doing?
Collin 6:28
And this is where a lot of the pet retailers, they've really struggled. I mean, Chewie has seen this, all those shipping of pet owners don't want one more Trotsky sitting in the corner, one more thing for the dog to spend three seconds playing with, and then for it to get thrown away, because it's been destroyed.
Meghan 6:45
We have tons of clients that just have buckets and buckets of dog toys in their living room that the dogs don't actually play with anymore. So, I think people are starting to get a little tired of that.
Collin 6:54
Again, they want those experiences. More importantly, they want the outcomes. If you're a dog walker, remember, you don't sell a dog walk, you don't do that, you sell exercise, you're selling enrichment in that dog's life, because they are home and they want, you know, somebody wants them to come over, or maybe you're selling reduced anxiety, better behavior, convenience for the owner, no more pick up and drop off from a facility, and ultimately peace of mind. We say that word a lot, and that's a harder outcome for us to connect to. So, it's two different outcomes: an outcome for the client, the person, and the outcome for the dog. And making sure that we have that first and foremost, because that's what clients want when they say they want their pet to live a good life or a better life, that doesn't come from toys or treats, that comes from those experiences that they can give their pet.
Meghan 7:46
So, figure out what that looks like for you and your company. Yes, the enrichment could mean a toy that you bring over a new puzzle every week, and you allow the pet to play with that, so it doesn't have to be no toys at all. There is this enrichment aspect. We've talked about Safaris before, we talked about adventure hikes and field trips, and whatever makes your company different than somebody else. How can you bring about a Disney-like experience, not only for your client, but for the dog, so that your client sees the pictures or the videos that you give them and is excited that, while they're stuck in an office working behind a computer, their dog is out having this wonderful life. The
Collin 8:26
one thing with that, though, is that our services cost something. There is a cost in order for those experiences to happen. And the report that we're referencing here, there'll be a link in the show notes here, but it mentions that affordability is becoming the central issue for the deciding factor of the purchase decision of clients and consumers in the pet care space.
Meghan 8:46
Well, isn't that interesting? We need to be making our services different and more exciting and elevate them while at the same time keeping them at the same price, or maybe offering discounts or something, because people are looking for affordability.
Collin 8:59
They are with this is this is as business owners, we get really nervous because we already tend to be sensitive about the pricing of our services. We already tend to see ourselves as more costly or premium than free, right? The neighbor or the kid down the street. Here's the thing, though, affordability doesn't automatically mean price sensitivity. I mean, those two things can be broken down here because people still take on debt for veterinary care. People are, they still consider their, their pets as family members, and they are still continuing to spend on on food and other things. So they're just becoming more selective on what they're spending money on. Ultimately, we, if you, if you tie this to, okay, I'm worried about affordability. Well, that's just affordability for my pet as a whole. I just need to keep the costs down for maintaining my pet and keeping them happy as a whole. And so I know that there are some built-in costs here that I'm going to just have to absorb, but I need to keep them to a minimum as much as possible.
Meghan 10:00
So think about what extras you can do for your clients that get them that awesome experience and that are kind of free or nearly free for you. Is that shouting them out on social media? Is that including them in your email newsletter of favorite pet of the week? And here, here's Fido. What extras can you add that aren't going to add a whole lot of time or money, but are making the client feel special,
Collin 10:24
whether it's a walk club or those monthly shout outs, or things that you can do. It's not just always about adding, though. It's about making sure that your clients understand the context of your visits and what you're providing, because when people look at affordability, they look at, they start to cut back what gets cut first. It's those impulse purchases, it's those, it's those little toys that are at the checkout at PetSmart or the local retail store. They're not going to reach for those anymore. It's the, it's the nice to haves. Well, I could upgrade to a fountain, but a bucket of water is going to be just fine, or the commoditized services, the ones that just say this is for potty break, or this is for whatever, or there's.. it's just a thing. So, the things that survive, the things that don't get cut, are the things that solve problems, the problems that matter to the client.
Meghan 11:12
So, on your website, when you talk about a potty break, don't just say 'quick potty break' while you're at work. You want to again create that emotional experience and solve the problem of the person, your dog has a lot of energy, blah blah blah, it hopefully it doesn't create a ton more words, but it does need to evoke emotion in people rather than just stating a fact of what the service is,
Collin 11:34
your service is competing against the bored dog and how well your service will solve the problem of the bored dog, or the destructive dog, or the lonely dog, or of the elderly dog, or of a guilty owner, of the owner who's working the 10 hour shifts. Those are the problems that you are solving and competing against. Have we positioned our services, our business against those problems? Have I communicated well enough how my dog walk, my pet sit, my cat sitting visit solves problems for you, because if we keep that mindset of well, everybody just needs a dog walker, so I'll just have my website that says dog walker of dog walker to walk dogs, people will find me and I'll be okay, that's the whole point of this with the industry still growing, it's just going to be growing a little bit slower, and so that means that that easy growth that we can just skim off the top, that kind of excess, that overload of what people are doing, that's not going to cut it anymore. We have to be more savvy, more intentional about what we're building and how we are communicating to people.
Meghan 12:39
As pet care professionals, your clients trust you to care for their furry family members, and that's why Pet Sitters Associates is here to help. For over 20 years, they have provided 1000s of members with quality pet care insurance. Because you work in the pet care industry, you can take your career to the next level with flexible coverage options, client connections, and complete freedom in running your business. Learn why Pet Sitters Associates is the perfect fit for you, and get a free quote at pets@llc.com As a listener, you get $10 off your membership when you use code confessional at checkout. That's pets@llc.com because your peace of mind is part of great pet care. The bigger the problem you solve, the less price becomes the conversation. If you are integral to their life, if they cannot do what they want to do without you, then they're going to want you. They're going to want to come back. The cost of the service isn't necessarily as important as it was before, because you're awesome, and they know that you're awesome.
Collin 13:32
Well, again, you strip away the cost comparison, the price, the cost of something that is just $1 and cents discussion and decision, the value, though, is how well I have positioned what I can do against your problem. Have I educated the client on how big their problem actually is? Do they know how amazing my service, amazing about what I offer, how well that solved it for them? That's what this is, because if they just, if we, if we have in our mind, well, it's just a potty break. Well, then how much is quote just a potty break actually worth? Probably not a whole lot. How much is it worth to have peace of mind to not rush home on your lunch break and instead enjoy that with your coworkers or your family that you can meet up with to have some peace in the middle of your day and not rush around. How much is that worth? I don't know, but it's a lot more than quote just a potty break.
Meghan 14:32
The other thing we found interesting about the Morgan Stanley report is that cat ownership is increasing, which we knew about that with the dogs after the pandemic, everybody was getting one, but now the cat ownership is there too. We've had several cat-specific episodes recently, but there was a cat roundtable on episode 703 that would be amazing to go listen to. The report also found that dog ownership among younger adults was actually pulling back. The survey found several things explaining this first. Is that dogs are a lot more expensive, at least compared to cats. Dogs also require a lot more time. You have to play fetch, you have to take them outside. Cats are pretty easy, relatively. Dogs require housing flexibility. Not everybody accepts all breeds of dogs,
Collin 15:16
or not every place has good access for dogs to have a yard with, and as housing becomes increasingly less affordable for more people, as they look for cheaper and cheaper housing options, accessibility for dogs also decreases, and so people find that cats just kind of fit modern life a little bit better, and they're easier to maintain for them, and they're easier to live with and adapt with.
Meghan 15:43
This should make total sense for everybody who has switched to cats only in the past five years, but for the rest of us, it really should be a wake-up call. So, ask yourself, How cat-friendly is your business? If you have employees, how trained are they on cat behavior? It's much different than a dog. How about your marketing? Does it target cat owners? When you go to put up flyers, are there only pictures of dogs on there? Do you only have dogs on your social media, because that's the majority of your clients right now. Well, in order to put an emphasis on the cats, you're gonna have to start posting more about that. Are you treating cat visits as a side service? You may want to lean heavier into the cat side and talk about it more in our business. Our casting has grown exponentially, while our dog walking has slowed. That's not just our market, we're hearing it from other sitters as well. It's a broader industry trend that is coming down the pipe.
Collin 16:34
In an industry built on trust, and we see this in our businesses, the surveys found that veterinarians remain the most trusted source of pet care information to their clients. Trust matters. We know that when money gets tighter, though, trust becomes even more important. People don't want the cheapest option, they want the safest option. And safest here doesn't mean, oh, they're really trained or they have all of the expertise, they mean if I spend money with this person, I will get the result that I need. When money is tight, do we go to the sketchy mechanic down the road to fix the broken transmission? No, we figure that that I need to make an investment into this transmission and go to a higher end, a better quality shop that I know will guarantee the result.
Meghan 17:20
When we talk about trust and going with the safest option for us as professional pet sitters, what does that mean? That means certifications, having insurance, having a team backup, having fear-free training and reviews and experience, because all of that becomes increasingly valuable to the clients. They be as they become more cautious, they want more trust, they want more value. The trusted businesses ultimately win at the end of the day, not necessarily the cheapest ones. Again, we're not racing to the bottom here, we're doing the value for the work for us as small business owners, independent pet sitters and dog walkers. What does this mean? And we have five predictions here. The first one being that premium businesses will continue to thrive as long as you continue to set yourself apart, tell others what's different about you. You're not just Sarah down the street, you are somebody different. You offer different things, a different experience, different value. Owners are still going to spend heavily on their pets that they view as family. We've heard that saying, "Pets is family, we will treat your pets like our own. That type of phrasing is still good for the consumer.
Collin 18:25
Yeah, but so premium businesses will continue to thrive, but also middle of the road businesses will struggle, and this may seem counterintuitive. This is these are businesses that aren't the cheapest, and they also aren't clearly premium, and they're going to get squeezed here, because we've pricing is a signal. Pricing tells a story to clients, and as clients become more cautious about spending again, they want to know, I, if I'm investing in this, I want that return, I want that experience, I want that guarantee. And middle of the road businesses tend to struggle to signal this to the clients as well as the premium businesses do, and especially the cheapest options. Those don't signal that, because clients go, yeah, you're right. If I have $100 to spend, but I need this to actually work, I need this for my pets. I want to spend that $100 on the business that proves it to me and proves that I can get this. The third thing that we expect to see is that cat care. We already mentioned this, but cat care will grow faster than a lot of us expect. I really do think that cat sitter near me or cat care near me, those searches are going to go through the roof.
Meghan 19:35
So, continue to blog about cats, continue to talk about them, continue to offer different things for your cat clients, specifically for cats. We at events that we go to, there's not a lot of cat things, you know. Maybe it's not necessarily a dog specific event, it's just pets, but there's not a lot of cat toys out there. Even at our own table, we offer tennis balls, but for those that have cats who come by, we don't really have something for them. So, how can you cater to them more?
Collin 20:02
Yep, the other thing that's going to happen is that trust signals will become increasingly important in our marketing and in our conversations. Those trust signals, so what are those? Those, those are having the insurance, talking about your training, talking about your reviews, having a level of professionalism that others don't. And here's the thing, the professionalism. What does it mean for you? Well, PSI has their global professionalism standards. You can look at those. We'll have that in the show notes to reference that. And also, I think we'll throw in a link to our podcast that we did, talking about and breaking those down. Ultimately, though, all of this is building towards this last one here. It's that outcome-based marketing will outperform service-based marketing. This one's hard. This one's hard. We, we view ourselves as service-based businesses, because that's what we are. But remember, you're not selling dog walk,
Meghan 20:55
you're selling the experience. How is my pet going to feel after this, or even better yet, how am I going to feel? I'm going to feel like the best pet parent on the planet, because my dog was able to go explore the nearby trails today while I was cold in an office.
Collin 21:10
Yeah, so we help busy professionals have happier, healthy pets and live happier, healthier lives, or whatever that is. Make it so that the outcome is is focused on the person is focused on the pet. The
Meghan 21:25
good news here is that the pet industry is not collapsing, it is growing up, it is continuing to mature. Yes, it is slowing a little bit, but the optimism is still there. The pandemic created an environment where almost everyone could grow, and that's exciting. The next phase is still going to reward businesses that solve meaningful problems. We want to get our clients involved and emotionally invested in what we do. Also, it's going to reward businesses that build that trust. And how do you do that? You demonstrate the value that you bring. You're not just here to money grub, you really are invested in your clients and their success in their lives, of course, their pets too. And the next phase is also going to reward businesses that adapt to changing consumer behavior.
Collin 22:09
How we marketed even a year ago cannot be how we are marketing and connecting with our clients today, and it certainly cannot be how we market and connect with our clients a year or two from now, remember the businesses that survive this transition in the industry won't necessarily be the cheapest, because it's not about price. The businesses that survive are going to be the ones that, when the client gets their credit card statement or their bank statement, and they see your name,
Meghan 22:38
they don't cringe, they're excited,
Collin 22:40
and they think everything else can go before this. I've got to keep this here because of the value they provide, the life that I can lead, and what they give to my pet. That, that is exactly where we, the professionals, we, the dog walkers and pet sitters, that's where we should strive to sit in a client's life being essential to them in all things.
Meghan 23:07
We hope that this episode has been helpful to you. Get some brainstorm going on. If it has, feel free to share it with a dog walker or pet sitter friend. We would like to thank our sponsor, Pet Sitters Associates, and we will talk with you next time.
Collin 23:19
Bye
