Pet Owners Are Taking Note of Virtual Veterinary Care

With the rising trend of telemedicine over the past year, it should come as no surprise that pet telehealth is taking off as well. In fact, virtual veterinary companies are receiving quite a bit of funding. Virtual pet care company Airvet, which delivers on-demand virtual care to pet owners around the globe, announced a $14 million Series A funding round last year.

With all that in mind, CivicScience decided to research how pet owners have adopted (no pun intended) this up-and-coming option in veterinary medicine. 

According to CivicScience data from the past year, about two-thirds of U.S. adults are pet-owners. Talk about a huge potential market.

In a new survey specifically asking about virtual telehealth services, just more than half of pet owners have heard of virtual veterinary care, and only 6% have tried it. Of those who have tried it, however, only half report having a positive experience. The market is ripe with opportunities though, as 8% of pet owners report that they intend to try virtual pet care in the future. 

When grouping the answer options for simplification, 15% of pet owners have tried or intend to try veterinary telemedicine.  

Cat vs. Dog Owners

Cat owners are more likely to have already tried or have intentions to try virtual pet care. All around, dog owners are less aware of the existence of such services, so maybe in due time they will become more interested as they learn about the offerings.

Virtual Telehealth Demographics

Younger, high-earning women are more likely to have tried or be interested in virtual pet telemedicine.

Those who are remote want their pets to be too. While it’s likely a proxy for job type and status (and income level), those who are working remotely are twice as likely as those who are working outside of the home to be interested in virtual pet care.

When it comes to other habits of pet ownership, those who say price is the most important factor when shopping for pet food and supplies are much more likely to be interested in pet telemedicine.

Those who usually shop for their pet at a big-box pet chain (like PetSmart) or on Amazon are also the most interested in this sort of veterinary care.

Given that veterinary care is a $20 billion dollar a year market, the virtual pet care world is bound to grow. CivicScience will continue to track this emerging trend.