Stronger bonds are driving pet tech adoption in veterinary care

CURRENT FULL VERSION: A stronger human-animal bond is doing more than deepening attachment between pets and people. It’s also influencing how pet parents want to access veterinary care. New research from HABRI and Chewy Health found that pet parents with the strongest bonds are more likely to visit the veterinarian, spend on care, and adopt technology tools that help them navigate health decisions, communication, and affordability. The findings surfaced publicly in a January 6, 2026, dvm360 Vet Blast podcast episode and trace back to a larger October 6, 2025, study and professional guide from HABRI and Chewy Health. (dvm360.com)

The backdrop is a veterinary market already under pressure to improve access, convenience, and continuity. Chewy has been building out health services, including tele-triage and in-person Chewy Vet Care clinics, while industry groups and media have been tracking growing interest in telehealth, telemetry, AI, and at-home monitoring. At the same time, veterinary leaders have been cautious that newer tools need to be validated, pet-friendly, and genuinely useful in practice, rather than adding noise to already stretched teams. That caution is showing up alongside more concrete use cases: dvm360 has recently highlighted teletriage and telementorship models that help general practices extend access to guidance without over-referring, anesthesia teleconsulting services that remotely monitor cases in real time using a phone, tablet, or laptop, and veterinary virtual assistants and AI-native practice software aimed at offloading repetitive communication and administrative work. (forbes.com)

The HABRI-Chewy Health Pet Health Challenges Study was fielded online February 6-13, 2025, among 2,005 U.S. dog and cat pet parents who were primary care decision-makers. According to the release, 97% said their pet is a member of the family, 77% said their pet is their best friend, and 90% said their pet improves their mental or physical health. The study found that 74% described at least one aspect of pet care as very or extremely challenging, and 82% said they struggle at least somewhat to understand their pet’s health. Seven challenge areas emerged, including veterinary and health care, quality of life, behavior, housing, affordability, travel, and the emotional toll of leaving pets alone. (prnewswire.com)

What stands out for veterinary professionals is the link between bond strength and digital adoption. HABRI’s Lindsey Braun said in the dvm360 discussion that respondents with the strongest bonds were more likely to visit the veterinarian more often and were more interested in, and already using, technology tools to address care challenges. The formal release quantified that shift: willingness to adopt technology rose from 24% among “strong bond” pet parents to more than 50% among those with the “strongest bonds,” with the strongest interest centered on tools that help afford, find, and manage veterinary care. Satisfaction with veterinary care was also highest when practices supplemented in-person visits and phone calls with another communication mode, including texting, apps, email, or telehealth. (dvm360.com)

That broader technology interest is no longer theoretical. In recent Vet Blast coverage, VetTriage chief medical officer Dr. Shadi Arefi has described teletriage and telementorship as practical ways to help general practitioners manage more cases confidently while easing specialty bottlenecks. In another episode, Dr. Gianluca Bini outlined an anesthesia teleconsulting model in which a remote anesthesiologist follows cases start to finish by video, watching induction, monitoring, and recovery in real time and intervening when needed. Other dvm360 reporting has explored veterinary virtual assistants that can handle a wide range of front-office and client communication tasks remotely, and Digitail cofounder Sebastian Gabor has argued that AI is advancing quickly enough to reshape everyday software workflows, with the main near-term effect being faster, cheaper, more capable tools for practice teams. Together, those examples help explain why pet parents may increasingly see digital access as part of good care rather than a separate add-on. (dvm360.com)

Industry reaction outside the HABRI-Chewy ecosystem points in the same direction. A March 17, 2025, PetDesk report said 31% of pet parents were considering switching veterinary clinics within a year, and tied that risk to gaps in digital convenience such as online booking, reminders, record access, and text or chat communication. AAHA’s late-2024 coverage of telehealth and telemetry also emphasized that pet parents tend to be more engaged and compliant when they can participate in measuring and monitoring progress at home, while cautioning that wider adoption depends on validation and clear use cases. There is also growing interest in innovations that reduce the treatment burden itself. On the Veterinary Innovation Podcast, Akston CEO Todd Zion described the company’s push into companion animal health around long-acting therapeutics, including once-weekly insulin concepts for dogs and cats, with the goal of making chronic treatment easier for owners and pets. That kind of product innovation fits the same underlying demand signal identified in the HABRI-Chewy study: pet parents with the strongest bonds are often willing to do more, but they also value tools and therapies that make care easier to follow through on. (prnewswire.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary teams, this research suggests that technology adoption is less about novelty and more about relationship design. Highly bonded pet parents may be the most motivated clients in the practice, but they can also feel challenges more acutely and expect more support. That creates an opening for tools that improve communication, reduce administrative friction, and help clients act on recommendations, especially around follow-up care, chronic disease monitoring, affordability conversations, and access to expertise that may not be available on site. The practical takeaway is that digital channels may have the greatest payoff when they deepen the veterinary-client relationship rather than attempt to replace it. (dvm360.com)

That framing also matters commercially. As pet parents become more selective about convenience and responsiveness, practices that still rely mainly on phone calls may face retention pressure, particularly among younger clients. The HABRI-Chewy findings suggest that pet parents don’t just want more technology, they want more connected care: communication that feels personal, easier ways to navigate costs, and tools that help them feel informed between visits. For independent and corporate practices alike, that may strengthen the business case for investments in client communication platforms, teletriage support, remote monitoring, virtual assistant models, AI-enabled software, and education workflows. Longer-acting therapies that reduce dosing frequency could also become part of that convenience equation, especially in conditions where adherence is a daily challenge. (prnewswire.com)

What to watch: The next step is whether practices, vendors, and industry groups can turn these survey insights into validated, workflow-friendly tools with measurable impact on compliance, retention, and access to care. HABRI and Chewy Health have already published a veterinary guide based on the study, and the broader market is likely to keep testing which technologies truly help teams and pet parents without adding burden. Watch in particular for continued growth in teletriage, telementorship, remote specialist support, AI-assisted practice operations, and treatment innovations designed to make care easier to deliver and easier for pet parents to sustain at home. (prnewswire.com)