Stronger pet bonds are driving veterinary tech adoption

A new industry message is taking shape in veterinary medicine: pet-care technology may gain traction fastest when it supports, rather than disrupts, the bond between pet parents and their animals. That was the central takeaway from a 2025 survey conducted by the Human Animal Bond Research Institute, in partnership with Chewy Health, and discussed in a January 6, 2026, Vet Blast podcast from dvm360. The survey found the human-animal bond scored higher than in prior HABRI surveys and that stronger bonds tracked with more veterinary engagement and greater openness to digital care tools. (dvm360.com)

The backdrop is a profession still working through familiar pressures: access challenges, affordability concerns, workforce strain, and rising expectations from digitally fluent clients. HABRI’s 2025 impact report said the Pet Health Challenges Study was designed to examine not only the challenges pet parents face, but also how new technologies and bond strength shape those experiences. In that survey, respondents most often pointed to challenges around understanding pet health, leaving pets alone, and affording care, with younger, lower-income, and multi-pet households feeling the strain most acutely. (habri.org)

The numbers help explain why this matters commercially and clinically. According to Veterinary Practice News, the nationally representative survey included more than 2,000 U.S. dog and cat pet parents and found that 97% viewed pets as family members, 77% said their pet was their best friend, and 82% reported difficulty understanding their pet’s health. The same coverage said pet parents with the strongest bonds were twice as likely to adopt solutions such as telehealth, wearables, and apps, while Gen Z respondents reported higher stress but greater willingness to try digital tools. HABRI’s impact report added that willingness to adopt technology rose from 24% among “strong bond” pet parents to more than 50% among those with the “strongest bonds,” with the most interest centered on tools that help afford, find, and manage veterinary care. (veterinarypracticenews.com)

In the dvm360 podcast transcript, Lindsey Braun said the average HAB score in the study was 60 out of 70, which she described as the highest average HABRI has recorded. She also said respondents with the strongest bonds were more likely to visit the veterinarian more often and to experience pet-care challenges more intensely, even if they did not necessarily face more challenges overall. Tiffany Tupler, DVM, pointed to a related problem for practices: many pet parents struggle to sort reliable health information from poor-quality information, creating an opening for veterinary teams to act as translators, educators, and trusted guides. (dvm360.com)

That opening is already being filled by a wider range of technology models than simple client messaging alone. In a Vet Blast episode on teleconsulting, board-certified anesthesiologist Gianluca Bini, DVM, described a service that remotely follows anesthesia cases start to finish by video, with clinicians reviewing records, helping set protocols, and watching induction, monitoring, and recovery in real time. In another Vet Blast discussion, Shadi Ireifej, DVM, DACVS, framed teletriage and telementorship as ways to extend specialist support and build confidence in general practice teams that may otherwise refer cases they could manage with the right backup. A separate Vet Blast episode on veterinary virtual assistants made a similar point from the operations side: remote team members can take on many communication and administrative tasks virtually, helping practices manage demand without adding the same on-site staffing burden. Together, those examples reinforce the broader survey finding that technology is being positioned as a way to extend access, expertise, and continuity around the veterinary-client relationship, not replace it. (dvm360.com)

Industry commentary is already pushing the same interpretation. In a December 2025 commentary in Today’s Veterinary Business, Braun wrote that veterinary teams should be at the center of these conversations and that the data points to specific ways professionals can strengthen both the human-animal bond and the veterinary-client relationship. The guide developed by Chewy Health and HABRI, The Bond Factor, frames technology as part of that strategy, emphasizing communication choices that align with how pet parents want to engage. Veterinary Practice News likewise reported that satisfaction with care increases when practices use several communication modes alongside in-person visits and phone calls. (todaysveterinarybusiness.com)

The technology pipeline is also expanding beyond communication tools. On the Veterinary Innovation Podcast, Akston CEO Todd Zion described the company’s move into animal health around long-acting therapeutics, including work on insulin designed to reduce the burden of twice-daily dosing for dogs and cats with diabetes. On the same podcast, Digitail co-founder Sebastian Gabor discussed how rapidly improving AI infrastructure is lowering costs and accelerating development of AI-native veterinary software, with the practical implication that more tools may soon be embedded directly into everyday workflows rather than added on as separate systems. Those developments fit the same pattern seen in the HABRI data: innovation is most compelling when it makes care easier to access, understand, and sustain for both clinics and pet owners. (veterinaryinnovationpodcast.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is less a story about gadgets than about workflow and trust. If stronger emotional attachment makes pet parents more likely to seek care, spend on care, and adopt digital support tools, then practices may get the best return from technology that reduces friction around communication, monitoring, education, and follow-up. That is especially relevant as affordability remains a top barrier and as more pet parents look for nontraditional touchpoints, including phone and video-based support. AAHA has also argued that telehealth, when used appropriately, can improve client satisfaction, strengthen bonding to the practice, and support patient outcomes. The newer examples across anesthesia teleconsulting, teletriage, virtual assistants, AI-enabled practice software, and longer-acting therapeutics suggest the category is broadening into both clinical care delivery and operational support. (habri.org)

There’s also a caution embedded in the findings. Stronger bonds can increase willingness to engage, but they can also heighten anxiety, expectations, and the emotional weight of decisions. That means digital tools will likely work best when they extend the veterinary relationship, not when they try to replace it. For hospitals, that could mean more thoughtful use of texting, teletriage, client education tools, asynchronous follow-up, remote specialty input, and other systems that help pet parents feel informed and connected between visits. (dvm360.com)

What to watch: The next phase will be whether practices and vendors can turn this insight into measurable gains in compliance, satisfaction, and retention, particularly among younger pet parents and cost-sensitive households, and whether more formal data emerges on which tech channels actually improve outcomes in day-to-day practice. It will also be worth watching whether AI-native software, remote specialist support, virtual staffing models, and lower-burden therapies can show they improve access and efficiency without weakening the trust-centered role of the veterinary team. (habri.org)