PetMetrix releases free report tracking 22 months of new competition in pet prescriptionsMerck launches non-adjuvanted rabies vaccine line with half-milliliter dose82 dogs with B-cell lymphoma lived a median 660 days after CHOP plus adoptive T-cell therapyMontana practice hired an associate to split on-call dutyMost cats with surgically repaired spinal fractures walk again within 8 weeksInappetence in geriatric patients signals pain or nausea, not pickinessAAHA publishes 2026 parasite guidelines built around emerging threats and One Health framingFeline chronic rhinosinusitis accounts for 35% of nasal disease casesPetMetrix releases free report tracking 22 months of new competition in pet prescriptionsMerck launches non-adjuvanted rabies vaccine line with half-milliliter dose82 dogs with B-cell lymphoma lived a median 660 days after CHOP plus adoptive T-cell therapyMontana practice hired an associate to split on-call dutyMost cats with surgically repaired spinal fractures walk again within 8 weeksInappetence in geriatric patients signals pain or nausea, not pickinessAAHA publishes 2026 parasite guidelines built around emerging threats and One Health framingFeline chronic rhinosinusitis accounts for 35% of nasal disease cases
Practice MoneyBy The VeterinaryPracticeNow Desk2 min readNovember 3, 2026
PetMetrix releases free report tracking 22 months of new competition in pet prescriptions
The report tracks major industry developments between September 2024 and June 2026 as product-only clinic visits dropped 6.2% in 2025.
A practice manager opens the monthly P&L and sees the pharmacy line down again, not catastrophically, but consistently, month over month. The scripts are being written, they are just not being filled in-house. PetMetrix just released a free report that names where those prescriptions are going.
The 22-month window the report covers
PetMetrix's Pet Medicine Home Delivery Report, 2026 Edition, tracks "the competitive landscape of the pet prescription market" from September 2024 through June 2026, according to the company. PetMetrix is "making the market intelligence freely available to veterinary practice owners, managers, and industry professionals," the company said.
According to Richard Hayworth, founder and CEO of PetMetrix, the period represents "the most significant 22-month stretch of new competition in pet Rx that I have seen since Chewy launched its Autoship program." The report examines how major industry changes are altering where pet owners buy medications, and PetMetrix said it "aims to help clinics understand shopping preferences so they can better retain pharmacy revenue as corporate competition intensifies."
The 70 percent share and the 6.2 percent drop
PetMetrix cited industry data showing that the veterinary channel still controls 70 percent "of the estimated $12.97 billion U.S. pet medication market." But product-only clinic visits dropped 6.2 percent in 2025, twice the 3.1 percent decline in total in-hospital visits.
That gap is the operational problem the report addresses. Total visits declined, but product-only visits declined faster, which means clients are coming in for exams and leaving with prescriptions they fill elsewhere. The margin that used to stay in the clinic is moving elsewhere.
If a practice's pharmacy revenue has been declining and the owner has been attributing it to client behavior, subscribe to VeterinaryPracticeNow for the business-side reporting that names the structural shifts.
Our read
The report is free, and that matters. Most market intelligence on prescription flow sits behind paywalls or inside corporate strategy decks. A practice owner or manager can request it, benchmark their own leakage against the national data, and decide whether to invest in tighter in-house dispensing, renegotiate fulfillment partnerships, or accept the margin loss and focus revenue elsewhere.
The 6.2 percent product-visit decline is the number to watch. That rate, if it continues, means practices that derive a meaningful portion of revenue from pharmacy will see that share compress. For an owner-DVM evaluating whether to sell or stay independent, that is a material change in the practice's income mix and its valuation multiple. For an associate on a production-based comp model, it is a line item that affects take-home even if exam volume holds steady.
The report does not name the specific mechanisms driving the migration. The source lists "several major industry developments" but does not detail them. What it does provide is the scale of the shift and the timeframe. That is the input a P&L review needs when the pharmacy line keeps dropping and the explanation has been "clients are just shopping around."
Request the report at petmetrix.com. It is available "to veterinary and animal health professionals as well as credentialed investors," according to PetMetrix.
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