LOS ANGELES — As humans become more tech-connected and embrace alternative health practices and diets, these trends are extending to pets, a new survey has found.
Michelson Found Animals Foundation, which commissioned the research, predicts that the top pet trends for 2019 will be smart tech, alternative therapies, and pets eating more like their owners. Michelson Found Animals is a non-profit social enterprise committed to saving pets.
“Pets bring so much joy to our lives, it makes sense that we would treat them as we treat ourselves. But this goes beyond the humanization of pets; these predictions are about people leveraging emerging trends to make it easier to be a good pet parent and take the very best care of their pets,” said Aimee Gilbreath, executive director of Michelson Found Animals Foundation. “The macro trend of health and wellness and the increasing number of millennial pet parents are changing the way we care for our pets, and it’s an exciting time.”
A particularly interesting finding: More than half (52 percent) of owners believe they feed their pets better than themselves. Millennials are more likely to say this (60 percent vs. 48 percent for 35+), as well as dog owners (56 percent vs. 48 percent for cat owners).
The survey included 1,000 dog and cat owners.
Tech
Intrigued by pet tech and its ability to give them a better grasp on their pet’s health and wellness, pet parents are motivated to give pet tech a try, according to a press release from Michelson Found Animals. Of those who do use health-related pet tech, they are interested in nutrition apps (47 percent), vet telemedicine (46 percent) and fitness trackers (31 percent) to maintain the health of their fur babies. Over half (53 percent) are interested in getting a pet tracking device or a microchip (52 percent) and four in 10 (40 percent) are interested in pet monitoring cameras. With one in four pet parents admitting they spend more on tech for their pets than for themselves, the future of pet tech is very bright.
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Alternative Therapies
Pet owners who have tried alternative therapies themselves are likely to use them on their pets as well, so it can be expected that pet applications will grow as the human trend continues its explosive growth. For instance, CBD- and hemp-based products are a growing trend among humans, and of those who have used these alternatives themselves, 74 percent have used them on their pets as well.
Food
As people’s growing awareness of food’s effect on health and wellness leads them to try new diets and eating plans, this trend is expected to continue to extend to their pets as well. Of those surveyed, 45 percent admit to personally following a diet and 70 percent of those admit to putting their pet on a special diet too. For example, almost half of pet parents who eat organic also feed their pets organic (47 percent vs. 12 percent average).
