- CATalyst Council forecasts U.S. veterinary clinical visit growth of -2% to 0% through 2030, below the 2% to 3% annual growth many industry stakeholders expect.
- The veterinary profession is now experiencing its fifth consecutive year of declining clinical visits, according to the report.
- New puppy visits have fallen approximately 38% below 2018-2019 baseline levels, creating what researchers call the “Puppocalypse.”
- Kitten visits remain 8% to 10% above baseline, a trend dubbed the “Kitten Craze.”
- The gap between puppy and kitten visit trends widened to 46 index points in 2026.
- Veterinary service inflation has risen 51.4% since December 2019, compared with 28.5% for all consumer goods, though the report focuses on patient volume rather than revenue.
The U.S. veterinary profession may be facing a decade of flat-to-declining patient volume, according to a new demographic analysis from CATalyst Council that challenges one of the industry’s most widely held assumptions about future growth.
The white paper, Puppocalypse, Kitten Craze, and the Expectations Reset: What Pet Demographics Reveal About U.S. Veterinary Visits Through 2035, argues that demographic trends already embedded within the nation’s dog and cat populations make a rapid rebound in veterinary visits unlikely. The report was co-authored by CATalyst Council, Vetsource, Kynetec and Dedekind Cut Labs using multiple independent industry datasets.
According to the authors, the industry’s expectation that clinical visits will soon return to annual growth of 2% to 3% is not supported by current pet population dynamics. Instead, they project combined clinical visit growth will remain between -2% and 0% through the end of the decade.
The Demographics Behind the Forecast
The report’s central thesis is straightforward: the size of each year’s puppy and kitten cohort largely determines veterinary visit volume from those animals for the remainder of their lives. Smaller cohorts entering practices today therefore create lower visit volumes for years to come, regardless of whether adoption rates recover later.
Researchers found that new puppy visits have declined for four consecutive years following the pandemic pet boom and now sit roughly 38% below their 2018-2019 baseline. The authors refer to this trend as the “Puppocalypse.”
Meanwhile, feline demographics tell a very different story.
Kitten visits have remained 8% to 10% above baseline levels since the pandemic and continue generating additional visits as those cohorts age. The report labels this phenomenon the “Kitten Craze.” By 2026, the difference between canine and feline visit trends had expanded to 46 index points.
The authors also contend that the pandemic puppy boom was less significant than many industry observers believed. While entry-level puppy visits briefly peaked approximately 22% above baseline, only about 13% of that increase remained after pandemic-related lifestyle changes subsided. In contrast, most of the kitten adoption gains persisted.
Why the Forecast Matters
The report suggests the findings have significant implications for veterinary practices, corporate consolidators, manufacturers and service providers that rely on assumptions of expanding patient volume.
According to the authors, flat-to-negative visit growth creates a fundamentally different business environment than one driven by steady increases in patient demand. Capacity planning, staffing strategies, same-store growth expectations and long-term investment decisions may all require reassessment if visit growth remains constrained.
The analysis notes that reaching the industry’s expected 2% to 3% annual growth rate would require sustained increases in puppy visits that have little historical precedent.
Feline Medicine Emerges as a Growth Opportunity
Executive Director Gina Fortunato pointed to feline medicine as one of the profession’s largest untapped opportunities. According to CATalyst Council estimates, only about one-third of household cats receive veterinary care each year.
The organization argues that practices investing in feline-friendly care, targeted marketing and efforts to improve routine veterinary utilization among cats may be better positioned to offset broader demographic headwinds.
“Cats are the one segment of this market that is growing,” Fortunato said in the report. “The practices and groups that get serious about feline care now are the ones positioned for the next decade.”
Looking Beyond Patient Counts
The report also examines several factors that may be contributing to declining canine visits, including rising veterinary costs. Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited in the analysis show veterinary service inflation has increased 51.4% since December 2019, compared with 28.5% for all consumer goods. However, the authors emphasize that the report focuses on forecasting visit volume rather than explaining causation or projecting revenue trends.
For veterinary leaders, the report’s broader message is that future growth may depend less on waiting for patient volume to recover and more on improving utilization among existing pet populations—particularly cats.
Information sourced from CATalyst Council’s white paper, “Puppocalypse, Kitten Craze, and the Expectations Reset: What Pet Demographics Reveal About U.S. Veterinary Visits Through 2035.”
