Watson, one of Hsu’s cats, eats food she prepared at her home in Brooklyn. — Photos: GAVIN DORAN/The New York Times
Dr Jennifer Glenn has noticed a shift recently in some of the pet owners who visit her veterinary clinic in New York City’s Brooklyn borough. For one thing, they’ve been going against her guidance.
One person, for example, attempted to treat a dog’s ear and skin infections with apple cider vinegar. Another opted for essential oils over standard flea and tick medications. There are others who, when she brings up vaccines, say they need to do their own research.
“These owners, they only mean well,” said Glenn, a veterinarian at Williamsburg Veterinary Clinic. “But they don’t know that they actually might be endangering their animal.”
The situation can look similar outside the clinic, too, as some people embrace an alternative approach to pet health. They are choosing supplements over medications, opting for raw meat mixtures over kibble and expressing hesitation about vaccinating their pets.
The demand has created a new market that combines high-end pet care and wellness, two industries that have grown rapidly in the past few years.
Upstart brands are offering products that look like they belong in a wellness brand catalog: ashwagandha for pets’ anxiety, colloidal silver for wound care and “collagen puptides” for joint pain.
Buddy, a dog supplement brand, sells a meal topper that includes L-Taurine and bamboo and reishi mushroom extracts, which the company claims promotes “holistic canine health, wellness and longevity.”
The industry is a natural extension of the broader American culture, said Andrea Hernandez, who writes the food newsletter Snaxshot.Maddie Guy, one of Buddy’s founders, said people are becoming more thoughtful about what they put in their own bodies, and that “it makes sense that that’s also being reflected in the pet industry.”
Many of the products are marketed as “vet-created” and “science-backed,” but their proliferation has made some in the veterinary field nervous.
Hsu's elaborate routine involves hand-grinding a variety of meats and then adding supplements to the mixture.
Approach with caution
Michael San Filippo, a spokesperson for the American Veterinary Medical Association, suggested pet owners approach products that make “broad or anecdotal claims about boosting health or vitality” with caution, as they may not always be rigorously tested.
Pet supplements are not directly regulated, he added, “which can leave gaps with respect to ingredient accuracy, quality control and the potential for interactions with other medications.”
Nevertheless, the companies selling these products have found an enthusiastic customer base, with some owners extolling the benefits of supplements for longevity, anal gland issues and muscle health on social media. Taylor Cockrell, 28, a content creator in Houston, is not particularly passionate about her own nutrition, she said, but she has experimented with giving her pets a variety of supplements.
“I’ve been down every rabbit hole there is to make sure my pets live as long as possible,” Cockrell said. She ultimately settled on giving her four cats a milk thistle supplement, designed to support liver and kidney function. Cockrell also has a dog, and she feeds all of her pets a raw meat diet.
Hsu, who spends hours preparing a raw meat diet for her two cats, separates egg whites from the yolks at her home.
Joyce Hsu, 31, a graphic designer in Brooklyn, feeds her two cats raw meat, too. Pet owners can buy ready-made raw food meals online.But Hsu’s routine is more elaborate. She hand-grinds a combination of chicken, turkey and beef, as well as rabbit, muskrat and beaver meat (their favourite, she says).
Then, she tosses in supplements like taurine, vitamin E and fish oil and puts the mixture in individual Mason jars. She estimated the process takes eight hours, and suggested people talk with a veterinarian before trying the diet. (Veterinarians generally consider raw meat diets dangerous as they can increase potential exposure to foodborne pathogens.)
Spending more
Many Americans are spending more on their pets than ever before, which has likely given the pet wellness industry a boost. But there are signs that eroding trust in veterinarians is also playing a role. One survey published this year indicated that “a substantial minority” of pet owners no longer trusted their veterinarian, mirroring growing distrust of doctors.
Vaccine scepticism has become quite common among pet owners. In 2023, a survey of 2,200 United States dog owners showed that 52% of them were hesitant to give their dogs a vaccine, and 37% of respondents believed them to be unsafe.
Many veterinarians are partly paid based on how much revenue they bring in, and some owners have become suspicious of upselling, with veterinary prices having jumped more than 60% over the past decade. One recent survey indicated that about half had opted against visiting the vet or accepting the recommended care, mostly because of cost concerns.
For a while, Devan Joseph, 32, of Brooklyn, who works in audio production and podcasting, gave Prozac to his German shepherd mix, Ollie, to help with his anxiety. But renewing the prescription required a US$75 (RM314) visit to the vet every two months, which felt excessive. So he stopped.
To people like Joseph, some wellness products, even if pricey, can still seem cheaper than traditional veterinary recommendations (he ultimately went with hemp treats).Some startups have incorporated this idea into their marketing strategies. Kayode, a supplement brand, claims that its “collagen puptides” can “prevent the need for expensive medications or shots at the vet.”
In some cases, trying out a wellness product can feel like a worthy experiment for a pet owner, if nothing else. A.J. Henning, 43, a teacher in Santa Barbara, California, has started adding CBD oil to his 18-year-old cat’s food in an attempt to treat her seizures.
“The guy at the pet store is like, ‘Hey, is this working?’” Henning said. “I’m like, I don’t know. We just put it on the food and hope.’” – ©2025 The New York Times Company
