India’s pet care industry is shedding its low-engagement, low-aspiration skin and growing into something far more dynamic, emotionally charged, and complex. The transformation is being driven by a surge in first-time pet ownership, rising disposable incomes, and growing consumer willingness to spend on healthcare, grooming, and non-essential products for pets, according to Redseer’s report. "India’s petcare market is currently pegged at ₹20,000-30,000 crore ($2.5–3.5 billion), is expected to touch ₹1 lakh crore over the next decade, growing at 20-25% annually," per the report.

“Nearly 90% of pet parents in the country are first-timers,” says Vineet Khanna, co-founder of Supertails, a pet care platform. “And when that’s the case, what they need is handholding, not just transactions. So, we are not just selling food or medicines—we are guiding, educating, and emotionally supporting pet parents throughout the lifecycle of their pets.”

This shift—from ownership to parenthood—underlines how different the pet care story in India looks today, compared to even five years ago.

What’s fuelling this boom? Three overlapping shifts: adoption, knowledge, and involvement.

First, more Indians are bringing pets home. Factors like delayed marriages, lower fertility, rising loneliness, and higher disposable incomes are pushing adoption higher. There’s also a clear ripple effect as Khanna observes, “peer pressure.”

Second, the Indian pet parent is more informed than ever. “Almost 80% of pets in India are pure breeds, which means owners are investing in their pets, not just financially but emotionally,” he adds. This has led to a spike in preventive healthcare, grooming, and even discretionary spending on accessories and clothing.

Third, and perhaps most crucially, the depth of involvement has changed. “Today’s pet parent prefers being called a ‘pet sibling’ rather than an owner,” says Khanna. “It’s their first responsibility—much like having a child. Which is why they’re willing to spend, and spend well.”

Carving its own space

This shift is pushing the category beyond traditional retail towards full-stack platforms offering healthcare, curated products, grooming services, and at-home consultations. Supertails, launched with this vertical integration in mind, now claims to address seven of 10 major needs in pet care, including pet food, non-food essentials, medicines, and both online and offline healthcare.

Healthcare is seeing high adoption. Supertails has conducted over 500,000 teleconsultations and launched three offline veterinary clinics in Bengaluru, with plans to expand to 10-12 clinics in the city this financial year and eventually enter other metro markets. “Healthcare will outpace the rest of the category in growth,” says Khanna. And with less than 4,500 pet clinics in India today—a number that’s doubled since Covid-19—there’s still plenty of ground to cover, especially since the average age of India’s pet population is still under five years. “Most pets adopted during the pandemic are now entering the age when preventive and specialised care becomes essential.”

But healthcare isn’t a side bet, it’s the central hook. “We didn’t want our offline play to mirror what we do online,” he explains. “Our goal was to complement it. So, our clinics aren’t just retail outlets with products on shelves. They’re designed around pet-friendly care—fear-free certifications, pheromone use, no sharp edges, diffused lighting, and even separate zones for cats and dogs.”

The company, which also offers doorstep delivery of pet medicines, aims to deliver across Bengaluru in under 30 minutes in the next quarter. It plans to extend its rapid delivery model to Delhi and Mumbai by year-end. Around 70% of its revenue currently comes from pet products, including a 10% contribution from private labels, and 30% from healthcare services. “We’re not a quick commerce player, but we operate like one,” Khanna says. “And we’re not on other platforms. We’re our ecosystem.”

While the market was initially driven by urban consumers, Supertails says 35-40% of its business now comes from beyond India’s top 10 cities. The company attributes this to increasing demand from tier-II and tier-III cities, where pet ownership has always existed informally but is now becoming more structured and aspirational.

“Contrary to the common perception, this category didn’t originate in metros. Larger homes in smaller cities always had pets—what’s changed is access to quality services,” Khanna says.

What the gaps are

However, for a category growing this fast, India’s pet care penetration still lags behind global markets. For starters, only one in six pets in India is vaccinated. Just one in three has ever visited a vet. And unlike the West, where training is often mandatory, in India, most pet care is reactive and informal. “We’re trying to change that by anticipating needs before they arise,” Khanna says. “Imagine we tell you your dog’s vaccination is due next week or that their birthday is coming up. We can recommend a curated list for that. That’s where our pet data comes in.”

There are also serious gaps at the end of a pet’s life—a topic hardly discussed. “When a pet passes, parents are often clueless,” he adds. “There’s no support for euthanasia decisions, no grief counselling, and cremation services are completely unorganised.” Supertails isn’t in that space yet, but Khanna says it’s part of the long-term vision—even if they act as an enabler, not a direct provider.

“Our North Star is retention, not just GMV. If you think like that, profitability becomes a natural outcome, not a forced metric,” he adds.