The therapeutic diet for pet market is anticipated to rise from USD 520 million in 2025 to USD 768.9 million by 2035 at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period. The market was already at USD 502.4 million in 2024 as there was an increasing awareness of condition-specific nutrition and preventive care among companion animals.
Pet foods containing veterinary-grade ingredients are receiving more and more acceptance because pet parents welcome the importance of nutrition towards healthy living or management/prevention of chronic disease like obesity, kidney disease, food allergy, and gastrointestinal sensitivity. Manufacturers are designing unique mixes with included mac- and micronutrients, probiotics, low-allergen protein sources of feed, and therapeutic ingredients to meet such new health conditions.
Under product classes, renal diets and gastrointestinal management are leading with the high prevalence of digestive and kidney diseases among older pets. Emerging classes such as weight control, diabetic care, and dermal diets are increasing at a higher rate due to pet ailments caused by lifestyle.
Pet store strategies are changing. While veterinary clinics continue to be dominant in the distribution channel, online stores, especially selling auto-delivery subscription accounts for specialty pet food, are on the rise. Personalization trends are becoming embedded in the pet food industry, similar to therapeutic diets with DNA-directed guidance regarding diet, breed-specific feeding, and age-stage-directed formulation.
North America leads the market, supported by high expenditure on pet healthcare and high adherence rates suggested by veterinarians. Europe follows, with rising demand for hypoallergenic and organic therapeutic pet food. Asia-Pacific, led by China and South Korea, is becoming a high-growth market with rising pet ownership and urban middle-class expansion.
| Attributes | Description |
|---|---|
| Estimated Industry Size (2025E) | USD 520 million |
| Projected Industry Value (2035F) | USD 768.9 million |
| Value-based CAGR (2025 to 2035) | 4.0% |
Market leaders like Hill's Pet Nutrition, Royal Canin (Mars Inc.), Nestlé Purina, and Blue Buffalo (General Mills) continue to dominate the market with massive vet-based distribution networks and R&D spend on disease-specific diet recipes.
The above table provides a comparative analysis of intra-year CAGR variation between the base year (2024) and the current year (2025) for the pet global therapeutic diet for the market. The analysis reflects growth trends and patterns of performance, which allow stakeholders to assign value to intra-year dynamics. H1 stands for January-June, and H2 stands for July-December.
| Particular | Value CAGR |
|---|---|
| H1(2024 to 2034) | 3.7% |
| H2(2024 to 2034) | 3.9% |
| H1(2025 to 2035) | 3.9% |
| H2(2025 to 2035) | 4.0% |
For the initial half of the 2025 to 2035 forecast period, pet therapeutic diet market will grow at a 3.9% CAGR, growing marginally to 4.0% CAGR in the latter half. This represents a 20 BPS increase in H1 and a 10 BPS increase in H2 over the 2024 base, recording steady growth momentum fueled by rising veterinary adoption, condition-targeted product development, and growing awareness about personalized nutrition.
Strongly entrenched Tier 1 competitors with robust global presence, firm science foundation, and robust ties with veterinarians dominate the pet market therapeutic diet. These competitors have built strong product portfolios of prescription-only items to treat several diseases like renal disease, obesity, food allergy, gastrointestinal disorder, etc.
Colgate-Palmolive's Hill's Pet Nutrition is another with its Prescription Diet product line which is used by professional veterinarians globally. Another market leader is Mars Inc.'s Royal Canin with breed-specific and vet diet lines based on rigorous research.
These brands are highly credible in their clinical trials and well-established relationships with vet clinics and animal hospitals. Their international distribution systems, mass merchandising marketing and education programs guarantee strong brand equity and loyalty among pet owners and professionals. They also significantly invest in research and development for their products to ensure that new product development is kept in step with changing trends in veterinary medicine and pet health.
Tier 2 in the veterinary diet pet food category are established companies who own veterinary diets but at comparatively smaller scale and geography compared to Tier 1 players. Nestlé Purina PetCare's Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets has a specialist but credible line of solutions to digestive health, joint mobility, diabetes management, and food intolerance.
Globally known, but it is much more aggressive to compete in North America and Europe. Farmina is another Tier 2 company that is generating buzz in Latin America, Europe, and some of Asia through its Vet Life therapeutic diet line. The firms balance scientific formulation with palatability and high-quality ingredient sourcing to produce competitive offerings.
Although their distribution may not be as wide, they depend upon sound digital platforms and relationships with vet clinics to reach their target customer base. They also fight on brand loyalty and pet owner satisfaction and compete on value and innovation in niche markets in the therapeutic diet space.
Tier 3 businesses include new firms and brands competing in niche markets of therapeutic pet food offering individualized or whole-istic offerings with increasing popularity among pet owners. Illustrations include JustFoodForDogs, which works with veterinarians to provide freshest fresh therapeutic food based on individual health status, and Rayne Clinical Nutrition, whose dietary specialty is novel and limited-ingredient proteins.
They lack the production scale and global reach of the large companies but compensate through agility, customer-focused strategies, and differentiation. These pet food companies target owners who seek alternatives to conventional kibble-based prescription food and are interested in transparency, whole-food ingredient blends, and evidence-based customization.
Extremely active online, they use DTC channels, boutique veterinary alliances, and social media presence as a means to connect with their consumer base. Though their market size is small compared to others, their distinctiveness and increasing customer confidence force them to grow extremely fast, particularly in urban markets where pet owners' demand for specialized veterinary services for pets is increasing.
Increasing Incidence of Chronic Diseases in Pets
Shift: Therapeutic foods are becoming more accepted due to the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as kidney disease, diabetes and obesity in companion animals. As pets live longer as veterinary medicine advances, the need for therapeutic foods to treat these diseases has never been more urgent across North America, Europe, and niche Asia-Pacific markets.
Strategic Response: These companies, like Hill's Pet Nutrition and Royal Canin, responded to this to a large extent by expanding their product lines from traditional to include therapeutic foods that can be directly used to treat common chronic diseases in pets. Those include measures targeting the general health and quality of life of the pet, along with proper nutrition or updating renal, weight and diabetes management.
Humanization of Pets and Spike in Pet Ownership
Shift: As pets become increasingly regarded as family members, owners are paying closer attention to their pets’ nutritional needs and are looking for higher quality and more specialized diets. This is very clear in maturity markets such as the USA, UK and Japan, where pet owners feel more and more comfortable investing in therapeutic foods to improve the quality of life and the life expectancy of their pets.
Strategic Response: Purina Pro Plan and Hill's Prescription Diet rode the trend by positioning therapeutic diets as high-end products, highlighting health benefits and quality ingredients. They also employed messaging around pet humanization, showcasing their product as part of keeping pets healthy and overall wellness.
Increased Demand for Natural and Clean Ingredients
Shift: Pet owners increasingly look for pet food with zero artificial additives, preservatives, or by-products. The clean-label, natural trend is being expanded to therapeutic diets as pet owners enjoy the diets that not only function medicinally but also are made with quality, traceable ingredients.
Strategic Response: Companies such as Nutro and Wellness have reacted with therapeutic diets made with natural, high-quality ingredients minus extraneous fillers. These products center on delivering basic nutrients in clean-label format, attracting health-focused pet owners seeking natural alternatives to conventional therapeutic diets.
Technological Advances in the Production of Pet Food
Shift: Pet food technological innovation, including precision nutrition innovation, is providing more direct and efficient therapeutic diets. The revolution is most evident in the veterinary sector, where tailor-made dietary solutions are being developed to address the specific health requirements of an animal.
Strategic Response: Royal Canin and Hill's Pet Nutrition were the first to use technology in creating precision therapeutic diets tailored according to the personal needs of individual pets. Nowadays, these businesses provide customized diets that not just treat a distinct health condition but also consider age, breed, and size, resulting in highly personalized pet nutrition program.
Growing Interest in Pet Health and Preventative Care
Shift: More and more people are becoming attuned to the value of preventative medical care, and thus more and more as a result are adopting the use of therapeutic diets for even pets with as yet undiagnosed medical conditions. This is largely more of a trend among millennials and Gen Z'ers in adopting active role participation in caring for one's own health.
Strategic Response: Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets and Hill's Prescription Diet have also leveraged this trend by marketing their therapeutic foods as part of an active pet health plan. Both brands have products that forestall the most prevalent pet health ailments like obesity, digestive disorders, and arthritis, and as such, their food is at the core of routine pet care.
Direct-to-Consumer and E-commerce Sales Channels
Shift:Growth of direct-to-consumer (DTC) and e-commerce channels is revolutionizing the therapeutic diet pet food market. Pet owners are buying therapeutic diets online, attracted to the convenience of home delivery as well as to the simplicity of comparing prices and products.
Strategic Response: Hill's Pet Nutrition and Royal Canin have become more online, selling their therapeutic diets to the end-users directly through their websites and third-party websites like Amazon and Chewy. Such competitors have also established subscription plans such that pet owners never run out of the therapeutic food they need, being a customer convenience and loyalty approach.
The below table provides estimated five-year CAGR of the top five countries. They are likely to witness strong consumption in 2035.
| Country | CAGR (2025 to 2035) |
|---|---|
| United States | 7.7% |
| Germany | 6.5% |
| China | 8.2% |
| India | 9.1% |
| Brazil | 8.0% |
United States is market leader in therapeutic pet food owing to strong demand owing to increasing levels of pet ownership as well as increasing pet care. Since more and more cat and dog owners are looking for solutions to some of the health problems like obesity, allergies, and arthritis, therapeutic pet foods have become a necessity in an attempt to give pets more health and well-being.
Demand is due to the need for specialty foods to control such conditions as gastrointestinal health, kidney disease, and food sensitivity. There is a heightened need for high-quality foods, scientifically formulated that deliver the precise nutritional requirements of animals.
Therapeutic diet is also great advocates of the adoption of therapeutic diet, and veterinarians will prescribe to pet owners with chronic diseases. Growing demand for natural, clean-label counterparts also goes with it as consumers increasingly look at the significance of ingredient quality and transparency. The USA consumer is repaid with innovation by the existence of target dietetic foods, geriatric cat and dog foods, and breed diets. Therapeutic foods increasingly are being supplied by Internet vendors and speciality stores, more conveniently situated at the user's fingertips.
Germany's pet therapeutic diet market also is expanding as Germany increasingly emphasizes high-quality, science-driven products. German customers love frankness and candour indulgence and like to be treated by clinical trials-backed foods. Nutrient content like utilization of healthy material ingredients like Omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, and several vitamins in supplements are also on top since they have pharmaceutical activities against family pet animals having chronic conditions.
Germany's established health food market for pets even brings high-quality product availability to the market on its own. With the requirement of a specific therapeutic food in order to satisfy the requirements of a specific medical condition, such as digestive health, food allergy, and kidney health, professionally established and science-based therapeutic food becomes more in demand by pet owners as urbanization increases among Germans. Distribution channels range as far as veterinarians' clinics, pet shops, and direct internet sales to provide convenient access to consumers.
Additionally, there is increased German demand from older pets for treatment old pet food, providing an opportunity for older animal pet feed. Green ingredients and packaging trends also compete to bridge the gap to catch up with wider German consumers' trends.
China likewise is experiencing phenomenal growth within the pet therapeutic diet category as a result of burgeoning pet ownership among urban consumers, specifically, and pet health awareness. Expansion of China's middle class and higher disposable incomes have been driving premium and specialty pet product demand, including therapeutic diets. Pet owners are better informed regarding pet health and seeking remedies for popular health concerns, including obesity, allergies, and gastrointestinal disease, which are on the increase among pets.
Therapeutic diets to treat such diseases are high in demand, i.e., joint health, gastrointestinal health, and food intolerance food products. The utilization of traditional Chinese medicine also impacts the pet market in China, and others who keep pets select holistic, natural treatments. Demand is thus increasing for naturally therapeutic pet food that is processed from high-quality natural ingredients.
These foods are being distributed through increasingly more media, such as vet clinics, the web, and pet specialty chains. Aside from that, the Chinese regulatory landscape is also changing with greater focus on food quality and safety, which is gradually winning customers' confidence towards therapeutic diets. Increased awareness about the necessity of preventive pet treatment will also contribute substantially to creating greater growth in the market over the next couple of years.
| Segment | Value Share (2025) |
|---|---|
| Gastrointestinal Disorders (By Health Condition) | 21.8% |
Gastrointestinal (GI) disease is among the most common conditions to be managed by therapeutic pet diets, particularly in food intolerance, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), pancreatitis, or dysbiosis dogs and cats. Category size is propelled by rising pet parent demand, prescriptive clinical veterinarians, and condition-specific diet popularity fueled by use of prebiotics, limited ingredients, and novel proteins.
GI therapeutic diets would consist of hydrolyzed protein, easy starches, omega-3 fatty acids, and soluble-insoluble fiber mixes. All are designed to calm inflammation, keep gut-friendly bacteria in balance, and heal intestines without causing reactions. Hill's Prescription Diet, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet, and Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets gained a loyal customer base using GI-focused SKUs vet-recommended worldwide.
Also, consumption of postbiotic and probiotic supplements with GI diets is on the rise, with some utilizing patented microbial strains in gut balance restoration. All these fall under pet health trends in general, gut health being the central pillar of systemic health-cognition and immunity not separate.
| Segment | Value Share (2025) |
|---|---|
| Senior Dogs (By Age Group) | 31.4% |
The age pet dog market is becoming ever more valuable source of income for the therapeutic pet diet company because of rising numbers of older pets, more veterinary diagnostic testing, and more pet owner sophistication. Dogs aged seven years and older are being placed on restricted diets to treat age-related health issues like degenerative joint disease, cognitive disorder, kidney disease, cardiac disorder, and obesity.
Supplements are added supplemental antioxidants, L-carnitine, omega-3 (specifically EPA and DHA), glucosamine, and chondroitin sulfate. Diets remain low in phosphorus, sodium, and fat consumption for average metabolic requirements of the adult dog and lower activity level. Restricted protein ingredients, hydrolyzed or limited ingredients, feed muscle without taxing kidneys and liver.
Cognitive support is the new category before us, and MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) and brain-protective nutrients are found in most aged dog food. This is one component of the trend in "neuro-nutrition for pets" where diet as prevention of such disorders as Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome (CDS).
The Pet Therapeutic Diet market continues to grow as pet owners continue to become increasingly interested in the health and wellness of the pet. Market leaders such as Hill's, Purina, and Royal Canin have maintained the leadership position by offering diet to pets according to a particular pet with a particular requirement such as weight, gastrointestinal issues, and skin issues. These pet food companies specialize in selling high-quality science-formulated pet food that converts to maximum health benefit in pets with health problems.
Blue Buffalo and Orijen were among the pet food companies which surfed on the waves of holistic nutrition and natural ingredients and extended an invitation to pets to join the family of allergen-free and grain-free food with sensitivity in mind. Since quality protein sources and dense ingredients are abundant, the brands take advantage of the pet owners' willingness to pay for clean and natural labels. With sustainability practices on board as well, the companies were getting increasingly broader support from the pool of green buyers.
For instance:
Based on age group, the market is segmented into cats and dogs. The cat segment is further divided into kitten, adult, and senior categories, while the dog segment includes puppy, adult, and senior classifications.
In terms of health condition, the market is categorized into kidney disease, weight management problems, arthritis and other orthopedic conditions, skin and/or coat health problems, oncology support, food allergies, diabetes and other endocrine disorders, gastrointestinal issues, liver disease, periodontal disease/oral health, and cognitive health.
With respect to distribution channel, the market is segmented into offline and online sales. Offline includes physical retail outlets and veterinary clinics, while online comprises e-commerce platforms and pet-focused digital retailers.
Geographically, the market is analyzed across North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South Asia & Pacific, East Asia, Central Asia, Balkan & Baltic Countries, Russia & Belarus, and the Middle East & Africa.
The industry is estimated at a value of USD 520 million in 2025.
Sales increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 3.5% between 2020 and 2024.
Some of the key players in this industry include Hill’s, Purina, Royal Canin, Blue Buffalo, Orijen, Nature’s Variety, Wellness, Ziwi, Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild, Virbac, and Others.
North America is expected to hold a significant revenue share over the forecast period, driven by a growing emphasis on pet health and wellness.
The market is projected to continue expanding at a robust CAGR of approximately 4.0% from 2025 to 2035.
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Therapeutic Diet for Pet Market
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