Pacemakers for Fido? Pet Care Market Offers Profit Potential Beyond Flea Collars
By Denise Ryan, Nerac Analyst
It’s no wonder the market for animal diagnostics and medical devices is growing when 58 percent of animal owners visit their vets more often than they do their own doctors. We are living in a time when companion animals, primarily dogs and cats, have evolved into the new children. Pets occupy approximately 63 percent of households in the United States, translating into close to 65 million dogs and 80 million cats.

A pet supply company survey recently showed that 28 percent of owners say they will spend more on a gift for their pet than they will on their spouse, and 54 percent say they will spend more than they will on their in-laws. We can only imagine what they’d spend to keep these animals healthy.

Well, we don’t have to imagine. The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) estimates that $40.8 billion dollars will be spent on pet care in 2007, an increase of more than $2 billion from 2006. Of that total, $9.8 billion, or just under 25 percent will be devoted to veterinary care, and a good portion of that will go to devices that prolong pet life. As consumers spend more on medical care for their companion animals, the pets tend to live longer, expanding the amount and level of care that can be provided with each passing year. The market potential is staggering.

Not only are the big players more known for their human products opening up divisions specific to the care of companion animals, but smaller companies such as Transoma Medical, UltiMed, and Infiniti Medical are also producing items to meet the growing need in the animal care segment. UltiMed has come out with Ulticare™ U-40, a syringe especially made for the diabetic dog or cat. Perhaps owners are using it in conjunction with Abbott Animal Health’s AlphaTrak™, a glucose monitoring system designed especially for cats and dogs. Infiniti manufactures and markets medical devices for veterinarians and has a variety of stents, guidewires, catheters, and vascular access devices. Transoma Medical manufactures implants that monitor an animal’s vital signs, which could be quite useful in the growing number of surgical procedures being performed on pets each year.

Just a few short years ago, it was unheard of to put a pacemaker into a pet, but now between 100 to 200 pacemakers are implanted in animals in the United States each year. In 2005, for example, the Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital in Pennsylvania alone implanted one or two pacemakers a month. The patients were mostly dogs, but there were also a few cats and ferrets. This one veterinary hospital has an emergency services department that operates 24/7, offers advanced trauma and diagnostic services, clinical rounds where residents and students collect medical histories, and has been called the birthplace of veterinary cardiology. That sounds like most of the hospitals I’ve had the pleasure of staying in, in some cases even better.

So it comes as no surprise that device manufacturers are taking a closer look at providing equipment, implants, and supplies scaled appropriated to cater to the growing needs of our furry friends, it is a market on the verge of expanding. A quick look at patent databases found 328 filed or in the application stage. The top three assignees were Radiant Medical with 25 patents, The Regents of the University of California with 17, and Cook as either Cook Group, Cook Inc., Wilson-Cook Medical, or Cook Urological with 13 patents.

It’s kind of ironic that some types of animals, used heavily for testing to ensure the safety of drugs, procedures and devices for the human population, are now reaping the benefits of tried and true human treatments to make their lives a little better.