The petcession isn't here yet

• People keep splashing out on their pets even as they pull back spending elsewhere.
• Earnings from Chewy show that pet owners kept spending on food and accessories last quarter.
• Medicine and vet care represent another high-growth area, one industry CEO said.

Fancy shoes? No. A splashy vacation? no. Chewsticks? Add to cart.

Shoppers are remaining cautious about making many purchases for themselves. But many are still spending on their pets.

Retailers and brands have indicated this earnings season that pet owners are continuing to spend on their dogs, cats, and other non-human companions even as fears about a recession persist.

Chewy, an online retailer that sells food, beds, medicines, and other pet accessories, said on Wednesday that it beat estimates for its fourth quarter.

The company grew the number of its active customers for the first time in two years. Many customers also signed up for Chewy's auto-ship program, which sends them food at regular intervals and charges their account automatically.

"As we move into 2025, the momentum in the business has remained strong," CEO Sumit Singh said on an earnings call on Wednesday.

Lingering inflation and new pressure from tariffs may raise prices for everything from veterinary care to kitty litter, according to a study published earlier this month by Rover, a gig pet care app.

Yet shoppers have kept spending on their pets in recent years, even as they have faced economic challenges. Many people adopted new pets during the pandemic and invested in fresh food, medicine, clothes, and accessories for their new companions. As they started traveling and going back to in-person work, they added services like pet sitting to their budgets.

Many millennials are also adopting pets as they put off having kids — or choose never to have kids at all — leaving more disposable income to spend on their four-legged kids.

Companies continue to look for new ways to cater to pet parents.

Chewy has opened eight veterinary clinics around the US, according to its website. The clinics help bring in new customers to Chewy as well as attract business from current ones, Singh said on an earnings call last year.

Another growth area is medicine itself, said Jeffrey Simmons, CEO of Elanco Animal Health, which makes medicines and vaccines for animals, including pets.

Many pet owners will likely keep spending on their companions, including on extending their lives, Simmons said. Many pets deal with cancer, kidney disease, and other conditions that need special treatments.

"We have the same problems with aging pets as you do with humans," he said.