Retail sales of pet medications—including sales through veterinarians, brick-and-mortar retailers and online—will reach $6.7 billion in 2011, according to “Pet Medications in the U.S.”, published by Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com (New York).

“The underpinnings of the U.S. pet industry remain strong, and the outlook is especially favorable for all things pet health-related,” said David Sprinkle, publisher of Packaged Facts.

Taking into account market drivers including the aging pet population, pet obesity and the heavy involvement of major pharmaceuticals companies, pet medication sales should return to their pre-recession rates of growth over the next few years, with annual percentage gains projected at 10 percent by 2015, according to the report.

For many years, veterinarians have been in the catbird seat when it comes to selling pet medications. Veterinarians have an inherent advantage in that they are the most trusted source of pet health information, with a built-in base of potential customers for pet medications. According to Packaged Facts’ May-June 2011 Pet Owner Survey, veterinarians are the outlet of choice for 71 percent of purchasers of heartworm medications, which are sold by prescription only, and for 40 percent of purchasers of flea/tick spot-ons, most of which are nonprescription.

Among brick-and-mortar retailers, mass-market channels are the least involved in pet medications, dealing mainly in flea/tick products. Nonetheless, online pharmacies, including those by Walmart and Target, continue to expand their product range. Packaged Facts expects these retailers to become much bigger players in the market.

Growth will come from both the pharmaceutical side of the market, as new drugs are launched, and from the retail side of the market, as products and ingredients crossing over from the veterinary channel broaden their retail following.

For more information or to purchase the study, visit https://www.packagedfacts.com/Pet-Medications-6044260/. [February 2012 PET AGE]