India had about 39 million pets in FY25, and the number is projected to pass 60 million by FY30. Demand for pet healthcare is growing even faster. The tougher question is whether the system is growing with it.
I often say India doesn’t just need more vets, it needs an ecosystem. Human healthcare works because it has layers: a family doctor, specialists, diagnostic labs, pharmacies, insurance, and doctors who keep learning and upskilling throughout their careers. Each layer supports the others.
In pet healthcare in India, most of that weight still sits on one general practitioner’s shoulders. That vet is expected to be the physician, the surgeon, the dermatologist and the counsellor, often in a single fifteen-minute consult. No individual can carry that. A system can.
Where the gaps are
I see three.
Workforce. Our veterinary training and public posts have historically been built around livestock, and government estimates suggest India needs around 65,000 veterinarians. Companion-animal care has largely had to grow within a system that was not designed for it.
Specialisation. Companion-animal specialists in dermatology, oncology, cardiology or rehabilitation are still few, and concentrated in a handful of metropolitan cities. Pet parents in tier 2 and tier 3 cities often have no option of specialist care at all.
Referral culture. This is the gap we talk about least. Cases that need a specialist often don’t reach one in time. In human medicine, referral is simply how good care works. Referrals to a specialist practice should be just as robust and easy in veterinary practice if we want to ensure great standards of pet healthcare.
Why referral matters so much
Chronic disease is where pets suffer longest. Take skin disease. Large Indian studies have found skin disorders in one in five dogs, and in some clinics one in three. Many of these conditions are complex, multifactorial and lifelong. When they are managed with repeated short courses of steroids or antibiotics, the pet gets temporary relief and the problem returns.
A timely referral changes that trajectory. For the referring doctor, referring a case is not losing a client; it is gaining a partner. For the pet parent, the responsibility of managing a chronic and complex condition now lies with one dedicated practice or doctor who will hold their hand and walk them through the process.
Diagnose before we treat
Diagnostics and data play a central role. We need to diagnose before we treat. That means access to cytology, culture and sensitivity testing, allergy workups and imaging, at prices pet parents can manage.
It also means better records. Chronic skin conditions call for a clinical history maintained consistently over years, backed by diagnostic results and clear notes on every visit and every drug dispensed. That lets veterinarians make decisions based on evidence, not memory.
Pet parents are the locus of pet health
70 per cent of pet parents in India are first-time owners. They love their animals deeply, but many are learning as they go, often from social media. Education is now a crucial part of treatment. When a pet parent understands why a diagnosis matters, why a medicine must be finished, or why it should not be discontinued unless the vet advises so, that is when outcomes improve.
But cost shapes clinical decisions more than we as a profession admit. Specialist care and good diagnostics can weigh heavily on the pocket, and pet insurance in India is still in its infancy. Families often choose the cheapest short-term fix. Prevention, early diagnosis and better financing would make the right choice the affordable one.
Collaborate!
If there is one change I would ask of the industry and my fellow professionals, it is this: collaborate. Working together and learning from one another is just what our profession needs.
There is a need to create platforms to put oncologists, ophthalmologists, dermatologists, surgeons, all the other specialists and young graduates in one room. Forums like this build referral relationships, spread shared protocols and give younger vets mentors. By having important conversations and updating our knowledge, we keep getting better, and in return, we provide better healthcare to our pets.
India’s pet healthcare, five years from now
As India’s pet population heads past 60 million, the maturity of the industry will depend on whether its systems keep pace. Five years from now, the measure should not be how many new clinics have opened, but how well connected they are.
In an ideal world, in five years, every pet parent in any city should have a general practitioner who knows when to refer, a specialist within reach, a lab that returns results quickly, and a financial safety net that helps them pay. That is not a distant dream. Every piece exists somewhere in India today. Our job is to connect them.