Chewy to open first veterinary practice in Florida

Chewy has launched its first pet health practice called “Chewy Vet Care,” offering routine appointments, urgent care and surgery. It is expected to launch in South Florida in early 2024 and then expand to other states.

The company told investors it plans to open between 4 and 8 new practices by the end of next year.

The practices will be supplemented with Chewy’s custom-built open platform, which can be applied both to Chewy Vet Care and third-party partner practices. According to Mita Malhotra, President of Chewy Health, expanding into veterinary care is a “natural step” in Chewy’s evolution.

Chewy Vet Care is another addition to Chewy’s pet health portfolio, which includes Connect with a Vet, a pet pharmacy and tele-triage service, and CarePlus, an insurance branch.

$3 billion

The announcement comes just a few months after retailer giant Walmart announced the opening of a new pet service center in Georgia.

According to the latest figures, Chewy Health made over $3 billion (€2.7B) between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023. Internal research conducted by the retailer suggests that 50% of US pet parents would “definitely” or “probably” want to switch to Chewy Vet Care clinics if presented with this service.

Warning for unapproved animal antibiotics

Chewy has also come under fire recently as it received a warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for selling products containing unapproved antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs for animals, such as penicillin and amoxicillin.

The FDA warns that these could potentially “contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance, which affects both human and animal health.”

The retailer has been granted until the end of the year to state how they will address the violations, failure to which may result in the regulator taking legal action, which may include product seizure or a court order to stop the distribution of unapproved products.