Originally published: Pet News, 5 May 2026
Australian pet owners are increasingly turning to online advice, personalised nutrition and emerging technologies to care for their animals.
The inaugural Future of Pets Report 2026 from Royal Canin surveyed more than 1,600 Australian pet owners and 100 veterinary professionals, finding a widening gap between how owners perceive their decisions and what vets are seeing in clinics.
While only 5 per cent of pet owners said social media influenced their pet food choices, 72 per cent of veterinarians reported seeing nutrition decisions shaped by online trends, including raw feeding and grain-free diets.
Dr Annabel Robertson, Senior Veterinarian at Royal Canin, said the growing volume of online content was complicating decisions for owners.
“The explosion of online advice is making feeding decisions more complex than ever. In a world of trends, science is still the most proven path, especially when nutrition plays such a critical role in lifelong health.”
She said veterinary expertise was increasingly competing with unqualified online voices.
“Veterinarians are trained to put science, evidence and the pet first. Yet that expertise is now competing with 60 second videos from unqualified influencers. The data is clear, owners don’t think they’re being influenced, yet vets are seeing the impact every day.”
The report found financial anxiety was also widespread among pet owners. About 78 per cent said they were concerned veterinary care could become unaffordable, while 63 per cent did not have pet insurance.
The research was commissioned by Royal Canin through Pureprofile. The survey of 1,629 Australian dog and cat owners was conducted between 19 January and 1 February 2026, alongside a separate survey of 103 Australasian veterinarians.
