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Modern Animal
Modern Animal photo by Tim Hirschmann
A photo of the Modern Animal clinic in West Hollywood, California, highlights its signature modernist aesthetic and features like windows in exam room doors. Online retailer Chewy announced this week it is buying the 29-practice group.
Chewy, an online retailer of pet products like medications and food, has deepened its recent foray into providing veterinary care by agreeing to acquire the practice chain Modern Animal.
The purchase will boost Chewy's practice count to 47 locations across the United States; 18 that Chewy has built since 2024 and the 29 owned by Modern Animal. The sale, for an undisclosed price, is expected to be completed later this year pending customary closing conditions, including a regulatory review.
Chewy's move comes as rival pet product retailers have experienced mixed results from expansions into veterinary care. In 2023 and 2024, PetIQ shuttered 282 limited-service practices in the stores of partners including Walmart, Meijer and Tractor Supply Co., citing a shortage of veterinarians. Walmart has since built own-brand practices inside six of its big-box stores in Alabama and Georgia. Pet supplies retailer Petco, meanwhile, said last month that it has taken a "purposeful pause" in constructing new veterinary practices inside its stores amid falling company-wide sales pinned on lower demand for pet care.
Visit volumes to veterinary practices have been falling consistently in recent years following a pet care boom during the Covid-19 pandemic that accelerated a wave of practice acquisitions by corporate consolidators. According to a gauge of economic activity in the U.S. veterinary sector taken by the prescription management group Vetsource and the American Veterinary Medical Association, visit volumes to veterinary practices in the past 12 months are down 2.5% year-on-year, though revenue is up 2.9% amid stubbornly high inflation for veterinary services.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, Chewy said it expects Modern Animal to have a neutral impact — in other words, not a positive nor a negative impact — on Chewy's overall earnings in its 2026 financial year, which started on Feb. 2, as measured by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA, as it's known, is a common measure of profitability. The company added that there is a "clear line of sight" to Modern Animal making a positive contribution to EBITDA in Chewy's 2027 financial year.
Chewy CEO Sumit Singh said the acquisition "complements our strategy to become the preeminent end-to-end pet health ecosystem" and would create "a clear competitive moat in the industry."
Modern Animal founder and CEO Steven Eidelman said the merged companies would provide "medical excellence, expanded access and exceptional experiences for both pet parents and the veterinary teams that support them."
Chewy opened its first veterinary practice in April 2024 near its corporate headquarters in Plantation, Florida. According to its website, it now has 20 practices spread across Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Texas. Two in Colorado haven't yet opened — one opens tomorrow, the other on May 8 — but are taking appointments.
Modern Animal was founded in California in 2020. Its modernist-style clinics, also in Arizona, Colorado and Texas, feature open treatment areas for owners who want to stay with their pets during procedures. Practices also offer annual memberships that include unlimited exams and 24/7 virtual care.
"There are no changes to existing Modern Animal clinics as a result of this announcement," its website says on a page about the acquisition. "Modern Animal continues to operate as it does today, and we will communicate clearly if anything changes in the future."