Total pet prices reached a new record high in February 2026 while the year-over-year petflation rate slipped to 3.3% from 3.4% in January, according to John Gibbons, president of Pet Business Professor.
Prices rose across all pet segments from January to February, with services posting the largest monthly gain at 1.3%, followed by supplies at 0.9%, food at 0.5% and veterinary at 0.3%. Despite the across-the-board increases, the annual petflation rate edged down because the January-to-February price lift in 2025 — 0.8% — was larger than the 0.7% gain recorded this year, Gibbons said.
"Petflation slowed from 3.4% to 3.3%," Gibbons said, noting the rate remains 37.5% above the national Consumer Price Index, which held steady at 2.4% year over year in February.
February grocery prices rose 0.5% from January, pushing the grocery year-over-year inflation rate to 2.4% from 2.1%. The national CPI, total pet and all pet segments except supplies reached record high prices in February. Pet supply prices ended the month just 0.1% below their December 2025 record.
Veterinary services prices are now 55.2% above 2019 levels, Gibbons said, the highest cumulative increase of any tracked pet category. The combined CPI for the two pet service segments — veterinary and non-veterinary — stands at 5.1%, compared with 1.9% for pet products, indicating that services are the primary driver of current petflation. Pet food's year-over-year rate of 1.4% remains 42% below the food-at-home inflation rate of 2.4%.
On a year-to-date basis, petflation stands at 3.4% — up 54% from the same period in 2024-25 — and 42% above the national CPI year-to-date rate. Pet prices overall are 28.1% above 2021 levels and 33.1% above pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
Pet food prices are at record highs
After more than two and a half years of relatively flat pricing (just 1.5% total growth from March 2023 through December 2025), dog and cat food producer prices jumped 1.0% in January 2026. That may sound modest, but Gibbons noted it was more than three times larger than the average December-to-January increase going back to 1986 — and the biggest single-month increase since March 2023.
By February, things settled down. Dog and cat food prices held steady, while "other pet food" (fish, birds, small animals) dipped slightly.
Wet/canned food has been the main price driver, particularly for cats. Since 2019, cat food prices have climbed 39.2%, outpacing dog food at 32.2%. Gibbons attributed part of that gap to dry dog food remaining relatively popular and price-stable.
On the retail side, pet food prices rose in both January and February and hit a new record. Retail prices typically track producer prices but with a slight delay.
According to Gibbons, pet food had gone through an unusual stretch of calm. Historically, prices tend to spike each spring, but that seasonal pattern hasn't materialized since 2022. Whether 2026 brings a return to that pattern — or continued pressure — remains to be seen, said Gibbons.
"Strong, cumulative inflation has a widespread impact," Gibbons said, adding the sustained price pressure is expected to drive continued consumer movement toward online purchasing and private label products across pet food and supplies.
Read the full February petflation report at Pet Business Professor.
