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Paws, Apps, and Pixels: Winning the Hearts of Modern Pet Parents
Pet care is a big, growing business that still runs on phone calls and paper folders. Here is how a connected app turns routine care into a relationship.
Managing a pet’s life can quickly become an administrative headache. There is a folder of vet records somewhere, a phone call to book the groomer, and the food that runs out when the bowl is already empty. If your brand makes pet care feel like hard work, customers will look for an easier option.
How big is pet care, and why does experience matter?
Big enough that owners can be choosy. The American Pet Products Association (APPA) reports that Americans spent $158 billion on their pets in 2024, and that 95 million U.S. households own a pet, according to its 2025 National Pet Owners Survey.
Services are a small part of that total. APPA’s “other services” category, which covers boarding, grooming, training, pet sitting, and everything outside veterinary care, was $14.3 billion in 2024, about nine cents of every pet dollar by our arithmetic. APPA projects $14.9 billion for 2026. In a category that crowded, an easy booking experience is a practical way to stand out.
What does a connected pet care experience look like?
In our view, the goal is for a pet care brand to be the one place an owner goes for everything about their pet’s routine care. That comes down to three things:
- One pet profile. Pet details and vaccination records live in one place. The owner enters them once.
- Booking in a few taps. The app walks the owner through choosing a service and dates, registering, entering pet information, and confirming.
- Updates they can trust. The owner knows what is booked and, ideally, how the stay is going.
We write more about the booking side in why guests abandon your booking engine.
How does an app work with platforms like Gingr?
Platforms like Gingr are the operational backbone of a daycare, boarding, and grooming business. The owner-facing app should not replace that backbone. It should sit in front of it and connect through its API.
We have done this. Since 2021 we have built and evolved the mobile app for Pet Paradise, a multi-location pet resort brand. The booking flow is a step-by-step wizard that covers service and date selection, owner registration, pet information, and a booking summary and confirmation. Behind it, a middleware layer talks to Gingr for owner profiles, pets and vaccination records, reservations, and payments. See more of this work in our work, and read about the cost of a disconnected booking engine if your stack looks different.
What should staff get out of the app?
Less repeated work. When owners register, enter pet details, and pick dates in the app, the front desk is not retyping them. Staff spend the time on the animal and the owner in front of them.
There is a further step we would take. Many pet resorts hand owners a physical report card at pickup. Picture a resort where owners see a photo or a note during the stay, so the story of the day unfolds as it happens. That is a hypothetical, not something we have shipped, but it is the kind of update that turns waiting into reassurance for the owner.
Where should a pet care brand start?
Start with the work owners and staff repeat most, then add to it once it is reliable:
- Booking. A short wizard that works on a phone and writes to your operations platform.
- The pet profile. Records and vaccinations captured once.
- Staff workflows. Make sure what the app collects reaches the desk in a usable form.
- In-stay updates. Photos and notes once the foundation is stable.
If you run a pet resort or a multi-location care brand and want to talk through the order, get in touch. Our services cover strategy, design, and mobile development.
Frequently asked questions
How do mobile apps connect to pet care platforms like Gingr?
Through the platform's API, usually with a middleware layer in between. The app reads and writes bookings, owner profiles, pet records, and payments, so staff and owners work from the same data. We have built this kind of integration for Pet Paradise.
What is a single pet profile?
One record that holds a pet's details and vaccination records, so an owner enters them once and staff can see what they need at check-in. It also makes rebooking faster, because nothing has to be retyped.
How can an app reduce front-desk bottlenecks?
By moving routine steps, such as choosing a service and dates, registering an owner, and entering pet details, into the app. The desk then handles the guest in front of it instead of repeating questions already answered online.
What should a pet care brand build first?
Start with booking and the pet profile, because they remove the most repeated work for owners and staff. Add in-stay updates once the basics are reliable.
Let owners book and check pets easily while staff spend time on animals instead of paperwork.
