For veterinary and pet healthcare products, packaging is no longer a last step in the process: it is a management tool that can protect the formula, enable correct administration, make pet owners ‘life easier (and make them love your product even more).
We are not talking about a niche market: in the United States alone, total pet industry expenditures reached $152 billion in 2024, and pet ownership climbed to 94 million households. (source:) American Pet Products Association, State of the Industry report)
In Europe, pet food sales are also substantial, with FEDIAF reporting around 29.1 billion euros in annual pet food sales and a very large pet population; e-commerce alone is forecast to reach USD 147.6 billion in 2030, advancing at a 7.8% CAGR over the period. (source: Mordor Intelligence)
As spending shifts toward care, prevention and treatment, packaging requirements move closer to the logic of healthcare: stability, safety, dosing accuracy and compliance.
Pet food vs veterinary healthcare: why the distinction matters
Pet food packaging belongs to the feed domain. This entails different considerations regarding the regulations to be followed. Let’s take, for example, a highly regulated context such as Europe. In the European Union, this includes, among other things, requirements on labelling, packaging and presentation under Regulation (EC) No 767/2009. Veterinary medicinal products, by contrast, fall under Regulation (EU) 2019/6, which sets specific obligations for labelling and package leaflets. In practice, veterinary product information should align with the EMA veterinary QRD templates. If your product is a veterinary medicine, or sits close to that boundary, packaging is not just marketing, it becomes part of the product’s regulated identity.
Why packaging performance is a growth lever in animal health
Veterinary and pet healthcare formulations often contain sensitive components, for example vitamins, oils, antiseptic actives and probiotics, where shelf life can be limited by oxygen, light, moisture and contamination pathways. That is why packaging selection is increasingly evaluated against four performance questions:
- Barrier protection: can the pack protect the formula from oxygen, light and moisture exposure
- Product integrity: does it prevent back contamination during repeated use
- Dosing and application: can users apply the right amount safely and consistently
- Compliance readiness: can the pack host mandatory information clearly and durably across markets
B2B lens: the real buyer is a cross functional team, and usability reduces risk.
In veterinary healthcare, packaging purchase and specification decisions are typically shared across many departments: Brand and Product, Research and Development, Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs, Packaging Engineering and Procurement… but let’s be real: the product is ultimately used by one clear target, pet owners (sometimes veterinary staff) and in real life, high friction conditions. That is why usability is not a soft benefit: it becomes a quality and adherence driver that reduces downstream risk, for example misdosing, contamination, complaints and discontinuation. Evidence supports that pet caregiver strain is substantial: in a study of guardians managing oncological and dermatological cases, 36.9 percent and 37.8 percent respectively showed a clinically significant caregiver burden, reflecting considerable emotional and practical stress. (Source: peer reviewed study on pet caregiver burden)
Packaging that enables fast, clean and predictable administration, for example easy to squeeze tubes with hygienic closure, controlled dispensing tips and nozzles, anti backflow features, clear on pack instructions and portability for dosing on the go, can meaningfully lower friction for caregivers and improve adherence, turning the pack into a risk mitigation lever as much as a barrier solution.
The three formats that dominate topical and spray applications
Thanks to our extensive experience in packaging industry, we can effectively advise companies that manufacture pet food supplements or companies that produce veterinary drugs and parapharmaceuticals. Here are some quick tips to help you immediately find your way around choosing the most suitable packaging.
1) Aluminium tubes: high barrier for topical treatments
Best fit for: ointments, dermatological creams, paw balms with actives, dental pastes, hairball pastes.
Why it works:
- Strong protection against light and oxygen exposure, important for oxidation sensitive actives
- Hygienic application and reduced risk of contamination in repeated use
- Compact and easy to dispense
What to specify with your supplier:
- Closure systems and caps ( think about the soft nozzle solution)
- Compatibility testing with actives, oils and fragrances
- Decoration requirements, prioritising legibility for instructions and warnings
- Regulatory compliance.
2) Laminate tubes: controlled dispensing, best design canva
Best fit for: gels, supplements in paste form, pet cosmetics and care creams, OTC style pet healthcare.
Why it works:
- Excellent print surface for clearer instructions and multi language panels
- Good dispensing control even for viscous products
- Strong shelf impact where branding matters, including ecommerce
What to specify:
- Barrier needs vs formula sensitivity
- Squeezability and complete emptying performance
- Cap design for one hand use and hygiene
3) Aerosol cans: non contact application for sprays
Best fit for: antiparasitic sprays, dry shampoos, antiseptic sprays, coat care sprays.
Why it works:
- Non contact dosing can reduce cross contamination risk
- Consistent distribution and user convenience
- Professional perception in clinical and grooming contexts
What to specify:
- Valve and actuator design to control spray pattern and dosing
- Compatibility with propellants and actives
- Clear warnings and mandatory statements for target markets
What buyers in veterinary and pet healthcare packaging look for
Compared to common fast moving consumer pet food, procurement and technical teams in animal health have different priorities:
- Performance over aesthetics, especially stability and product safety
- Risk reduction, including contamination, dosing errors and compliance issues
- Repeatability, reliable supply and consistent technical specifications
- Long term partnership, qualification, validation and change control
Packaging manufacturers win here when they behave like real packaging solution partners, not just commodity suppliers.
What this means for Perfektüp
Perfektüp’s portfolio naturally maps to three highly used formats in pet healthcare: aluminium tubes for topical and paste applications, laminate tubes for care products, and aluminium monobloc aerosol cans for spray based treatments. The opportunity is not to enter a new category, but to speak the language of animal health buyers: stability, dosing, hygiene, compliance and usability, backed by qualification processes and application know how.
If you are developing, or reformulating, a veterinary or pet healthcare product, align packaging format, barrier level, dispensing system and regulatory constraints early, before scale up.
Next step: contact us and share your product format, target markets and stability needs with our team, we will help you shortlist the right tube or aerosol solution.