The SuperZoo Experience

I had the exciting opportunity to attend SuperZoo in August in Las Vegas, which is North America’s largest and most comprehensive retail event for pet professionals. Whether you’re looking for the newest trends in dog calming, cat hydration fountains, reptile homes or pet health products – they have it all. On the showroom floor there were over 1,000 vendors vying for retailer attention. When you consider that the pet industry in the United States has reached over $125 billion dollars in sales, there’s nothing but opportunity for the pet entrepreneur!

HEALTH

Overall animal health is key to a happy pet and content pet parents. Because, Animals has launched a line of immunity sprinkles for dogs & cats. Their new product delivers probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics. Just sprinkle a little on top of Fido’s food to help your furry member of the family maintain gut and digestive health. CareChewz are collagen bones that can help with your dogs skin, hair and nails. Jiminy’s has a line of Puffs made from cricket protein which helps with our animal’s digestive system and has a prebiotic as well.

HYDRATION

The key to human and animal health is proper hydration. Cat Water is bottled PH balanced water which promotes urinary tract health in cats. The low acidity encourages cats to drink more water and there are no minerals in the water, which sometimes can cause kidney and bladder stones. Waggin Water is a new line of benefit driven water for your dog. It’s flavorless, health benefit driven, and is all natural. Calming, Hip & Joint and CBD are some of the Waggin Water options to maintain your dog’s physical and mental well-being. Asobu has developed a water bottle that has a dog bowl attached to the bottom of the bottle. Simply unscrew the bowl, pour your dog some water and then hydrate yourself. There were many brands of bubbling water dishes for your furry family member. Catit has a line of bubbly drinking fountains for your cat and Zeus Cascade takes care of all of your dog’s hydration needs.

LICK(ING)

Do you need something that brings joy to the kids and the dog? Bubble Lick’s bacon flavored bubbles will be sure to bring smiles and wagging tails to the whole family. Liq is a functional low-calorie treat developed to help support weight management and calm your dog during stressful situations. It comes in a roll-on style container, just take the top off, and let the licking begin. SodaPup has developed licking mats that are the perfect natural alternative to CBD. Spread peanut butter on the enrichment mat and let them lick it clean - the licking will calm and sooth your dog. Stashios Soothing Saucer allows self-soothing when a dog feels nervous, anxious or bored. The Soothing Saucer and Soothing Sauce promotes licking and reduces feelings of anxiety and stress. And as an added benefit, it freshens your dog’s breath.

HUMAN FOOD TRANSLATING TO PET

Being part of the family sometimes means that the food we serve our pets resembles the human food in our pantries. Barley’s Bakes Cake Mix offers households that have a dog the opportunity to celebrate their special day with a cake – including the peanut butter frosting.

If your dog needs a more sophisticated dessert, Bonne Filou offers macaroons in many flavors for dogs – in addition to a dog Advent Calendar, which can sit on the fireplace right next to the stockings. Granola Bark is human grade crunchy granola treats that are perfect for your pup as a super tasty mid-day snack. Lord Jameson’s Confetti Cake, Pumpkin Spice or Watermelon Pops scream holiday celebrations for your four-legged friend. Look closely – everything resembles human holiday food packaging.

The trends above I found in multiple areas within SuperZoo. While some have been around for a while and are growing significantly, some were brand new to my eyes. There was a theme throughout the show, which was that the lines are blurred between human and pet products – which proves that our furry loved-ones are just another part of the family.