GetPetPros Score: 7.8/10. Petco is a strong fit for owners who want shopping, vet care, grooming, and training under one roof, and for Vital Care Premier members who actually use the vet exams. If your only goal is the lowest price on the exact same bag of food, Chewy’s autoship usually beats it. Below is what holds up as of June 2026, what the company actually offers now, and where the trade-offs are.

Best for: owners who value in-person shopping plus services (vet, grooming, training) in one location; Vital Care Premier members who use the included vet exams; buyers who want to see a product before paying for it.

Not ideal for: pure online price-optimizers (Chewy autoship typically wins); owners who need a deep prescription-diet selection (a vet clinic or Chewy’s pharmacy carries more).

Shop Petco

Company Overview

Petco was founded in 1965 in San Diego, California, and is one of the two dominant pet specialty chains in the US. As of 2026 the company operates more than 1,500 pet care centers across the US, Mexico, and Puerto Rico (Petco corporate, July 2024). Joel D. Anderson, formerly of Walmart.com and Five Below, became CEO effective July 29, 2024.

The strategic shift that matters for shoppers is the move from “pet supply store” to in-store services. Petco now runs veterinary care, grooming salons, and training inside its stores, which is the real reason to choose it over an online-only retailer.

What sets it apart:

• Vetco Total Care: full-service in-store veterinary hospitals
• Vetco vaccination clinics for routine preventive care
• Grooming salons in most locations
• Training classes (puppy, adult, manners)
• In-store adoption events with local shelters

Product Selection

Selection is Petco’s strongest category. In a typical store you will find:

• Dog and cat food across mainstream and premium lines: Royal Canin, Hill’s Science Diet, Purina Pro Plan, Blue Buffalo, Orijen, and others
• Fresh and refrigerated food (Freshpet coolers in most stores)
• Treats, chews, and supplements
• Toys, beds, crates, harnesses, and accessories
• Grooming supplies and basic health products

One real policy difference: on October 6, 2020, Petco stopped selling electronic “shock” collars in stores and online, both bark-activated and remote-trigger models (CNN, October 6, 2020). If you train with e-collars, you will need to buy them elsewhere. Note this is specific to electronic shock collars; it is not a blanket ban on every aversive tool, so do not assume the shelves are free of every correction-style product.

Vital Care Membership

Petco restructured its loyalty program into two tiers. Get the tier right or you will overpay.

Vital Care Core is free. It covers members-only pricing, points back on purchases, and every 8th groom free.

Vital Care Premier costs $24.99/month, or $239.88/year if you pay annually (about 20% less than monthly). As of June 2026, Premier for dogs and cats includes (Groupon membership breakdown, February 2026):

• $15/month in Vital Care Rewards ($180/year)
• 10% off every nutrition purchase
• 20% off every groom
• Unlimited routine vet exams at Vetco Total Care, or $20 in rewards for up to two routine exams per year done outside Petco
• Extended 45-day reward expiration

Worked example. Premier costs $239.88 a year. The $15 monthly rewards alone return $180. If you also book even two routine wellness exams a year at a Vetco Total Care hospital (a routine exam at a private practice commonly runs $50 to $80), the membership clears its own cost before you count the nutrition or grooming discounts. The earlier version of this program was a flat 15%-off card; the current Premier tier is structured around rewards and vet exams instead, so the value now depends on whether you actually use the vet visits, not just on how much you shop.

Skip Premier if you rarely buy nutrition at Petco, do not groom there, and use your own vet. In that case the free Core tier is the right choice.

Vetco Services

Vaccination clinics run at most stores, usually without an appointment, for core vaccines at lower prices than a full vet visit. They handle preventive vaccines only, not sick care, and they are not a replacement for an ongoing veterinary relationship.

Vetco Total Care hospitals are full-service clinics staffed by licensed veterinarians, with diagnostics, dentistry, and spay/neuter. Petco describes them as a growing network of in-store veterinary hospitals (Petco corporate, vet services). They function like any general-practice vet and will refer complex cases to a specialist. Availability is the catch: a Total Care hospital is in only a fraction of the 1,500-plus stores, so confirm your nearest location offers it before you count on it.

Pricing Comparison

Petco’s in-store and online prices track closely with PetSmart and usually sit above Chewy’s autoship on identical items. The figures below are representative full-size prices observed in June 2026; pet retail pricing moves with promotions and autoship enrollment, so treat them as a recent snapshot rather than a fixed quote.

The pattern is consistent: Chewy autoship undercuts both physical chains by roughly 8 to 15% on identical products. Petco’s price match policy can close some of that gap on in-stock items, but Chewy’s autoship discount typically does not qualify, so ask at the register before assuming a match.

Pros and Cons

What works:

• Genuine one-stop destination: shopping, vet care, grooming, training in one trip
• Vital Care Premier pays off for members who use the included vet exams
• Full-service Vetco Total Care hospitals plus walk-in vaccination clinics
• Wide in-store selection, including premium food brands you can see before buying
• Shelter adoption events run in most stores

What to weigh:

• Usually more expensive than Chewy on the exact same product
• In-store experience and staff knowledge vary by location
• The app and site are functional but less smooth than Chewy’s
• Vetco Total Care is not in every store, so the headline vet benefit may not apply near you
• Prescription-diet selection is thinner than a vet office or Chewy’s pharmacy

Is Petco Worth It?

Petco earns its place when you value services and in-person shopping over squeezing out the last dollar. The strongest case is an owner who books wellness exams at a nearby Vetco Total Care hospital and buys nutrition or grooming on the Premier tier; there, the membership clears its cost and the convenience is real. If you only want the cheapest recurring food order and use your own vet, Chewy plus the free Vital Care Core tier is the better setup. Match the tier and the use case to how you actually shop, and Petco is a solid 7.8/10.

Alternatives

• PetSmart is the closest direct competitor, with a similar mix of retail plus in-store services and comparable pricing.
• Petco vs. PetSmart compares the two chains side by side.
• Chewy is the value pick for online-only buyers who do not need in-store services; its autoship typically undercuts both physical chains on identical products.

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