Short answer: Petco Vital Care Premier costs $24.99/month for a dog or cat (Petco lists 20% off, about $240/year, if you pay annually upfront), and it is a savings membership, not insurance. It returns $15/month in Vital Care Rewards, waives the fee on unlimited routine vet exams at Vetco Total Care hospitals, and gives dog plans 20% off grooming (cat plans get 20% off litter instead). If you already buy food at Petco, the $180/year in rewards alone covers most of the cost. If you do not shop at Petco, skip it. GetPetPros rating: 7.6/10.

What Petco Vital Care actually is

Vital Care is Petco’s membership program, and Petco runs it in two tiers. The free tier, Vital Care Core, is the renamed Pals Rewards loyalty program: points on purchases, members-only pricing, and every 8th full-service groom free. The paid tier, Vital Care Premier, layers monthly cash-back rewards and vet-exam benefits on top.

The single most important point: this is not insurance. Petco’s own corporate page states that “Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. is not an insurer and is not engaged in the business of insurance.” Vital Care discounts services you were going to pay for anyway. It does not reimburse you when your dog swallows a sock or your cat needs an emergency ultrasound. Those bills are entirely separate, which is why Vital Care and a real pet insurance policy solve different problems.

What Premier costs in 2026

Pricing as of June 2026, confirmed against Petco’s corporate Vital Care page and Petco.com:

The $24.99 dog-and-cat price is current. Petco raised it from the $19.99 the program launched at, so older reviews quoting $19.99 are out of date. Existing Premier members with a dog or cat can add a small-pet plan for $2/month less than the standalone $9.99 rate.

What you get for $24.99 a month

Premier benefits, as listed by Petco and corroborated by Groupon’s program breakdown:

• $15/month in Vital Care Rewards for dog and cat plans, which is $180/year credited back to spend at Petco. Small-pet plans earn $5/month.
• Unlimited routine vet exams at Vetco Total Care hospitals for the enrolled dog or cat. The exam fee is waived only at Vetco Total Care hospital locations, not at standalone vaccination clinics or an outside vet.
• $20 in Vital Care Rewards for each of up to two routine exams per year at a vet outside Petco, if you do not use Vetco. Petco describes this exam benefit the same way for dog and cat plans.
• 20% off grooming for dogs, or 20% off litter for cats. Petco lists this as an either-or benefit by species: dog plans get the grooming discount, cat plans get the litter discount instead.
• Discounts on nutrition, litter, and small-pet supplies, plus longer reward-expiration windows than the free tier.

The break-even math

This is the part worth sitting with before you enroll. Paid monthly, Premier is $299.88 a year; paid upfront at Petco’s stated 20% annual discount it is about $240. The $15/month rewards alone return $180/year. Against the roughly $240 annual cost, that leaves about $60 you need to recoup from the other perks to come out even (against the $299.88 monthly total it is closer to $120).

Sixty dollars is not a high bar if you use Petco’s services. A single full-service dog groom commonly runs $50 to $100 depending on breed and coat, so the dog-plan 20% grooming discount on even one or two grooms a year closes most or all of the gap. Add a couple of waived Vetco Total Care exam fees and a Petco-loyal dog owner clears the cost comfortably. A cat owner’s math is tighter for a different, verifiable reason: cats do not get the grooming discount at all. Their species-specific perk is 20% off litter, so a cat owner has to lean harder on the litter discount plus the $180 rewards to break even, and that only works if they buy litter and food at Petco.

The flip side is just as clear. If you do not groom at Petco, do not use Vetco, and buy your pet food elsewhere, the rewards are credits you can only redeem back into Petco, which is not the same as money. The program is only worth it to the extent you were already going to spend at Petco.

How Vital Care compares to a vet-clinic wellness plan

Vital Care is frequently confused with the in-house wellness plans sold by corporate vet chains, but they are structurally different. Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan and VCA CareClub bundle the actual preventive care, such as vaccines, exams, and dental cleanings, into a fixed monthly fee at their own full-service hospitals. Vital Care mostly waives or discounts exam fees and hands back store credit, while the underlying services are delivered through Vetco Total Care locations, which are more limited than a full-service hospital.

So the comparison comes down to what you need. If you want bundled preventive care at a full hospital, the chain wellness plans are the closer fit. If you want loyalty rewards plus discounted routine exams and you already shop at Petco, Vital Care is the cheaper, more flexible option. Neither one is insurance, and our guide to whether pet wellness plans are worth it walks through that distinction in more detail.

Who Vital Care Premier is for

Premier earns its keep for one specific owner: someone who already buys food at Petco, grooms a dog there regularly, and is comfortable using Vetco Total Care for routine exams. For that person the $180 in rewards plus the grooming discount turns a $24.99 monthly fee into a net gain. Multi-pet households that can stack a small-pet plan get even more out of it.

It is the wrong tool for owners who shop independent stores or use an outside vet by preference, and it is no substitute for emergency or illness coverage. If protecting against a surprise $4,000 surgery bill is the goal, that is what pet insurance is for, not Vital Care.

Pros and cons

Pros

• $180/year in rewards on a dog or cat plan covers most of the annual cost on its own
• Unlimited waived routine exam fees at Vetco Total Care for the enrolled dog or cat
• Dog plans’ 20% grooming discount on every visit is meaningful for regular groomers
• No contract; cancel through your Petco account anytime

Cons

• Not insurance, so accidents and illness are billed in full
• Rewards are Petco store credit, not cash, so value depends on shopping there
• Vetco Total Care has a narrower service menu than a full-service vet hospital
• Cat plans get 20% off litter instead of the dog plans’ 20% grooming discount, so the perk mix is less valuable unless you buy litter at Petco

Bottom line

Petco Vital Care Premier is a well-priced loyalty membership for Petco regulars and a non-starter for everyone else. At $24.99/month it returns $180/year in rewards before you count grooming and exam savings, so a Petco-loyal dog owner comes out ahead and a cat-only or non-Petco shopper likely does not. Treat it as a way to lower the cost of services you already use, never as protection against the vet bills that actually hurt. For more on how we weigh these programs, see how we evaluate and our vet care hub.

Sources: Petco corporate Vital Care page (corporate.petco.com/vital-care); Petco.com Vital Care membership page; Groupon “Is Petco Vital Care Premier Worth It?” program breakdown; dvm360 reporting on Petco’s Vital Care plan changes. Prices and benefits verified June 2026 and subject to change; confirm current terms at Petco.com before enrolling.