If you had a pet in the 2000s or early 2010s, chances are you heard of Drs. Foster & Smith. They were known for their thick catalogs, helpful veterinary advice, and an online store loaded with pretty much everything your cat, dog, or even parrot could want. These days, though, folks sometimes wonder—can you still shop with Drs. Foster & Smith, or are they actually out of business?
From Independent Vet-Owned Company to Corporate Acquisition
Let’s rewind a bit. Drs. Foster & Smith started back in 1983, launched by veterinarians in Wisconsin who wanted to make pet supplies and medical advice easier for regular folks to get. The company kept growing—their catalogs landed in millions of mailboxes, and their online store did brisk business in everything from fish food to flea pills.
By the early 2010s, they were one of the largest online pet supply companies in the country. What set them apart wasn’t just the huge product selection, but also the vet-backed expertise you’d get whether you called in or browsed their website. It made them stand out against bigger names, even as more shopping moved online.
The Petco Acquisition: What Changed?
This independence, though, didn’t last forever. In November 2014, Petco—a national pet retailer with hundreds of physical stores—announced it was acquiring Drs. Foster & Smith. At the time, Petco described Drs. Foster & Smith as a “leading veterinary-owned online pet supply company.” The deal finalized in early 2015, and Drs. Foster & Smith officially became part of the Petco family.
From the outside, things didn’t change much for shoppers right away. The Drs. Foster & Smith website kept running. Folks could still order their favorite private-label treats and medicines. Staff and product teams gained more access to Petco’s systems. In fact, Petco promoted the move as a good fit, blending Drs. Foster & Smith’s strengths with their broader retail system—especially when it came to shipping speed, selection, and technology features.
Blending Services and Quiet Changes
During these years, the site offered some new bells and whistles, like easier auto-delivery of pet food and expanded prescription refill services. Some longtime customers noticed that branding started to overlap: Petco logos began to show up, and customer support information sometimes routed you through Petco’s channels.
Behind the scenes, Drs. Foster & Smith’s independence faded. Their catalog printing slowed down. Operational decisions, product lines, and technology support were handled with more input—or direct control—from Petco. Still, if you were a shopper who just wanted dog food or a refill on pet meds, there wasn’t any loud announcement about big changes yet.
Saying Goodbye: The 2019 Closure
This all changed in early 2019. In late January of that year, Petco confirmed what rumors had hinted at—they would permanently close Drs. Foster & Smith’s online and catalog business. This included shutting down the Rhinelander, Wisconsin operations where hundreds of employees worked customer service, fulfillment, and veterinary support jobs.
The effective closure date for business was set for February 12, 2019. After this point, shoppers couldn’t place new orders at DrsFosterSmith.com. The catalog mailings stopped for good. For the staff, the changes came quickly: about 289 jobs at the Rhinelander facility were eliminated over the next few months.
Media outlets, especially local news in Wisconsin, covered the closure closely. People who grew up with Drs. Foster & Smith’s catalogs or who worked there for years took the announcement hard. For the national pet business scene, it was one more sign of how challenging the online pet supply market had become—especially as Amazon, Chewy, and giant chains like Petco fought for every customer.
Industry Impact and Employee Response
From interviews and coverage, it’s clear this wasn’t just a business reshuffling. Many Rhinelander employees had worked at Drs. Foster & Smith for ages—sometimes decades. Losing those jobs hit the small Wisconsin town. Customers, too, expressed nostalgia as well as annoyance about certain products disappearing or prescription records needing to be switched over to other providers.
Industry experts summed up the news by saying Drs. Foster & Smith had “effectively gone out of business,” though not all at once. The 2015 Petco acquisition brought new resources, but by 2019, the familiar brand and approach were fully absorbed or shut down.
LiveAquaria: The One Exception
But there was one wrinkle in the closure—LiveAquaria.com. If you’ve got aquariums, you might know LiveAquaria as the go-to site for live tropical fish, coral, and other aquatic supplies. It started as a division of Drs. Foster & Smith, but right as Petco closed down most of the company, they announced that LiveAquaria would continue operating separately.
Aquarium hobbyists and some industry insiders breathed a sigh of relief. LiveAquaria was one of the few places where customers could trust the quality of the live fish they ordered online. Reef forums and blogs made it clear: Drs. Foster & Smith’s retail and veterinary business would close, but LiveAquaria “would remain.” As of now, that division has its own management and continues shipping fish and aquarium supplies around the U.S.
Drs. Foster & Smith: Gone as an Independent Brand
So what actually happened behind the scenes? The short version: Once Petco bought Drs. Foster & Smith, they started moving overlapping services—auto-refill, prescription ordering, and private-label pet foods—into Petco’s own systems. Over several years, the Drs. Foster & Smith business became less and less independent.
By the time the closure was announced, Petco simply stopped supporting a separate Drs. Foster & Smith brand. All the good stuff—auto-shipping, veterinary support, even some of the same pet foods—was either sold under Petco’s name or phased out entirely.
If you try to visit DrsFosterSmith.com today, you’ll end up at Petco or a message stating the site is no longer in service. You can’t place new orders, and customer support is handled through Petco now. The stand-alone, vet-owned business that started in the 1980s no longer exists.
For shoppers who liked the old-school approach—real veterinary input, product lines you wouldn’t find at big-box stores—it’s more than just a lost website. It’s the end of a unique business model in the pet industry, one that lasted over three decades.
What’s Left—and Where to Shop Now
If you’re wondering about prescription refills or brands only Drs. Foster & Smith used to carry, most of those have been folded into Petco’s offerings. Petco now runs its own online pharmacy, subscription services, and a pretty deep catalog of pet supplies. They picked up a few of the old favorites but also streamlined what they offer—sometimes that means your old staples are gone.
Some shoppers made the switch to Chewy or other specialty pet retailers after Drs. Foster & Smith closed down. Others stuck with Petco, especially if convenience or in-store pickup mattered to them. These days, there’s no shortage of places to buy pet products and meds online, but for folks who liked the smaller, vet-focused touch, Drs. Foster & Smith is one less option.
If you like keeping up with what’s happening with pet businesses, closures, and mergers, sites like Business Bits Mag are good for breaking news and quick analysis on the pet and retail industry.
Final Thoughts: End of an Era
So, is Drs. Foster & Smith out of business? In the sense of an independent, customer-facing company: Yes, absolutely. Petco’s 2019 closure ended DrsFosterSmith.com as a shopping destination and erased their unique vet-owned approach from the pet retail market.
Only LiveAquaria stands apart, serving the fishkeeping crowd—at least for now. For regular pet owners, Petco absorbed the useful parts and moved on, leaving the legacy of Drs. Foster & Smith as a fond memory for many of us who once relied on their thick catalogs or helpful phone reps.
If you still miss their service, your best bet now is Petco’s online portal or to try some smaller niche retailers, especially if you want a more personalized feel. The pet industry keeps evolving, but stories like Drs. Foster & Smith’s show how fast brands—even beloved ones—can disappear from your mailbox or browser.
Read Also:
