Fuzzy’s New Approach to Pet Health
Zubin Bhettay, cofounder and CEO of the online pet service Fuzzy, explains how finding solutions for consumers in crisis drives his business to succeed.
As the founder and CEO of Fuzzy, Zubin Bhettay leads a revolutionary solution for pet health. Fuzzy’s convenient digital service drastically reduces prices for pet owners while responding to surging demand for affordable care.
And the consumer response has been nothing short of extraordinary. Between April 2021 and April 2022, Fuzzy witnessed a 533 percent increase in telehealth consults. Last year, Fuzzy acquired pet-supplement company Dandy, expanded its in-app services, and initiated strategic partnerships with various pet retailers.
Bhettay shares the moment that opened his eyes to a gap in the pet health industry, his reasoning behind the business decisions that have made Fuzzy successful, and the power of putting consumer needs at the forefront of its business model.

What is Fuzzy?
At Fuzzy, we’re on a mission to make pet care more accessible, affordable, and equitable by making veterinarians and their thoughtful recommendations available anywhere, anytime. We are a one-stop shop for pet wellness with 24/7 live chat and telehealth for pet parents, custom care plans, and vet-curated products.
Why was this company founded?
I founded Fuzzy in 2016 after rushing my dog, Mo, to an emergency clinic only to learn the issue was treatable at home. By spending seven hours in the waiting room and leaving with a $2,500 veterinary bill, I witnessed firsthand the financial and geographical barriers to pet care. At present, three out of four pets will not receive the care or medicine they need due to cost and overwhelmed veterinary clinics. Fueled by my own experience and lack of accessible veterinary care, I began reimagining the overall pet care journey to improve access to quality care.
What were the early days of Fuzzy like?
Fuzzy started with a small group of people who were incredibly passionate about solving a problem we all identified with in caring for our own pets or working in the veterinary industry. Pet care is broken, and once we got that in our heads, we heard and saw it everywhere. So we hustled—we went to dog parks every morning at 7:00 a.m. to speak to as many pet parents as possible. We experimented with growth tactics daily to acquire customers and then obsessed over the quality of the product we were delivering. Everyone contributed beyond their role or title at the company to make solving this problem a reality. I always advise founders to celebrate every one of the small wins in the early days; it’s easy to overlook the power of those victories.

What is the greatest challenge you’ve faced as Fuzzy’s leader?
Making the hard decision to pivot from our original business model and let go of a number of very talented people who were no longer a fit for the future business. Our initial model was focused on delivering veterinary care in-home. After launching in the San Francisco Bay area and seeing exciting early traction, we expanded into New York. Customers absolutely loved the service, but the cost and operational complexities of moving vet teams around cities were really challenging. At the beginning of 2020, our cofounder, Eric Palm, and I were evaluating the company’s performance from the previous year and the future outlook of the business. We realized that the in-home care model was flawed, and we wanted to build a business that could quickly grow to serve every one of the ninety-six million households in the country with a pet.
We decided to shut down the in-home care business and pivot to building the virtual veterinary clinic with telehealth and medication delivery. We made the incredibly difficult choice to cut 70 percent of our team and rebuild from scratch.
How has the company grown since its founding?
Over the course of the company’s life span, we’ve put pets and their caretakers—both pet parents and veterinarians—at the center of all our efforts to reimagine the care journey. We have built our company around this, finding top professionals in their respective fields.
Merging technology and medicine can be difficult. We’ve seen this through the advances in human health care. Still, we are continuing to position our company as the clear answer to how technology and health care can work together to benefit animals in the best way possible.

What was the key to the company’s exponential growth?
We’ve been fortunate to build in a category that people care deeply about, their pets, and lucky with the timing of some key shifts in the market: namely, telemedicine adoption as a result of the pandemic. We’ve also been bold in our experimentation. When we’ve seen early signs of success, we haven’t hesitated to be aggressive. That’s yielded positive results for our business and the people in it.
What made you decide to make Fuzzy a subscription service?
Preventative pet care is one of the best ways to cut costs and relieve the strain on veterinary clinics. Our goal at Fuzzy is to provide actionable, daily advice that keeps your pet healthy in the long term. With a subscription to Fuzzy, members can chat with veterinary experts on how to best care for their specific pet—anytime, anywhere.
What gaps in the pet care market does Fuzzy work to fill?
With the pet boom of the pandemic and the veterinary shortage, Fuzzy is working to be a “first stop” for pet parents to speak with veterinarians and understand if in-person care is necessary, which in turn helps to alleviate the strain on the veterinary industry as pet ownership continues to skyrocket. Because Fuzzy is available online and 24/7, pet parents can seek advice, get personalized recommendations, and place orders for products at any hour of the day, ensuring they are taking the absolute best care of their pet no matter where they live or what time their local veterinary clinic opens. We see ourselves as a complement to what local veterinarians provide, extending those services around the clock.
What is your favorite service that the company offers?
We recently launched a journal feature in the Fuzzy app that I really love. It lets you keep track of all your activities with your pet so that Fuzzy vets can help to make even more specific recommendations for your dog or cat. It sends fun notifications, too, reminding you to take play breaks or brush your pet’s teeth!
What advice would you give to fellow entrepreneurs?
Be clear about the mission and vision you’re building toward, and communicate this often. Be incredibly selective about how and who you hire. Work with your teams on getting crystal clear on your strategy; this is how you’re going to achieve your vision. Communicate it regularly, and have your management teams do the same. Have a relentless bias to action: execute, ship product, grow, learn—especially from those people that are paying for your product—and iterate.
Take Action: Think about what your clients really need from your business. How are you working to respond to consumer demands, and why should people choose you instead of your competitors?