'They're my babies': Pet owners are shelling out $3 billion a year on supplements to help their loved ones 'live forever'

“They’re my babies (…) If you had a solution for me, for my pets to live forever, I would buy it. I am that dog mom.”

Pet owners are trying everything from supplements to human medications to red-light therapy to keep their pets happy and healthy past their normal lifespan — and it’s not cheap. Americans spent a combined $2.9 billion on pet supplements last year.

The market has exploded in the past few years, although it’s slowed its rapid climb somewhat in the past two years thanks to economic uncertainty shrinking people’s budgets.

Here’s what to know about the burgeoning pet longevity market — and whether it’s worth starting your pet on a supplement routine.

Just like the human longevity market, the pet longevity market is expensive

People have routinely spent fortunes on trying to live forever. Vladimir Putin, for instance, recently put $26 billion toward developing “health preservation medications,” including a “vaccine against aging.”

But longevity medicine has become especially popular for everyone — not just the ultrarich. And now it’s not even limited to humans.

“Things usually trickle down from human trends,” said Shannon Landry, pet research director at the consumer insights firm Packaged Facts, to Bloomberg. She says the focus is on keeping an elderly pet not just alive, but also “active and living its best life.”

But these treatments don’t come cheap. One longevity-focused vet, Dr. Kevin Toman, charges $275 for a virtual “longevity strategy session” for your dog or cat. Bloomberg reports that he offers a $475 per month plan for on-demand virtual longevity consulting.

He also sells pet owners rapamycin, a popular anti-aging drug for both humans and pets.

“I get more inquiries about the use of rapamycin in dogs, rapamycin in cats, than any other product,” said Toman to Bloomberg.

People can generally expect to pay around $60 to $150 for a monthly rapamycin supply — a hefty price, considering that it’s likely only one part of a larger longevity strategy. The costs add up quickly, especially as regular veterinary costs are also growing increasingly pricey.

Do longevity-based pet supplements and medications justify their own cost?

Pet longevity treatments are pricey, but many pet owners would agree that any price they can afford would be worth keeping their pet happy and healthy for longer.

The question is: Do these treatments work as they’re advertised?

For rapamycin, the jury is still out. The drug, which is currently used to prevent transplant rejection, had some promising longevity-related results in mice. But mice are neither humans nor dogs, and there isn’t a whole lot of evidence out there that the drug works as a life extender for either group.

There are currently two major rapamycin trials testing the drug’s efficacy at extending dogs’ lifespans. Neither are far enough along to tell whether the drug is actually helping or not.