of cat-owning households have a senior cat, up from 46% in 2012.
Packaged Facts via Pet Food Processing (2022)Comfort Tail Co.
A Michael Ryan Betz Ventures brand
Pets are living longer.The best products for their later years shouldn't be this hard to find.
Comfort Tail Co. curates small-batch pet products from independent makers, with a focus on the senior years. We find the best local and regional makers, prove their products with real pets, and give them the operations, logistics, commercial and marketing muscle to reach pets everywhere.
New here? Use code WELCOME15 for 15% off your first order.
The research
The senior years are the main event, not a footnote.
US households own a senior dog.
Global Pet Industry, MRI-Simmons data (2022)of dogs show cognitive dysfunction at ages 11 to 12, rising to ages 15 to 16.
Canine cognitive dysfunction study, PMCreported prevalence of osteoarthritis in dogs, depending on the population studied.
Veterinary Focus, Royal Caninof dogs and cats were classified overweight or obese by veterinary teams in 2022.
Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (2022)US households own at least one pet.
APPA State of the Industry (2026)of US pet owners say their pets are part of the family.
Pew Research Center (2023)spent on pet food and treats in the US.
APPA industry trendsunit growth for 100% freeze-dried pet food in 2024, with value up 9.9%.
Petfood Industry, category growth (2024)dogs enrolled in the Dog Aging Project, the largest study of how dogs age.
Dog Aging Project (2025)Why the senior years
Built for the dogs and cats who got us here.
Hank and Buster are why this exists. Anyone who has loved an older dog knows the shift. The stairs get harder. The bowl sits a little too low. The treat that used to disappear now gets a sniff and a walk away.
This is not a niche. More than half of dog-owning households now have a senior dog. Most cats past 12 show joint changes on X-ray, and many never show it in a way their people recognize. Cognitive changes climb sharply as dogs move into their teens.
Veterinary guidance now treats the senior years as their own life stage, generally the last quarter of a pet's expected life. The products haven't caught up. Big brands build for the average pet. The best answer for a stiff old lab or a picky 14 year old cat is often made by one person, in one kitchen or workshop, selling at one farmers market.
That is the gap Comfort Tail is built to close.
Why makers
Makers make. We do the rest.
The independent makers we work with are exceptional at the thing they make. Single-ingredient freeze-dried treats. Bolstered beds. Lift harnesses designed by someone who needed one.
What holds them back is everything else: fulfillment, retail relationships, marketing, and a regulatory map where pet food and treats are licensed and registered state by state, product by product. Smaller brands also report that large distributors focus on the big names and leave them behind.
Comfort Tail is the extended arm. We bring operating, logistics, commercial and marketing leadership that has scaled real companies, so makers can stay makers and their best products can reach pets across the country, and eventually the world.
Think of us as an incubator with a storefront: local and regional brands get national go-to-market without giving up what makes them special.
AAFCO, Starting a Pet Food BusinessPet Food Institute, how pet food is regulatedMeat+Poultry, pet food distribution
Michael Ryan Betz, Founder & CEO
The extended arm
Everything around the product, handled.
Operations
Storefront, catalog, customer care and quality review, run for you. Tester Club reviews come back tagged by breed, age and size.
Logistics
Orders ship straight from the maker today, with tracking. As volume proves out, we build toward shared fulfillment and bundled shipping.
Commercial
Led by Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer Bob Gahan: regional pet store retail, wholesale terms and buyer introductions.
Marketing
An audience-first brand with content, community, gift programs and small paid tests that only scale when the numbers work.
Compliance navigation
Before a maker expands, we help map state feed licensing, product registration and label requirements using AAFCO and state guidance. Not legal advice.
Insight
Real-pet feedback and sales data show which products work for which pets, so makers improve faster and invest with confidence.
How a maker grows with us
Discover. Prove. Scale. Graduate.
- 01
Discover
We find standout local and regional makers through markets, rescues, vets and referrals.
- 02
Prove
Products go to the Tester Club for real-pet trials, then to first customers.
- 03
Scale
Winners get national online distribution and regional retail placement.
- 04
Graduate
The strongest brands move to larger retail, national distribution, strategic partnership or acquisition, with the maker still making.
Field guide
Signs your pet is entering the senior years, and what helps at home.
Signs
- Hesitating at stairs, couches or car jumps
- Slower to rise after rest, stiff on cold mornings
- Sleeping more, restless at night
- Pickier with food or harder treats
- Seeming lost in familiar places
- Gaining or losing weight without a diet change
What helps
- Orthopedic and bolstered beds
- Lift and support harnesses
- Elevated feeders
- Soft, single-ingredient high-value treats
- Lick mats and gentle enrichment
- Shorter, more frequent walks and play
General information, not veterinary advice. Any change in mobility, appetite or behavior deserves a conversation with your veterinarian. AAHA's senior care guidance is a good place to start.
5% pledge
Five percent, back to the animals.
Comfort Tail gives 5% of contribution profit to vetted animal shelters and rescues, with a focus on senior animals. Our community nominates, we vet, and one partner is funded each quarter. Funding is never tied to promotion.
Nominate a rescue
Who's behind it
Operators, not just merchants.
Michael Ryan Betz, Founder & CEO
Marketer first, then operator, executive and founder. Former CMO and Head of Commercial at top brands, he helped scale a startup from $100M to a billion-dollar company and is Founder & CEO of The Proper Group.
BG.
Bob Gahan, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer
Leads logistics, commercialization and retail for Comfort Tail and its makers.
For makers
Make something pets love? Let's take it further.
We're adding independent makers of treats, chews, beds, mobility gear, enrichment and cat products. Tell us about what you make.
For retailers and partners
A pipeline of proven pet brands.
Comfort Tail doubles as an accelerator and market insight engine. Pet retailers get vetted, locally loved products with real reviews behind them. Strategic partners and investors get a live view of emerging local and regional pet brands and a pipeline of makers already proving demand.
Source library
Packaged Facts via Pet Food Processing (2022)Global Pet Industry, MRI-Simmons data (2022)dvm360, Osteoarthritis in catsFeline OA prevalence review, PMCCanine cognitive dysfunction study, PMCVeterinary Focus, Royal CaninAssociation for Pet Obesity Prevention (2022)APPA State of the Industry (2026)Petfood Industry on APPA 2026 reportAPPA industry trendsPew Research Center (2023)Petfood Industry, category growth (2024)AAFCO, Starting a Pet Food BusinessAAFCO state regulatory summaryPet Food Institute, how pet food is regulatedMeat+Poultry, pet food distributionAAHA, understanding senior status2023 AAHA Senior Care GuidelinesDog Aging Project (2025)Comfort Tail Co. store
Comfort Tail Co. currently operates as a brand of The Proper Group LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio. Questions: hello@comforttailco.com
Make the next conversation count.
Keynotes. Firesides. Workshops. Real perspective from the work of building.