Dog and pet influencers on Instagram: 36 creators with measured engagement (2026)

This is a list of 36 dog, cat and pet influencers on Instagram, grouped by size, with numbers we measured ourselves. For each one you get the follower count, the engagement rate of their typical post, how often they post, one recent post and a note on which brands they suit. We picked them from 455 pet creators that Virev's crawler read between August 24 and September 30, 2026, and opened every profile by hand on October 2.

The pages that rank for "dog influencers" list famous pets and their follower counts. Dogster's list of 35 pet influencers has no engagement numbers and still includes Grumpy Cat, who died in 2019. Feedspot's top 100 gives names and followers. A brand with a small budget needs the 1,000 to 100,000 follower band and needs to know what a normal post gets. So 21 of the 36 creators here have fewer than 100,000 followers.

How to read the numbers

• Typical ER is likes plus comments on the creator's median post, divided by followers. We use the median post because one viral Reel can lift an average far above what a sponsored post will get. Five creators below have an average at least three times their typical post.
• Posts/wk is the pace across their 12 most recent posts.
• Recent post links to a post close to their typical numbers and shows its date and likes when we read it.
• Followers come from Virev's last read of each account, between August 29 and September 29, 2026.

To check a pet account that is not on this list, paste the handle into the Instagram engagement rate calculator. It shows the average and the median-post rate side by side.

For context, the median pet creator's typical post ER is 2.90% for nano, 1.67% for micro, 1.06% for mid and 1.32% for macro accounts. 31 of the 36 creators below beat the median of their tier.

Nano pet influencers (1,000 to 10,000 followers)

• Daisy the Shihpoo (@daisytheadorableshihpoo), San Francisco. A shih-poo puppy who visits dog-friendly places around the Bay. Her September 16 Reel from a Sausalito boat trip was a hosted visit. Fits dog-friendly venues, travel and grooming brands in the Bay Area.
• Minnow the Malinois (@minnow.mal), US. A Belgian Malinois trained for dog sports and service work, with her titles in the bio. Training clips and hikes, with gear from Rex Specs and Auctus Canine Collective. Fits working-dog gear and training tools.
• Aoife and Toffi (@toffithepomm), UK. Pomeranian training, puppy life and three-ingredient treat recipes. Posts about Nutriment food (see the case below). Fits UK treat and food brands and UGC work.
• Milky Way Pomeranian (@milky.way.pom), Canada. Wellness, treats and hikes on Vancouver Island, with discount codes in the bio. Fewer than one post a week, so book one post, not a series. Fits subscription boxes and treats.
• Teddy the Golden (@teddygoesgolden), Boston. A golden retriever puppy with a growth update every week. Highest typical post in this tier at 17.80%. His September 9 Reel for Fresh Patch was a gifted product. Fits puppy products and city dog services.
• Hobbes and Monty (@hobbesandmonty). Two ginger kitten brothers, five funny Reels a week. The bio invites collabs and UGC. Fits kitten food, toys and litter.
• Utah the Beauceron (@roaming.with.beaucerons), Lake Tahoe. Mountain and lake hikes in the Sierra Nevada. Carries a code for a Mavpac belt bag. Fits outdoor and hiking gear.
• A Pocketful of Bullies (@apocketfulofbullies), South Wales. Three pocket bullies in posed photo shoots. Nine of the last 12 posts carry discount codes for harnesses, collars and tags. Fits small UK accessory brands; check the codes already running first.
• Jax the Akita (@jax.americanakita), Wales. A rescue American Akita with long, chatty captions. The example post got 169 comments, about half its likes. Has posted Nutriment treats. Fits UK treats and rescue causes.

Micro pet influencers (10,000 to 100,000 followers)

• Loki the Keeshond (@loki_the_kees), UK. Food enrichment, meal prep and Cornwall hikes. Has posted Nutriment nine times this year with the code LOKI10. Fits dog food, enrichment toys and UK travel.
• Dr. Petra Černá (@crazy_cat_vet). A board-certified feline medicine specialist. Reels on cat health, breeds and hydration, seven a week. Fits cat food, water fountains and vet apps that can stand up to a specialist's review.
• The Pet Loss Club (@thepetlossclub). Run by Jayde, a registered social worker, with pet grief support and memorial posts. A candlelight memorial invite got 1,305 comments. Fits memorial and aftercare services. Keep product promotion away from this audience.
• Angus and Romie (@angus.thegingercat), UK. Two ginger cats in short Reels, 4.5 a week. The bio links to Untamed cat food. Fits cat food and toys.
• Blue the Westie (@blue_thewestie), Canada. A West Highland terrier with his own published book. Funny Reels and brand ambassador posts. Fits Canadian pet brands.
• Cora the Borzoi (@coraborzoi), New York. A dog model with fashion week prep and Tiffany & Co. tags. Fits luxury, fashion and New York launches.
• Tyrion (@diggydag), Boise, Idaho. A paralyzed dog in a wheelchair, filmed by Dagmar Gudmundsson, who sells a hat line. One Reel with 90,202 likes lifts his average to 36%; his typical post is 2.89%. Fits mobility aids, harnesses and pet insurance.
• Gladys Barillas (@dailydogbites). Home-made dog food recipe Reels. Fewer than one post a week. Fits kitchen tools, supplements and fresh dog food.
• Cashew the Dachshund (@cashewdachshund), Canada. Dress-up Reels with "comment outfit" prompts. Fits dog clothing and accessories.
• Anja Blagojevic (@anjacatmom). Funny cat Reels, six a week. Highest typical post in the micro tier of this list, 5.74% on 66,504 followers. Fits cat toys and furniture.
• Archie and Louis (@archie.the_beagle), Devon, UK. A father and son beagle pair, staycations and a new horse. Typical post 0.75%, below the pet micro median of 1.67%. Fits UK travel; price on the post, not the followers.
• Reese (@guiltyreese), US. "Guilty dog" smile Reels. The bio names Reese inventor and CEO of Dooker, the owner's own product. One Reel with 258,826 likes lifts the average to 29%; the typical post is 4.54%. Avoid brands that compete with Dooker.

Mid-tier pet influencers (100,000 to 500,000 followers)

• A girl and her 9 cats (@herhouseofcats). Nine rescue cats, mostly black cats, 7.5 Reels a week. Fits litter, cat furniture and black-cat merchandise.
• Joey Golden Adventures (@joey_golden_adventures), Bangalore, India. A golden retriever with Telugu voiceovers. Typical post 12.61%, the highest in the mid tier here. Fits Indian pet brands that want Telugu-speaking audiences.
• Meelo and Mina (@meeloandmina). A cat brother and sister. Four of the last 12 posts were paid, for Vetsynova supplements and a WaggleTV pet camera. Comment counts above 150 come from prompts in the captions. Fits cat health and pet tech.
• Butcher the Bulldog (@butcher_the_bulldog). An English bulldog puppy who climbs stairs, seven Reels a week. Collab requests go to an email in the bio. Fits food, beds and family brands.
• Gooby (@goobythechi), Arizona. Chihuahua memes, several a day. One meme got 187,813 likes; the typical post gets about 9,600 likes and comments. The bio links to The Farmer's Dog, and a September post names him a Kismet ambassador with the code GOOBY. Fits brands that want meme formats.
• Apollo in the Wild (@apollointhewild), US Southwest. Australian cattle dogs on hikes, filmed by a commercial photographer. Typical post 0.91%; one Reel got 28,028 likes. Fits outdoor brands that want photo and video they can reuse.
• Mochi and Cheddar (@mochiandcheddar). Cat enrichment tips and DIY ideas, with their own cat enrichment app. Has posted for Delectables treats at PetSmart. Fits cat toys, treats and apps.
• Puggywoogy (@puggywoogy), India. Ipsita Chowdhury's pug family, senior dog posts and festival posts. Highlights show work with Farmina and Pet Fed Mumbai. Fits Indian pet food and events.
• Brad and the Goat (@bradandthegoat), UK. Animal memes paired with mental health messages, about 12 posts a week. Runs events and public speaking. Fits mental health causes and brands with a light tone.
• Noel Fitzpatrick (@profnoelfitzpatrick), UK. The Supervet: surgery case stories from his practice. His bio says he cannot give medical advice online. Fits charity and pet health campaigns more than product posts.

Macro pet influencers (500,000+ followers)

• Dr. Matt McGlasson (@dr.mattmcglasson), US. A cat veterinarian who fosters special-needs cats. 6.5 posts a week. Fits cat health, food and insurance brands.
• Hannah Shaw, Kitten Lady (@kittenxlady), US. Neonatal kitten rescue expert, author and founder of the Orphan Kitten Club. Posts formula recall notices and kitten care updates. Fits kitten formula, rescue supplies and shelter fundraising.
• Loki the Wolfdog (@loki), US. Adventure photos, his own Loki Naturals products and Howl Campfires, a company the account co-founded. In August his owner shared that Loki has trouble walking; that post got 150,088 likes. Posts less than once a week. Approach with care.
• Merv the Cat (@mervthepet). Comedy Reels with captions in Merv's voice and a merch line called Bagagwa. 15 paid posts this year (see the case below). Fits pet retail and pet food.
• Malcom (@malcomsalsicha), Brazil. A dachshund "detective" who lives with cats, in Portuguese. Four of the last 12 posts were paid, including an iFood post for Dog Day. Fits brands selling in Brazil.

Pet creators against all creators

We compared the 455 pet creators with the 53,934 individual creators in our Instagram engagement rate benchmarks. Both groups use the same rule: likes plus comments, averaged over the 12 most recent posts, divided by followers.

Below 10,000 followers, pet creators trail the field: 3.97% against 5.09%. Above 10,000 they lead at every size. At 10,000 to 100,000 followers the median pet creator gets 2.95% against 2.45%. Above 500,000 the pet median is about twice the all-creator median, but that row has only 17 pet creators, so read it as rough.

Two more differences matter when you plan a campaign:

• They post more often. Mid-tier pet creators post 3.1 times a week against 2.0 for all creators. A short campaign can get several posts without changing the creator's pace.
• Many of them already run paid deals. 13.4% of pet creators had an Instagram paid partnership label in their last 12 posts, against 6.6% of all creators. At 10,000 to 100,000 followers the figures are 18.2% and 8.0%. Check what each creator has promoted lately before you send an offer, because a food or treat deal often rules out a competitor.

Sponsored pet posts get about three quarters of the usual response

We found 1,137 ad posts on 186 pet creator accounts, posted between January 2 and September 23, 2026. An ad post here is one with Instagram's paid partnership label, an #ad, #sponsored or #gifted tag, or a discount code. For each one we compared its likes and comments with the median of the same account's posts without any of these. The median ad post got 0.74 times the account's usual response, and 71% got less than usual.

• The paid label costs more than a code. Posts with Instagram's paid partnership label got 0.55 times the usual response. Posts with only a discount code or a gifted tag got 0.88 times. Many code posts are small accounts mentioning a product they already use.
• Bigger accounts lose more. The median ad post got 0.88 times the usual response for nano creators, 0.69 for micro, 0.28 for mid-tier (124 posts) and 0.51 for macro (42 posts).
• Pet sits between our other niches. With the paid label, 0.55 is close to the 0.48 we found for NYC creators. Across all ad posts, 0.74 is above the 0.63 we found for golf creators.

Price a pet creator on the lower figure. If a creator's typical post gets 2,000 likes and comments, plan for about 1,100 to 1,500 on a labeled post.

Case: Merv the Cat and PetSmart

Merv the Cat (@mervthepet, 1.9 million followers) posts comedy Reels written in Merv's voice. Between March 27 and September 2, 2026, the account labeled 15 posts as paid partnerships for seven brands: Reveal pet food five times, PetSmart three times, Shark and Emergen-C twice each, and NexGard, PETLIBRO and Naturally Fresh cat litter once each. On October 2 we re-read the likes on all 96 posts from April 1 to September 2.

What the posts show:

• The paid posts got half of a usual post. Her 82 unlabeled posts got a median of 32,000 likes. The 14 paid posts in the window got 16,000.
• Pet brands did better than other brands. The three PetSmart Reels got about 27,000, 25,000 and 22,000 likes, 0.78 times her usual post. Reveal's four posts in the window got 20,000, 32,000, 21,000 and 4,744. The two Emergen-C posts got 6,581 and 7,719 likes, and the two Shark posts got about 11,000 each, a quarter to a third of a usual post.
• The brands came back. PetSmart booked her in April, July and September, and Reveal five times in five months. Both brands booked again after their first post.
• Comments follow the prompt. Reveal's August 25 Reel asked people to comment what they packed for lunch. It got 709 comments on 4,744 likes; her usual post gets about 425 comments on 32,000 likes.

For a pet retailer, 25,000 likes is 1.3% of her 1.9 million followers. Price a post like this on the 16,000 to 25,000 likes her paid posts get, not on her follower count, and expect a brand from outside pets to land lower.

Nutriment, a UK raw dog food brand, works the other end of the scale. We found 40 posts naming it between January and September 2026, from 12 creators who all have fewer than 19,000 followers. Two of them came back again and again: Loki the Keeshond with nine posts and the code LOKI10, and Teddy the Cavapoo with eight. Their Nutriment posts got about 0.9 to 0.96 times their usual response. Only one of the 40 posts carried Instagram's paid partnership label; 21 mention a gift. Before you seed a product, agree with each creator how the post will be labeled.

How to use this list

1. Start with the typical post. Compare it with the pet median for the creator's tier above, not with the all-creator figure.
2. Check the gap between average and typical. A large gap (Gooby, Reese, Tyrion) means one viral post lifts the average.
3. Count the deals already running. A Pocketful of Bullies carries discount codes on 9 of the last 12 posts. Meelo and Mina had four paid posts. Read how to check a creator's sponsorship history before you send an offer.
4. Read the owner's situation. Pet accounts share illness and loss. Loki the Wolfdog's August post was about his health, and one account we checked had become a memorial page. Do not pitch a product into that week.
5. Treat comment prompts as their own number. "Comment AMEN", "comment outfit" and giveaway rules raise comments without raising interest.

How we built this list

1. Find candidates. We took every public Instagram account with 1,000 or more followers that Virev read between July 1 and October 2, 2026. We kept accounts whose Virev creator profile is an individual creator and whose niche names pets, dogs, cats, kittens or animal rescue, for example "Pet and dog content" or "Cats and pet care". Hot dog restaurants and exam tutors named CAT were excluded.
2. Measure. For each account we used up to 12 recent posts from its own feed, at least three days old when read, not pinned. 455 creators had six or more such posts. We checked a random 30 of them by hand: 26 post mainly about their pets. The other 4, a politician, a biology teacher, a fashion and travel creator and a semi-pro footballer, mention animals in their profile but post about other things.
3. Pick. From the English-language creators, plus one Brazilian account at macro size, we kept active accounts with a clear pet focus and spread them across the four tiers.
4. Check by hand. On October 2, 2026 we opened every profile on Instagram and read the bio and recent posts. We removed 11 accounts. One profile was no longer available. One had become a memorial account after the dog died. Two hide like counts on their recent posts. Seven were off-niche: an actor, a model, a beauty creator, a motherhood creator, a home renovation account, a university mascot and a safari park trainer.
5. Example posts. We re-read one post per creator and all of Merv the Cat's posts from April to September on Instagram on October 2. Some posts read with exactly 3 likes, a pattern we see where creators hide like counts. We left those posts out of the creator figures.

Limits: Instagram does not show saves, shares or story views, so they are not in these rates. The 455 pet creators are the accounts that Virev crawls, which lean toward accounts brands search for, not a random sample of Instagram. Many large pet accounts write in Portuguese or Spanish: 8 of the 17 macro pet creators we measured. This list is mostly English-language. We list only public business details. Contact creators through the channels on their profiles.

Find more pet creators

The 36 creators above are a starting point. Virev creator search for "dog" and for "pet" list every pet creator we track, with the same engagement numbers, and let you filter by follower count, country and engagement rate. The pet influencer marketing page explains how brands use it.

For other niches measured the same way, see the lists of golf influencers and Christian influencers.