diff --git a/crates/dogstatsd/src/dogstatsd.rs b/crates/dogstatsd/src/dogstatsd.rs
index 11eae2d..e2ab2a0 100644
--- a/crates/dogstatsd/src/dogstatsd.rs
+++ b/crates/dogstatsd/src/dogstatsd.rs
@@ -70,6 +70,21 @@ impl std::fmt::Display for MessageSource {
     }
 }
 
+/// A packet read from the transport, carrying a pooled buffer.
+/// The actual data is `buf[..len]` — the buffer itself is returned
+/// to the pool after processing so it can be reused without allocation.
+struct Packet {
+    buf: Vec<u8>,
+    len: usize,
+    source: MessageSource,
+}
+
+impl Packet {
+    fn data(&self) -> &[u8] {
+        &self.buf[..self.len]
+    }
+}
+
 // BufferReader abstracts transport methods for metric data.
 enum BufferReader {
     /// UDP socket reader (cross-platform, default transport)
@@ -119,6 +134,22 @@ impl BufferReader {
             },
         }
     }
+
+    /// Non-blocking read into the provided buffer. Returns `Ok(Some(...))`
+    /// if a packet is immediately available, `Ok(None)` if the socket would
+    /// block. Used after `read_into()` to drain all pending packets from the
+    /// kernel buffer without re-entering tokio's event loop.
+    fn try_read_into(&mut self, buf: &mut [u8]) -> std::io::Result<Option<(usize, MessageSource)>> {
+        match self {
+            BufferReader::UdpSocket(socket) => match socket.try_recv_from(buf) {
+                Ok((amt, src)) => Ok(Some((amt, MessageSource::Network(src)))),
+                Err(ref e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::WouldBlock => Ok(None),
+                Err(e) => Err(e),
+            },
+            // Non-UDP transports don't support non-blocking reads
+            _ => Ok(None),
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 /// DogStatsD server to receive, parse, and forward metrics.
@@ -249,10 +280,23 @@ impl DogStatsD {
         } = self;
 
         let (tx, mut rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel(queue_size);
+        // Buffer pool: processor returns used buffers, reader reuses them.
+        // Avoids a heap allocation + zero-fill per packet in steady state.
+        let (pool_tx, pool_rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::unbounded_channel();
+        let reader_pool_tx = pool_tx.clone();
 
         let reader_token = cancel_token.clone();
         tokio::spawn(async move {
-            read_loop(buffer_reader, tx, reader_token, buf_size, queue_size).await;
+            read_loop(
+                buffer_reader,
+                tx,
+                reader_token,
+                buf_size,
+                queue_size,
+                pool_rx,
+                reader_pool_tx,
+            )
+            .await;
         });
 
         process_loop(
@@ -260,6 +304,7 @@ impl DogStatsD {
             &cancel_token,
             &aggregator_handle,
             metric_namespace.as_deref(),
+            pool_tx,
         )
         .await;
     }
@@ -285,21 +330,39 @@ impl DogStatsD {
 
 /// Drains the transport into the channel as fast as possible.
 ///
-/// Allocates a fresh buffer for each read. On queue full, drops the packet
-/// and logs at power-of-two intervals (matching Go agent behavior).
+/// Buffers are drawn from a pool (or allocated on first use) and returned by
+/// the processor after parsing. In steady state this means zero heap
+/// allocations in the read loop — only a `recv_from` syscall + channel send.
+///
+/// After each async `read_into()`, calls `try_read_into()` in a tight loop to
+/// drain all packets already sitting in the kernel buffer without re-entering
+/// tokio's event loop.
+///
+/// Uses `is_cancelled()` as a fast-path check at the top of each iteration,
+/// and `tokio::select!` on the async `read_into()` to ensure the reader exits
+/// promptly even on a quiet socket (where `read_into` would block forever).
 async fn read_loop(
     mut reader: BufferReader,
-    tx: tokio::sync::mpsc::Sender<(Vec<u8>, MessageSource)>,
+    tx: tokio::sync::mpsc::Sender<Packet>,
     cancel: tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken,
     buf_size: usize,
     queue_capacity: usize,
+    mut pool_rx: tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedReceiver<Vec<u8>>,
+    pool_tx: tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedSender<Vec<u8>>,
 ) {
     let mut dropped: u64 = 0;
-    loop {
-        let mut buf = vec![0u8; buf_size];
+    while !cancel.is_cancelled() {
+        // Get a buffer from the pool, or allocate if the pool is empty (cold start).
+        let mut buf = pool_rx.try_recv().unwrap_or_else(|_| vec![0u8; buf_size]);
+
+        // Async wait for the first packet, but remain cancellation-aware
+        // so the reader exits promptly on a quiet socket.
         let result = tokio::select! {
             r = reader.read_into(&mut buf) => r,
-            _ = cancel.cancelled() => break,
+            _ = cancel.cancelled() => {
+                let _ = pool_tx.send(buf);
+                break;
+            }
         };
         let (len, source) = match result {
             Ok(r) => r,
@@ -309,22 +372,45 @@ async fn read_loop(
             }
             Err(e) => {
                 error!("DogStatsD read error: {}", e);
+                let _ = pool_tx.send(buf);
                 continue;
             }
         };
         if len == 0 {
+            let _ = pool_tx.send(buf);
             continue;
         }
-        buf.truncate(len);
-        match tx.try_send((buf, source)) {
-            Ok(()) => {}
-            Err(tokio::sync::mpsc::error::TrySendError::Full(_)) => {
-                dropped += 1;
-                if dropped.is_power_of_two() {
-                    debug!("DogStatsD queue full, {} packets dropped so far", dropped);
+        if !try_send_packet(&tx, Packet { buf, len, source }, &mut dropped, &pool_tx) {
+            break;
+        }
+
+        // Drain any packets already in the kernel buffer without going
+        // through tokio's event loop — just raw non-blocking syscalls.
+        loop {
+            let mut buf = pool_rx.try_recv().unwrap_or_else(|_| vec![0u8; buf_size]);
+            match reader.try_read_into(&mut buf) {
+                Ok(Some((0, _))) => {
+                    let _ = pool_tx.send(buf);
+                }
+                Ok(Some((len, source))) => {
+                    if !try_send_packet(&tx, Packet { buf, len, source }, &mut dropped, &pool_tx) {
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+                Ok(None) => {
+                    let _ = pool_tx.send(buf);
+                    break;
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    error!("DogStatsD read error: {}", e);
+                    let _ = pool_tx.send(buf);
+                    break;
                 }
             }
-            Err(tokio::sync::mpsc::error::TrySendError::Closed(_)) => break,
+        }
+        // If the channel was closed during batch drain, exit immediately.
+        if tx.is_closed() {
+            break;
         }
     }
     if dropped > 0 {
@@ -335,28 +421,58 @@ async fn read_loop(
     }
 }
 
+/// Sends a packet to the channel. Returns `false` if the channel is closed
+/// (caller should exit the loop). On failure, returns the buffer to the pool
+/// so it can be reused.
+fn try_send_packet(
+    tx: &tokio::sync::mpsc::Sender<Packet>,
+    packet: Packet,
+    dropped: &mut u64,
+    pool: &tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedSender<Vec<u8>>,
+) -> bool {
+    match tx.try_send(packet) {
+        Ok(()) => true,
+        Err(tokio::sync::mpsc::error::TrySendError::Full(packet)) => {
+            let _ = pool.send(packet.buf);
+            *dropped += 1;
+            if dropped.is_power_of_two() {
+                debug!("DogStatsD queue full, {} packets dropped so far", *dropped);
+            }
+            true
+        }
+        Err(tokio::sync::mpsc::error::TrySendError::Closed(packet)) => {
+            let _ = pool.send(packet.buf);
+            false
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Receives packets from the channel, parses them, and forwards metrics
-/// to the aggregator. On cancellation, drains any remaining buffered
-/// packets before exiting so no already-read data is lost.
+/// to the aggregator. After processing each packet, returns the buffer to
+/// the pool for reuse by the reader. On cancellation, drains any remaining
+/// buffered packets before exiting so no already-read data is lost.
 async fn process_loop(
-    rx: &mut tokio::sync::mpsc::Receiver<(Vec<u8>, MessageSource)>,
+    rx: &mut tokio::sync::mpsc::Receiver<Packet>,
     cancel: &tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken,
     aggregator: &AggregatorHandle,
     namespace: Option<&str>,
+    pool: tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedSender<Vec<u8>>,
 ) {
     loop {
         tokio::select! {
             packet = rx.recv() => {
                 match packet {
-                    Some((buf, src)) => {
-                        process_packet(&buf, &src, aggregator, namespace);
+                    Some(packet) => {
+                        process_packet(packet.data(), &packet.source, aggregator, namespace);
+                        let _ = pool.send(packet.buf);
                     }
                     None => break,
                 }
             }
             _ = cancel.cancelled() => {
-                while let Ok((buf, src)) = rx.try_recv() {
-                    process_packet(&buf, &src, aggregator, namespace);
+                while let Ok(packet) = rx.try_recv() {
+                    process_packet(packet.data(), &packet.source, aggregator, namespace);
+                    let _ = pool.send(packet.buf);
                 }
                 break;
             }
@@ -732,8 +848,8 @@ single_machine_performance.rouster.metrics_max_timestamp_latency:1376.90870216|d
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn test_dogstatsd_custom_buffer_size() {
         // Use a large buffer to verify custom buf_size is wired through.
-        // The MirrorTest reader returns pre-stored data (ignoring buf_size),
-        // so this test ensures the buf_size field is properly wired into DogStatsD.
+        // The MirrorTest reader copies data into the caller's buffer, so
+        // a payload that fits within the custom size should parse correctly.
         let payload = "large.buf.metric:1|c\nlarge.buf.metric2:2|c\n";
         let custom_buf_size: usize = 16384;
 
diff --git a/crates/dogstatsd/tests/integration_test.rs b/crates/dogstatsd/tests/integration_test.rs
index 1b242ca..839dab0 100644
--- a/crates/dogstatsd/tests/integration_test.rs
+++ b/crates/dogstatsd/tests/integration_test.rs
@@ -297,6 +297,121 @@ async fn test_send_with_retry_immediate_failure_after_one_attempt() {
     mock.assert_async().await;
 }
 
+/// Verifies that `spin()` exits promptly when cancelled on a quiet socket
+/// (no packets arriving). Without cancellation-aware awaiting in the reader,
+/// the task would block on `recv_from` indefinitely.
+#[cfg(test)]
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn test_spin_exits_on_cancellation_without_traffic() {
+    use dogstatsd::metric::SortedTags;
+
+    let (service, handle) =
+        AggregatorService::new(SortedTags::parse("test:value").unwrap(), CONTEXTS)
+            .expect("aggregator service creation failed");
+    tokio::spawn(service.run());
+
+    let cancel_token = CancellationToken::new();
+    let dogstatsd = DogStatsD::new(
+        &DogStatsDConfig {
+            host: "127.0.0.1".to_string(),
+            port: 18128,
+            metric_namespace: None,
+            #[cfg(all(windows, feature = "windows-pipes"))]
+            windows_pipe_name: None,
+            so_rcvbuf: None,
+            buffer_size: None,
+            queue_size: None,
+        },
+        handle.clone(),
+        cancel_token.clone(),
+    )
+    .await;
+
+    let spin_handle = tokio::spawn(async move {
+        dogstatsd.spin().await;
+    });
+
+    // Cancel immediately — no packets sent
+    cancel_token.cancel();
+
+    // spin() must exit within 500ms; if it blocks on recv_from this times out.
+    let result = timeout(Duration::from_millis(500), spin_handle).await;
+    assert!(
+        result.is_ok(),
+        "spin() should exit promptly after cancellation on a quiet socket"
+    );
+
+    handle.shutdown().expect("shutdown failed");
+}
+
+/// Verifies that when the internal queue is full, the server drops packets
+/// rather than blocking, and still delivers the metrics it did accept.
+/// Uses queue_size=1 so the queue saturates almost immediately.
+#[cfg(test)]
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn test_queue_full_drops_packets_without_blocking() {
+    use dogstatsd::metric::SortedTags;
+
+    let (service, handle) =
+        AggregatorService::new(SortedTags::parse("test:value").unwrap(), CONTEXTS)
+            .expect("aggregator service creation failed");
+    tokio::spawn(service.run());
+
+    let cancel_token = CancellationToken::new();
+    let dogstatsd = DogStatsD::new(
+        &DogStatsDConfig {
+            host: "127.0.0.1".to_string(),
+            port: 18129,
+            metric_namespace: None,
+            #[cfg(all(windows, feature = "windows-pipes"))]
+            windows_pipe_name: None,
+            so_rcvbuf: None,
+            buffer_size: None,
+            queue_size: Some(1),
+        },
+        handle.clone(),
+        cancel_token.clone(),
+    )
+    .await;
+
+    let spin_handle = tokio::spawn(async move {
+        dogstatsd.spin().await;
+    });
+
+    sleep(Duration::from_millis(50)).await;
+
+    // Fire 200 packets as fast as possible — with queue_size=1, most will be dropped.
+    let socket = UdpSocket::bind("0.0.0.0:0").await.expect("bind failed");
+    for i in 0..200 {
+        let msg = format!("qfull.m{}:{}|c\n", i, i);
+        let _ = socket.send_to(msg.as_bytes(), "127.0.0.1:18129").await;
+    }
+
+    // Give the processor time to consume what it received.
+    sleep(Duration::from_millis(300)).await;
+
+    let response = handle.flush().await.expect("flush failed");
+    let received: usize = response.series.iter().map(|s| s.len()).sum();
+
+    // With queue_size=1, we expect some metrics to arrive but not all 200.
+    // The exact number depends on timing, so just verify:
+    // 1. At least some metrics got through (server isn't broken)
+    // 2. Fewer than all 200 arrived (drops happened)
+    assert!(
+        received > 0,
+        "expected at least some metrics to arrive, got 0"
+    );
+    assert!(
+        received < 200,
+        "expected some packets to be dropped with queue_size=1, but all {} arrived",
+        received
+    );
+
+    cancel_token.cancel();
+    let _ = timeout(Duration::from_millis(500), spin_handle).await;
+    handle.shutdown().expect("shutdown failed");
+}
+
 /// Verifies that `buffer_size` actually controls how many bytes the server
 /// reads per UDP packet. Sends a payload larger than a small buffer and
 /// checks that metrics are lost, then sends the same payload to a server