AVMA shares insights into rising veterinary costs
Amid ongoing economic uncertainty, the cost of veterinary care has become a topic of interest for the public and the media. The AVMA is communicating with reporters across the country to provide insights into the “why” behind rising pet care costs and how veterinarians partner with owners every day to find compassionate solutions that support both patient needs and client budgets.
When the AVMA fields calls or reaches out to the media on this topic, here is some of the information we share. These thoughts may also help you during conversations with clients and with any local media who may reach out to you.
Veterinarians choose this profession out of a deep love for animals and a strong desire to improve their lives. We also know that behind every pet is a person or family who cares deeply and wants to do what’s best. That’s why our approach to care is centered not only on medical expertise, but on collaboration and trust.
Veterinarians work closely with pet owners to create personalized care plans that reflect their pet’s needs and their own circumstances. These include incremental or lower-cost options, when appropriate, and honest conversations about what is essential versus ideal in a treatment plan.
We understand that many families are struggling with increases in the cost of living, and veterinary care is not immune to these broader economic pressures. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation has affected virtually every sector of the U.S. economy, including human and animal health care. In veterinary medicine, contributing factors include these:
- Rising costs of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, as well as increased costs associated with operating a business, such as utilities
- Investments in new technologies that allow veterinarians to deliver advanced treatments that improve and extend patients’ lives
- Longer lifespans for pets, which is something we celebrate, but which also come with more frequent and complex medical needs over time
Unlike human health care, veterinary care is largely paid for out-of-pocket, since only about 4% of U.S. pets are covered by insurance. That’s why we urge pet owners to be proactive and explore options for financing their pet’s care before they face major medical expenses. Some options include pet health insurance, dedicated savings accounts, and credit plans. Depending on their situation, pet owners also may qualify for low-cost, community-supported services or grants.
One of the most effective ways to reduce future medical costs is through regular preventive care. Routine check-ups, vaccinations, parasite control, and healthy weight management help pets stay well and allow veterinarians to detect problems early—before they become more serious and costly.
Veterinarians are actively working to bridge care gaps in our communities. Across the country veterinarians volunteer time and expertise in vaccine and spay/neuter clinics, at pop-up pet wellness events, and in animal shelters. Through the American Veterinary Medical Foundation’s REACH program, AVMA members can receive grants to help clients in need provide care for their pets. Thanks to generous support from AVMA members, corporate partners, foundations, and private individuals, this program is expanding access to veterinary care.
At the heart of our profession is an unwavering commitment to our pets’ health and welfare, as well as to the people who cherish them. Veterinary care is not just about medicine. It’s about compassion, partnership, and finding solutions that keep pets healthy and families supported.
Comments
We can’t just throw our hands up and continue business as usual
I’m sorry, this response is infuriating and out of touch with reality. Really? This is the best we can do?
Corporations are not in the business of what you have described. Their one goal is to make money. End of story, and they are leading the industry. It is awful that owning a pet has become an upper class privilege. People don’t even have enough money to buy groceries, let alone make a savings account for their pets. The AVMA’s response to this problem is completely out of touch with reality and lacks any empathy.
Companion animals are called that because of the enormous contribution they have in peoples’ lives. We shouldn't make them for only one class of people. Also the shaming of vets in rural and low income areas who are not doing the “gold standard” all the time needs to stop. These vets are doing their best to provide as much care as possible, vs. the alternative of no care, within the owners financial constraints.
We can’t just put our heads and the sand and continue business as usual. Pretending there is no problem with the industry and blaming the owners and life is a total cop out. The world has changed and we need to change with it. Right now people need love and compassion, something animals provide, and we are taking that from them and making them feel shame for not being able to provide basic care for their beloved pets.
There are several ways to address this problem, which is only going to get worse, but simply shrugging and saying “sorry life is expensive you should plan better” is not going to fix anything.
Agree
Amen you hit it on the head
Agree, agree, agree
Corporations in the veterinary medicine business are milking pet owners for anything they think they can get away with.
pet care costs
Love that. I am a long time vet. I am struggling to provide care for my patients. I looked for an associate for 6 years and couldn't get one because I can't afford a 50k sign on bonus. Of course, I don't charge 12K for a splenectomy. My son works at a corporation and just had a 10k diabetic ketoacidosis case. People just can't afford that amount! Sad part is the diabetic was not critical and was just brought in for being a bit lethargic. I could have handled that in my office and saved the client thousands!
Cost of care
It is easy to sling mud. Ok. So let’s hear some of those ways you’re talking about to address the problem.
Strongly Agree
Their one goal is to make money should be “ Their only goal is to make Money”.
I am an international veterinarian in the veterinary field since 2020. I felt very disappointed with the way corporations are treating animals and their owners especially in terms of veterinary cost, although they have veterinarians in their businesses but it’s not the veterinarians who can make financial decisions about pets care. It’s the corporate mindsets who set the prices and I am really sorry to say that whenever an owner enters the corporate veterinary practice building, they have no options except for wellbeing and care for their companions and corporate businesses already know that and they manipulate this situation and charges the owners too high prices to be affordable.
Veterinary Prices
While I agree some things are increased just for profit (company profit, not going in the pockets of staff you’re working with directly), people also need to consider the fact that veterinary employees often make very little and not enough to live off of. Some rising veterinary costs are due to the well-deserved staff finally making a livable wage.
I agree entirely
In my state, our locally owned and operated vet clinics and hospitals have been gobbled up almost exclusively by investment firms.
You can't tell me that The new technology and cost of business his skyrocketed so much over the past 5 years where my average event bill went from maybe $75 to now I can't even Walk into the clinic without already owing $160 and that doesn't include the actual diagnosis, medication and whatever else..where I used to rarely have a vet bill over $75, I now consistently walk out of the vet clinic owing 300 minimum for a total visit that lasts maybe 15 minutes.
These investment firms are greedy they are exploiting people who are just barely scraping by in life they know it, we know it and it's getting downright disgusting.
It used to be you could go in to see your vet and the vet had a pretty good idea of what was going on and could help you make your cat or dog feel better but now, there's this weird process you have to go through Will they start out with letting you know what the minimum end of the vet visit is going to be and the higher end of the vet visit so then you agree to the lower end and then they say oh we're going to need to go into the higher end. So then you go into the higher end and then there's another higher end beyond that and beyond that and beyond that and next thing you know you got lab work X-rays blood work blah blah blah and they found out that your cat just had an ingrown toenail and you walked out of there owing $1,400.
I used to regularly take my cats to the vet to ensure they we're always well taken care of and cared for but now, it's so ridiculously expensive I just flat out cannot afford to have my beautiful kitty cats get the medical care that they deserve and need.
And don't get me started with that credit card that they push on you in your moment of weakness withoutrageous interest rates.
I went into debt over $8,000 when my cat was plugged up with crystals. Between the two emergency hospitals that kept him for "observation" and ran tests because they weren't quite sure what exactly was wrong with him. Never mind the fact that I told him he is susceptible to getting crystals and I'm 99.9% certain that's what he's got right now oh no, we need to keep him overnight and that's going to be another $1,800 to keep him overnight well in the end, they dragged it out so long he suffered something horrible for 48 hours and nobody would just do what needed to be done to clean him out. They finally came to me after 48 hours and said, oh we think he has a crystal blockage but it's too late now so we can do the surgery but he'll probably end up dying anyway so that's going to be $8,500 or we just put him to sleep for you for $600 bucks.
I still am so ragingly angry at that vet and how they let him suffer and die and he was a healthy beautiful kitty cat who had just recently had a vet appointment with a checkup and had all his shots and was in excellent health.
I wish someone would stand up and sue these vet clinics that are being operated by investment firms because putting your beloved pets lives in jeopardy all in the name of money should be illegal. I feel so powerless and the second these vets you walk through the door, they scope you up one side and down the next to see how much money they can milk out of you for their investors.
Expensive Vet Services
I totally agree. "jacking up the prices" because everyone else is doing it, and because pet owners are willing to pay for their beloved companions is unethical and greedy...at best!
Very Costs
Rising cost of vet care is directly related to and influenced by corporations buying up vet clinics and unnecessarily jacking up prices. This is why costs have increased over 40% on average in the last decade. Shareholder gains are officially more important than your pet's health or life.
I couldn't agree more. I…
I couldn't agree more. I work in the UK where private equity owns over 50% of the market share. Our prices have skyrocketed and yet the public blame seems to lay with the providers of the medical care rather than the corporates who control every aspect of the industry in a monopolistic way. They own the GPs, the specialists, the labs, the pharmacies, the crematoriums...
Veterinary Costs
Inflation in charges is not mysterious at all. Look no farther than Pirate Equity.
Vet care costs = non compliance
Corporate, hedge fund, equity group shareholder profits driven ownership of vet practices WILL be the end of pet ownership as we’ve always known it.
Since 2022 (just 3 years) in my region (NH) of the country, corporate takeovers have soared prices 2-4x 2022 levels.
More owners are failing to have s/n surgeries done and even basic care is being shifted to “later”
Uncomplicated exam prices are up 2-3x
Spays are up 2-4x
Neuters up 2-3x
Hw/tick borne disease testing is at least 2x
Etc
Pet ownership is being shifted to upper middle class and higher income level while everyone else either has to give up their pets or go without basic veterinarian care
Over counter meds.
Vets making more money taking o/c meds that public has used for decades off public maket
Veterinary Service Costs
All of the points in the article are valid as are my colleagues comments. I have another factor that adds into this and it is the loss of pharmacy revenue to online pharmacies. When a veterinary clinic or hospital loses 40% of pharmacy revenue to Chewy, Pet Meds, Amazon, etc where do you think they are going to make that up? No where else but bu raising fees for service. As this trend continues service fees will continue to rise. Do you think the drug manufacturers care where they sell their product to? I think not.
veterinary care fees
Being in practice for sixty years, I am horrified of what is happening to the veterinary
profession. I practice in a busy middle class town with many successful people in this town. I am seeing their horror at having to pay such outlandish fees to these smart
alec corporate practices that are charging horrendous fees. I have never seen so many practices close or closing. Greed has killed many practices. My generation of veterinarians were mainly conservative farm guys, at one time we were ranked second in the nation behind human nurses for respect and confidence from the American public. With all the unconservative liberal people now in our profession I am sure that statistic has gone to hell. Our schools need to get men interested again in our profession and make the other sex respectful again, at present they are getting arrogant with their good ol girl hiring. Our schools should be promoting our men farmers, they come with experience in the field already and are conservative. rarely tatoos among them !
"Make the other sex…
"Make the other sex respectful again." What an interesting way to say that you are threatened by women, especially educated, talented, and critically-thinking women with decision-making power. The profession has evolved. It's OK if you do, too.
It's OK to just admit that…
It's OK to just admit that your ego is threatened by intelligent, successful women. If by "make the other sex respectful again," you mean "obedient," this is a gentle reminder that it's 2025, not 1965. The cognitive dissonance around "good ol girl" hiring is hilarious, especially as you literally describe traditional good ol boy practices.
Perhaps the downward trend of confidence of the public in veterinarians has less to do with tattooed liberals and "the other sex" and more to do with the fact that SIX decades have passed since you graduated, the country has changed in profound ways, the economy has been dynamic, and the public has evolving demands from health professionals about the services they want, who they want it from, and how they want it. It is an outdated concept to assume that veterinarians and other professionals are owed respect simply for having an advanced degree. Respect is earned through trust-building, transparency, and relationality. If you're seeing a trend away from respect and public confidence, my curiosity leads me to wonder, "How can we as a profession do better...together?"
Our veterinary oath says, "I accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence." This implies that the profession evolves and we must, too.
Blame Private Equity and Complacency in Vet Med Education
Rising costs are coming from a variety of factors. As a practice owner I could point to a variety of things to give you the answer that you are looking for, but let's be very clear about how private equity companies are changing the landscape of vet med. They are screwing over clients and reaping the benefits of the hard work the people in this profession give their lives for. This, coupled with the veterinary schools mandating education through corporate companies(The University of Minnesota now MANDATES students to do a 2 week Banfield rotation their senior year!!!). This level of complacency and partnership at the University level tells me that the game is over. No going back folks.
I've been on both sides now
Over my past forty years of practice, the quality of veterinary care has soared, and it has come with increased cost of what it takes to deliver that level of care. Meanwhile, we have failed to instruct the newer generation of veterinarians that care can be tailored to the economics of the client and that is an acceptable reality. Incremental care is not abuse.
Now we have corporate ownership who are managing to predetermine return with a number that seems to have originated in the ether. They see employment costs as the only factor they can control on this quest to the bottom line and so begins the death spiral. Non-DVM labor is cut, Doctors become unable to do their job, and they leave, and the practice fails. But as long as there are pets, people who love them and veterinarians dedicated to providing care, I suspect that independent veterinary practices will rise on the other side of this apocalypse.
You realize for the first…
You realize for the first time in your life you are now being compensated fairly, or nearly so. Prior to Covid, I was starving, we were giving stuff away.
I know this is a contrarian view, but my biggest regret becoming a veterinarian was the debt I incurred and the money I made. A POOR return on investment. Until now—it’s almost respectable. However, this is only fleeting. With the number of seats in vet schools now and the number of new vet schools, in time the market will be flooded with vets again and it will be low pay all over again!
Reply to AVMA
Veterinary medicine used to be an art and science. With the evidence model of diagnosis as the standard, the art has been diminished to substandard. The art, which is using experience as a valued source for diagnosis is now looked upon with scorn by the profession. Gathering evidence costs money and is partly why cost of care has elevated dramatically. Colleges of veterinary medicine would be wise to include in their Spectrum of Care curriculum the value of experience, the art, in diagnosing and treating client's pets. They should also have rotations in the business side of owning a practice so that the students can get some real world experience on owning a practice privately instead of allowing corporate to come into the colleges for job recruitment weekly. Lowering tuition, instead of having food pantries for students, might also give graduating students hope for the future that they might have freedom to practice independently, and not become mindnumbed robots executing directives from algorithims.
Corporations and overpaying new grads
I have worked for several private practices and two corporations over the years. The private practices focused on patients and clients and were more profitable than the corporations that focused on numbers in spreadsheets. I believe there is a lesson behind that.
Another problem is that new graduates are expecting to make a lot of money on Day 1 after graduation. Even though we all know that they cannot generate enough income, if a practice is charging reasonable fees, to cover their wages. So, practices are forced to raise fees to cover this expense. Most new graduates just cannot work fast and efficiently enough to generate a gross of $600-700K unless they are overcharging the public.
Corporate control
I agree with so much of this. I do not begrudge anyone making a living but corporations idea of that is a constantly increasing % profit not just making a reasonable living. Look what has happened to our human medical services that are corporate driven and the often marginal care we get. That is what our profession is turning into and no one is doing anything about it, while some of the "boots on the ground" like us are screaming. This article makes me wonder if our the AVMA will actually stand up for us or just kiss the ground the corporations and pharmaceutical companies walk on. I don't even know what to believe any more about "evidence based research". Is that research bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical companies? It seems to be. I have seen more drugs come out lately that scare me to use or are just simply old drugs that have been changed in some small way to be able to jack up the price. Who is going to stand up to this and be able to make a difference if our own AVMA won't? It is a sad situation when many of my clients thank me for taking the time to talk to them because other doctors don't do the same. How can we expect good compliance and ultimately good patient care if clients don't understand what we are doing and why? And how can we accomplish that if corporations want vets to see a patient every 15 minutes? And how are our clients supposed to trust us when they want to pay vets on commission? Dear AVMA, you may not be able to change it but you could at least go down swinging for the profession!
Mexico
I take my boys to Mexico where vets. are america trained and outstandingly honest and 3/4's the cost. Have pet insurance that rises each year and won't be able to afford much more on fixed income. My boys are my heart and sure wish the US would catch up to compassion. and not the profit.
ER vet clinics
I understand they're operating overnight, but the reasons you give, and highlight for that matter, ate no different than the cost of operating a normal hours vet clinic. Utilities and supplies cost more at night??? Please........ how about you just say staffing is hard because its overnight and you ca t count on a certain amount of visits to cover various costs that arent fixed. Supplies are a fixed cost, they only are used when you have a patient, labor isnt, its a cost to keep the doors open extra hours... geesh! Hoping this was an AI generated answer
Shouldn’t need to be this way
I moved to the US from South Africa where we have some of the best veterinary care in the world for an absolute fraction of the price. Even medications and technologies manufactured in the US, exported to South Africa, multiplied by 17.5 for exchange rate, increased for import duties, foreign training cost etc literally come out costing 15x less than in the USA. And in most cases we have more advanced technology and expertise available there. The USA charges what it does because it can. Full stop.
The only way it will ever change is if the public demands it changes. Same goes for human health care.
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