Growing costs of vet care bite into owners' budgets
USA Today reports on how American pet owners of all income levels are facing bigger vet bills that can substantially impact their finances and sometimes complicate already difficult decisions, noting that veterinarians are reporting a marked increase over the past several years – especially since the pandemic – in the cost of running a practice, which inevitably gets passed on to clients. The price of urban veterinarian services increased by 7.9% from February 2023 to February 2024, more than 2½ times higher than the average of all consumer items, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compared with two years ago, urban vet care is up 11%, and over the last decade it has risen by nearly 60%. The report notes that about a quarter of the 30,000 vet clinics in the United States are owned by large chains, and that share is much higher among the 1,200 emergency and specialty vet hospitals, about 75% of which are owned by chains, The Associated Press has previously reported. Dr. David Lee, an associate dean and professor at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, observes: “As investors want more and more returns, the easiest thing to do is to raise fees, which puts it back on the clients . . . We’re very concerned that there could be as much as 35% of pet owners who will not have affordable access to veterinary care in just the next few years.’’
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