You don’t need me to tell you that taking your pet to the veterinarian can be expensive. Having worked as a veterinarian for more than 30 years, I thought that I would share some ideas as to why veterinary medicine costs what it does, and some things you can do to spend your pet care dollars wisely.
Companion animal veterinary medicine is a fairly recent development in the U.S. Before the 50’s, most veterinary clinics primarily treated livestock and pets were an afterthought. During the 60’s and 70’s, small animal clinics came into their own, and the succeeding decades saw the explosion of veterinary care into specialty services such as dedicated emergency facilities and referral practices with veterinary specialists in areas such as surgery and internal medicine with further specialization into cardiology, dermatology, neurology and others. This level of medical sophistication has greatly improved the quality of life for all pets, but it comes at a price.
The average veterinary student graduates with their Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree after eight years of study with an average debt of more than $142,000 and an average starting salary of $66,000. Compare that to someone who graduates as a pharmacist after five years of schooling and a starting salary of $82,000 and you can see that people who go into veterinary medicine don’t do it for the economics.
Now consider that to open the average, one-doctor veterinary hospital today would take an investment of about $250,000 just for the equipment necessary to practice to the standard of care expected today. Add real estate and building costs and you could easily need more than $1 million to get started.
Running a small animal practice has a lot in common with any other small business. You have your overhead costs (employees, building, equipment, drugs and supplies) and you try and determine how much to charge to meet all of those expenses, with something left over to earn a living for yourself.
There can be tremendous differences between the fees from one practice to another and those differences are based on costs, level of services provided, how long the practice has been open, etc. A high volume practice may provide a limited number of services more cost effectively, with little time available for high touch care as compared to a practice that emphasizes a greater range of services and level of care. One is not necessarily better than another – they are just options to be aware of when seeking a veterinarian.
The reason why veterinary care is as expensive as it is can be traced to several factors. The first, in my opinion, is that the business model the majority of veterinary clinics operate under is outdated and inefficient. For decades, veterinary practices operated as mom-and-pop businesses where an individual hangs out a shingle and builds a practice over time. That worked when it didn’t take a lot of money to open a practice, but advances in technology make this less and less economically viable. For example, a new digital radiology unit can cost $85,000. In a town of 30,000 people you may have three or four small animal practices, each with their own radiology unit that may only get used a few times a week.
Other economic factors also affect the equation, such as the cost of drugs and supplies, the issue of pet health insurance and even nonprofit groups. I’ll take a closer look at these in my next column and give some tips on what pet owners can do to help keep down the cost of caring for their pets.
Dr. Kiel is the U.S. Army veterinarian currently supporting NAS Whidbey Island and Naval Station Everett. Please send questions or comments to Dr. Kiel at joseph.kiel@navy.mil.
