Are We Too Expensive? Or Have We Just Caught Up?

Every few months, another headline pops up saying vet bills are skyrocketing. Suddenly, everyone is asking if veterinary care has become too expensive.

But maybe we are not expensive. Maybe we have just caught up.

The cost of everything has gone up. Groceries, rent, insurance, you name it. So why are we surprised that veterinary care has followed the same path? Yes, our prices have risen faster than the GDP, and there are other factors pushing costs higher, like corporate consolidation and vertical integration. But before we point fingers, we need to ask if the problem is that we are too expensive, or if we are finally paying people what they deserve.

Let’s rewind ten years. Wages in veterinary medicine were painfully low. People were overworked and underpaid. Now we are trying to fix that. We are raising wages, and leading practices are creating real career paths. When wages increase, costs follow. And when costs rise, prices do too. That does not make us greedy. That is business.

I wrote another piece called Out of Pocket, Out of Patience: Why Vet Costs Hit Differently, where I compared veterinary medicine to human healthcare. The gap is enormous. If we want people to stay in this field, we need to create a career that offers both purpose and pay that match the skill involved.

For years, we kept prices low to avoid backlash or to stay competitive with the clinic down the street. Meanwhile, the cost of supplies, rent, and utilities kept climbing. Something had to give.

The truth is, not having money and something being expensive are not the same thing. If someone cannot afford a Tesla, it does not mean the Tesla is overpriced. It just means they either cannot afford it or do not see the value in owning one. The same applies to veterinary care. We provide regulated, professional medical services for living beings. Whatever medicine you practice has a cost. The higher the level of medicine, the higher the cost.

We also have a strange relationship with money. People drop hundreds on phones, designer clothes, makeup, and streaming subscriptions without hesitation. But when it comes to healthcare for their pets, every dollar is questioned. I understand people have budgets and want to avoid unnecessary tests, but human healthcare is largely covered by government or insurance. Most never see the full bill.

Influencers charge $150 for a 30 minute fashion consult. I might raise an eyebrow at that, but many people do not. Yet somehow, running diagnostic tests on a patient that cannot tell us what hurts for the same $150 is viewed as unreasonable.

Maybe the real conversation is not about affordability. Maybe it is about priorities. We live in a material world where people feel pressure to keep up. But owning a pet is a real responsibility, just like raising a child. You give up certain wants to cover their needs.

Our profession is not full of money-hungry people. It is full of professionals who want to earn fair pay, work in sustainable practices, and continue caring for animals without having to choose between food or rent each week.

I genuinely believe that if veterinary care were included in extended health benefits, we would see a major shift in compliance and well-being for both pets and professionals. It would make care more accessible and the profession more sustainable.

There are opportunities in this field, just as there are in every other. It takes resilience and drive to find them. But if we can change how society views the value of veterinary care and advocate for its inclusion in health benefits, that would be a real step forward.

Maybe then the story would not be that veterinary care is expensive, but that it is finally valued for what it truly is.