Weekly companion animal news: March 27, 2023

Pet owners face rising veterinary costs and a shortage of doctors

Rising pet care costs are creating challenges for owners who are paying expensive veterinary bills out-of-pocket. “Unlike human health care, veterinary medicine still operates on a cash basis,” said Dr. Michael Blackwell, director of the University of Tennessee’s Program for Pet Health Equity. “Three percent of the transactions involve pet health insurance, and therefore when the public goes in for veterinary care, they are paying cash….One can be middle class and still be challenged to pay, especially an unforeseen veterinary bill.” Compounding the problem is a shortage of veterinarians, PBS reports. Since 2020, Blackwell and his colleagues have been studying how veterinary care access can be improved through a cost-sharing research project called AlignCare. Eligible, underserved families in the program pay 20% of their veterinary bills and receive support in and out of the clinic from veterinary social workers.

As corporate veterinary acquisitions grow, pet owners pay more

Relations between veterinarians and pet owners have become frayed as big corporations and private equity firms acquire more independent practices. These acquisitions have led to a larger focus on the bottom line, sometimes leading to poorer care for pets and bigger bills for their owners, Observer reports. Between 2017 and 2022, there was $45 billion worth of private equity deals for veterinary practices and companies, according to Pitchbook. One couple who spoke to Observer said they paid nearly $15,000 for care at a VCA hospital before finally deciding to put their puppy down.

Petco and Freshpet announce meal plan delivery partnership

Petco and Freshpet announced a partnership to produce and deliver subscription meal plans to dog owners. The meals, known as Freshpet Custom Meals, will be available on Petco’s website. After completing a short questionnaire on their dog’s attributes, sensitivities and health goals, pet owners will receive a personalized meal plan with specific feeding guidelines based on the pet’s breed, age, body type and activity level, according to the announcement. The plans start at $3 per day. The offer has launched regionally across 15 states and will be available nationally later this year

More new graduates are needed to address the veterinary care shortage, Midwestern University dean says

Arizona animal doctors spoke with Fox 10 about the nationwide shortage of veterinarians and the difficulties it causes for practices that need to hire new team members. While there’s an increase in pet ownership and older veterinarians are retiring, the biggest problem is that veterinary schools can’t graduate enough students to enter the field and fill the gaps, said Mark Acierno, associate dean for academic affairs at Midwestern University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He said that some schools, including his, have increased their class sizes, while other new schools are opening.

The state of U.S. pet ownership

Pet ownership has jumped significantly in the past three decades, with 70% of U.S. households owning a pet as of last year, up from 56% in 1988, statistics show. Furthermore, 85% of dog owners and 76% of cat owners consider their pets a member of the family. Millennials make up the biggest percentage of pet owners at 32%, followed by baby boomers at 27% and Generation X at 24%. Forty-two percent of dog owners and 43% of cat owners got their pets from a store, while 38% of dog owners and 40% of cat owners got their pets from an animal shelter or rescue, Forbes Advisor reports in an analysis compiled from several sources.

Bill would ban pet leasing in North Carolina

A bill passed last week by a North Carolina legislative committee would ban pet leasing, aiming to protect consumers from what many consider to be a predatory practice, WRAL reports. According to bill sponsor Representative Wesley Harris, pet owners, under the impression that they bought a pet, have realized subsequently they actually signed a lease. People are getting tricked into monthly payments with outrageous fees, Harris said. The bill would prohibit leases and payments that don’t result in pet ownership and would make it illegal for pets to be repossessed. It would still allow leasing of purebred dogs for breeding as well as service animals and pets used for entertainment.

Can dogs talk by pressing buttons?

While some dog owners believe their pets are communicating using sets of buttons that play prerecorded words in human language, animal behavior experts aren’t convinced the dogs are actually “talking,” nor that the buttons advance the ways dogs are already communicating. An ongoing University of California study may soon give insight into the question. “My fascination would be if the medium enabled dogs to say something truly unsayable without the buttons,” Alexandra Horowitz, director of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College, told The Washington Post. “But it’s not clear that dogs are trying to say things which they cannot.”

Colorado pet owners say they’d allow their pet to receive care from midlevel professional: survey

Four out of five Colorado pet owners said they wouldn’t hesitate to have their animal seen by a newly created midlevel veterinary professional associate with a role comparable to that of a physician assistant in human medicine. That’s according to a survey of pet owners in the state by the Vet Care Coalition, an alliance of animal welfare organizations, policy groups and others seeking to create this type of position through legislation in Colorado. The group also wants to codify the availability of veterinary care via telehealth and expand the role of veterinarian technician specialists with additional training and credentialing.