Veterinary Industry Summary: October 29–November 4, 2023
Stats from the Veterinary Industry Tracker powered by Vetsource and AVMA
October 29–November 4, 2023
What does the future hold for the use of gabapentin in veterinary medicine? A new North Carolina law, which goes into effect March 1, 2025, will require the state’s veterinarians to report the use of gabapentin, a medication often recommended for pain management in animals.
In human medicine, when gabapentin is coadministered with opioids, it has been shown to increase the body’s absorption of the opioids. This has led several states, including Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, to reclassify the drug as a controlled substance, and several other states to require the tracking of gabapentin.
According to Vetsource data, of chronic pain patients in veterinary medicine:
- 41% received NSAIDs
- 26% received supplements
- 11% received gabapentin
As North Carolina veterinarians prepare for this new law and other states potentially follow suit, will prescriptions for alternative pain therapies, including NSAIDs, supplements, and monoclonal antibodies, increase?
Check out the Veterinary Industry Tracker for daily stats.
+3.4% Revenue YoY (Last Week) |
-2.4% Visits YoY (Last Week) |
While year-over-year revenue was up 3.4% last week, it lost ground from the previous week’s 4.2%. And year-over-year visits were -2.4%, a slight drop from -2.0% the week prior.
-10.3% Heartworm YoY |
-7.6% Flea/Tick YoY |
+5.2% Services YoY |
-1.5% Products YoY |
Months of parasiticide protection dispensed declined last week, with year-over-year heartworm falling to -10.3% from -5.7%, and flea/tick plunging to -7.6% from 0.1% the week prior. While year-over-year revenue from services held fairly steady at 5.2%, products revenue dropped to -1.5% from 1.2% the previous week.
+6.2% Revenue YoY (Last 12 Months) |
-1.8% Visits YoY (Last 12 Months) |
The rolling 14-day trendline shows year-over-year revenue and visits holding fairly steady after a slight decline in mid-October.
5,176 Practices |
2.0M Revenue per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
10.5K Visits per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
West Virginia emerged last week as the top performer in year-over-year growth in visits at 2.3%, while North Carolina experienced the highest year-over-year revenue growth at 11.0%.
For daily state-specific stats, see the Premium Veterinary Industry Tracker at VeterinaryAnalytics.com.
*Numbers are subject to change based on data availability and PIMS adjustments.
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