Veterinary Industry Summary: February 2-8, 2025
Stats from the Veterinary Industry Tracker powered by Vetsource and AVMA
February 2-8, 2025
A recent LinkedIn post highlighting the rising cost of veterinary care and the resulting increase in pet owners who are delaying care, seeking care elsewhere, or forgoing care completely is getting attention.
In his post, Jules Benson, BVSc, MRCVS, asks the question: “Is the opportunity for pet families to access veterinary care decreasing?”
According to Dr. Benson, the data indicates that it is and that the tension between ensuring pets receive the “best care” and that care is affordable for most pet owners “has never been more palpable.”
Dr. Benson shared graphics based on Vetsource data that illustrate:
- The increase in year-over-year revenue from 2023 to 2024
- The decrease in year-over-year visits from 2023 to 2024
- The disproportionate effect on young pets, with new puppy and kitten visits at -9.0% year over year
Dr. Benson then shared a graphic extending the current trends through 2030 and concluded that pet owners would be spending 39% more per pet in five years, but that practices would be seeing 15% fewer patients.
He offered three viable paths forward to curb these troubling trends:
- Improve the value proposition and build trust — even clients who can afford the highest levels of care will still need to be convinced that the rising costs are worth it.
- Meet clients where they are financially, offering spectrum-of-care practices without judgment.
- Develop sustainable business models that improve access to care based on unmet community needs. Some examples could include for-profit vaccine clinics, urgent care facilities, telehealth, and online pharmacies.
Read Dr. Benson’s post in its entirety and view the graphics on LinkedIn.
Check out the Veterinary Industry Tracker for daily stats.
| -0.4% Revenue YoY (Last Week) |
-4.2% Visits YoY (Last Week) |
Year-over-year veterinary industry revenue was flat last week at -0.4%, and visits were -4.2%, improvements compared to the previous week’s respective -2.9% and -7.5%.
 -7.8%Heartworm YoY |
-7.3% Flea/Tick YoY |
 +0.6%Services YoY |
-3.8% Products YoY |
Year-over-year parasiticide purchases remained in negative territory, with heartworm at -7.8% and flea/tick at -7.3%, changes from -16.9% and -18.2% respectively the week prior. Year-over-year services revenue climbed into positive territory, improving from -1.3% to 0.6%, and products revenue changed from -8.6% to -3.8%.
| +2.9% Revenue YoY (Last 12 Months) |
-2.4% Visits YoY (Last 12 Months) |
The rolling 14-day trendline showed revenue and visits declining sharply since mid-January.
| 5,570 Practices |
2.2M Revenue per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
10.3K Visits per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
Colorado enjoyed the highest year-over-year revenue growth last week at 6.3%, with Massachusetts trailing closely behind at 6.1%. Two states saw positive growth in year-over-year visits—Oregon and Colorado—coming in at 0.6% and 0.3% respectively.
*Numbers are subject to change based on data availability and PIMS adjustments.
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