Three in ten pet owners in the UK have skipped or delayed veterinary care because of cost in the past year, according to a survey of 2,000 people commissioned by the retailer Jollyes. In London the figure climbs to 46%. The service most often dropped was not surgery or dentistry. It was the annual booster.
The American numbers are not kinder. An ASPCA survey of 1,536 owners, run by YouGov, found 58% worried about rising vet costs and about 60% saying they are not confident they could cover a medical emergency. The ASPCA estimates that leaves roughly 100 million companion animals exposed to that risk.
Vets see the other side. In a Gallup survey of North American veterinarians, 97% of US vets named cost as the main reason clients turn down recommended care. GlobalPETS pulled the three surveys together.
Vet medicine got expensive for real reasons: better drugs, better imaging, more specialists, rising wages. None of that is a lecture about priorities. There is still room to plan before the bill exists.
Ask for an itemized estimate before treatment starts, and which parts can wait a month. Ask whether the drug comes in a cheaper form. Firocoxib is now sold double-scored so a vet can quarter it for dogs down to 7 pounds, less waste and a smaller bill for a small dog. Ask about payment plans at a routine visit, not at 11 p.m. in an emergency room. Look at insurance while your dog is young, the only window where it is affordable.
The booster is the cheapest line on the list and the one most often cut. That is the trade nobody actually wants to make.