The staggering cost of loving a pet: Vet bills soar amid overdiagnosis concerns

John Panagiotopoulos feared the worst when his friend’s daughter fell over in his backyard and landed on his puppy.

While the child was unscathed, his beloved Max was left with a broken back leg.

John Panagiotopoulos with daughters Chloe (left), 10, and Cassandra, 8, and dog Max.Credit: Paul Jeffers

“He was sitting in a ball, and let out an awful sound,” Panagiotopoulos recalls of the distressing scene that confronted him in April.

Hours later, Panagiotopoulos was confronted with another distressing situation: his local veterinary clinic quoted him $3000 to amputate his Jack Russell’s leg or $10,000 to mend the fracture.

The unemployed father of two from Melbourne’s outer west was told a payment plan wasn’t an option.

“It was very expensive,” he says. “I told them I could not afford it.”

As record numbers of Australians become pet owners, veterinary care has become increasingly costly for owners.

Data obtained by this masthead from PetSure, one of Australia’s largest pet insurers, shows that the average cost of healthcare over a pet’s lifetime is about $30,000. Vet costs have surged by 34 per cent since 2020, outpacing inflation’s 21 per cent rise in that time.

The cost of treating some common pet ailments are increasing at an even higher rate: the price of treatments for gastrointestinal conditions, skin conditions and orthopedic and spinal injuries are rising by more than 35 per cent a year, according to PetSure.

The insurer’s single largest claim last year was $80,653 for a Great Dane that underwent treatment for pneumonia.

There are several factors driving the sharp rise in veterinary costs.

Advances in technology have brought sophisticated – and expensive – medical equipment from human healthcare into vet clinics.

At the same time, a post-pandemic surge in demand, combined with a shrinking workforce, is pushing up wages for veterinarians, who have long been underpaid. Venture capital is entering the industry. And pet owners who treat their animals like family members expect more – and can afford to pay for it.

But a group of vets from around the world fear the profession has another problem that parallels human medicine: overdiagnosis and overtreatment. “As in human medicine, I just see overdiagnosis and overservicing,” says Dr Tanya Stephens, a long-time vet based in NSW and a fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. “There is an awful lot of excess pathology done.

“There is very little evidence out there it is in the best interests of animals. And yet it is regularly used.”

Vets want to give the best possible care to animals, but some of the overservicing is being driven by the entrance of profit-driven corporations into the sector.

“They want to make money. They maximise profit in every consult. The only way to profit is overservicing and overcharging clients, and reducing wages for vets,” says Dr Thiago Giraldi, owner of Newstead Vets in Queensland, who spent 3½ years working at a corporate clinic.

“That’s where the gap is, where they can get the profit – because it’s a very high-cost type of business.”

What’s the evidence?

In the past 20 years, human medicine has taken big steps to crack down on overtreatment. Stephens, who is editor-in-chief of the upcoming book Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas, written by 23 vets from around the world, believes the same reckoning is needed for animal care.

She points to pre-anaesthetic blood testing as a case in point.

This masthead found many Australian vets recommending the practice for all animals at a cost of between $90 and $180 – despite it not being recommended in healthy humans because studies have shown the profiles rarely change clinical practice.

In 1998, the American Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists voted to declare the tests unnecessary.

The owner of an otherwise healthy cat with a blocked bladder was quoted $3000 for blood tests and an ultrasound and another $6000 to $8000 for ongoing care. Credit: iStock

Stephens argues general blood testing, often called “wellness profiling”, of clinically healthy animals is also rarely useful and may be inaccurate. Yet blood testing is increasing sharply year-on-year, according to PetSure’s data.

In one case shared with this masthead, the owner of a young, otherwise healthy cat with a blocked bladder was quoted $3000 for blood tests and an ultrasound, and a further $6000 to $8000 for ongoing care.

The owner was unable to pay, so the cat was discharged and, despite the care of another vet, died the next day. “What the cat really needed was instant pain relief and its bladder unblocked,” the second vet said. “Which should have cost a lot less without all the ‘extras’ such as a blood test and ultrasound.”

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) says Australians are getting a very high standard of care and many of the increased costs sit outside the control of individual vets.

‘They want to make money. They maximise profit in every consult. The only way to profit is overservicing and overcharging clients, and reducing wages for vets.’

Queensland vet Thiago Giraldi

“Rising scrutiny over ‘over-treatment’ often overlooks the fact that many veterinary clients now expect the same standard of care for their animal companions as they would for family members,” says AVA president Dr Sally Colgan, who lives in Sydney.

Growing rates of pet insurance add new layers of complication for vets, owners and pets. Evidence suggests pet owners are much less likely to economically euthanise their pets if they are insured, and insured owners tend to spend more on vet care for their animals.

That can save some pets from treatable diseases. But it also makes customers more likely to plump for unnecessary scans and treatments – and some vets are even concerned it may cause owners to prolong the life of a sick animal when the more ethical decision might be euthanasia.

What is driving the cost increases?

Insurers and vets attribute increased costs to the arrival of new and expensive treatments for animals, like personalised anti-cancer vaccines being offered by Melbourne Animal Referral Services.

Advances in pet medicine and a reduction in the number of animals killed by cars mean our pets are living longer – and, just like elderly humans, old animals tend to need more medical care.

The ethics of treating animals for cancer provoke significant debate among vets. Chemotherapy generally just prolongs life, rather than curing disease, at the cost of serious side effects, numerous painful procedures and time spent in isolation.

In the past 20 years the care vets can offer animals has dramatically increased, but so has the cost.

“Now it’s very normal to have CT and MRI and specialised orthopaedic implants,” says Dr Anne Quain, a senior lecturer at the Sydney School of Veterinary Science. Setting up a new practice might now cost several million dollars, she estimates, while everyone agrees consumables have spiked.

Dr Anne Quain at her vet practice with patient Bentley.Credit: Louise Kennerley

And the economics of veterinary medicine are changing.

Vets have typically been poorly paid compared with doctors – the average salary in the veterinary services sector is $70,633. But the COVID pandemic led to a spike in pet ownership, which is now creating an increased demand for vet services that the industry is struggling to meet.

Job ads for vets averaged 18 a month between 2010 and 2020. In September last year alone, there were 190 new ads, according to government tracking data. Veterinary chain VetPartners blames that for sharp increases in average wages, which have been passed on to consumers.

At the same time, a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the vet workforce heard many vets were struggling to keep their practice doors open. The industry is extremely labour-intensive, so it is hard for small practices to make big profits. “They do OK, but they are certainly not earning super profits, that’s for sure,” says Patrick Flanagan, a vet industry consultant and partner at consultancy firm RSM Australia.

That’s opening the door for corporatisation. About one-fifth of the industry is now owned by big corporates, VetPartners estimates.

According to online listings, there are now hundreds of vet practices owned by the big two – VetPartners and Greencross – across Australia, but in many cases, customers wouldn’t know, as clinics often retain their individual branding.

The corporate players

VetPartners and Greencross, the two largest players by market share, have both been bought by private equity firms in the past six years. When Pemba Capital Partners partnered with Vets Central, it described the industry as “structurally high growth and defensive”.

Industry revenue was projected at $5.6 billion in 2025, up 3.5 per cent annually since 2020, and with even faster growth forecast, according to IBISWorld research.

Giraldi, a Queensland vet, says that when he was working at a corporate clinic, he was constantly pressured to perform certain numbers of operations and exams every month, including body and dental X-rays.

“That’s all across the board. They were doing that from managers all the way down to the new grads: you need to do this much of this, this much of that,” he recalls. “You end up overservicing to achieve KPIs.”

Meeting KPIs was linked to bonus payments, he says. “You won’t do something harmful [to the animal]. But you will do something unnecessary.”

Greencross says its vets are salaried and do not have KPIs or commissions linked to treatments.

“Our KPIs are really based around patient outcomes. All our vets have clinical autonomy. They do what is necessary for that patient and that client that is in front of them, like any other vet,” says Dr Magdoline Awad, the company’s chief veterinary officer. (The other corporate vet practices declined to comment.)

The rising cost of veterinary treatment has coincided with a steady stream of complaints to NSW Fair Trading. In the five years to December 31, 2024, the consumer watchdog received 21 complaints from consumers relating to veterinary practices pricing.

A spokesman for the watchdog says 12 of these complaints were for overcharging or charging above the quoted price, six involved high or unknown fees and charges, and three related to services that were unsatisfactory or not provided.

Consumer Affairs Victoria was unable to provide similar data.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says businesses are free to independently set their own prices, but it is illegal for them to make false or misleading claims about prices, or agree to fix prices with competitors.

“The ACCC encourages consumers to shop around for products and services to consider the range of prices available and determine the best value for them,” a spokeswoman says.

The vet providing a second opinion

The cost of veterinary treatment has increased dramatically during Mark Tenenbaum’s seven-year career as a vet.

He says this has coincided with pet owners expecting an almost human-level quality of care for their animals.

“When I started, a dental procedure or a stitch-up of a wound or a cut was easily under $1000,” says the vet from Melbourne’s south-east. “Now these procedures are between $1000 and $1500.”

And while a standard consultation used to cost about $70, it now costs almost $100, according to Tenenbaum.

Improvements to veterinarian wages, increasing costs of materials (such as titanium implants, medications and pathology) and the growing corporatisation of the veterinary industry is also driving up these costs.

‘When I started, a dental procedure or a stitch-up of a wound or a cut was easily under $1000. Now these procedures are between $1000 and $1500.’

Melbourne vet Mark Tenenbaum

“They’re a business with shareholders and investors at the end of the day, and there’s an expectation of growth and profitability,” Tenenbaum says of corporate-owned clinics, which he estimates make up about 15 to 20 per cent of all veterinary clinics in Australia.

“With a privately owned clinic, if there’s a bit of stagnation or a downturn … an individual owner who is still making money won’t be as concerned about having no growth that year.”

He estimates that about 30 per cent of pet owners refuse recommendations because they can’t afford the treatment. When this occurs, Tenenbaum provides a cheaper alternative.

“But with the downgrading, comes gaps,” he says. “An owner might say, ‘I can’t afford the imaging’, and I say, ‘That’s OK, but you’ve got to accept that you might be missing something on those X-rays that might be the answer to why your pet is unwell’.”

Angelica Pinto’s cat Ciccio has had some recent health issues.

Tenenbaum recently launched a telehealth venture called Second Opinion by the Vet Society, which provides pet owners with an alternative view about the best course of treatment for their sick and injured animals. In many instances, the best course of treatment is not necessarily the most expensive.

“Specialists are charging $5500 to $7000 to repair a ruptured ACL, but there are alternative surgical options to stabilise the knee that are not nearly as expensive,” he says, adding that these cheaper options are not always suitable for larger dogs.

The charity helping pet owners in hardship

After forking out $30,000 for spinal surgery for her border collie, Jennifer Hunt decided to set up a charity to help pensioners struggling with vet fees.

While the registered nurse could afford treatment to save the life of her beloved dog Jed, she realised many others were not as fortunate.

Her charity, Pet Medical Crisis, founded in 2010, receives about 40 applications a week from Victorian pet owners unable to afford their pet’s medical treatment.

Pinto and her beloved Ciccio.

Hunt says some vets propose leaving pets untreated, surrendering them, or even economic euthanasia when owners can’t afford care.

“These pets are vital to their wellbeing,” she says. “They alleviate loneliness, keep people well and bring enormous value to the community.”

She’s often horrified by the fee discrepancies between different clinics for the same treatment.

In one recent case, the owner of a Staffordshire bull terrier that had developed an infected uterus – a life-threatening condition – was quoted $8555 for treatment at a 24/7 specialist clinic. “The costs were outrageous,” Hunt says.

Pet Medical Crisis stepped in and arranged for the sick dog to be treated at another clinic that charged $1098 for the same procedure.

Angelica Pinto burst into tears when her vet told her it would cost about $5000 to treat her sick cat Ciccio.

The ginger cat was experiencing a urinary blockage and the emergency vet said he needed a catheter inserted.

“I thought, ‘I have to. He is my everything’,” Pinto recalls. The 29-year-old, who is on a disability pension and suffers from anxiety, drained her entire savings to fund the treatment.

The first procedure took place on April 19, but less than a week later, Pinto and Ciccio were back at the vet with the same problem.

This time, the vet recommended a more expensive surgery – which involved creating a larger urethra for Ciccio – to prevent more blockages.

It would cost Pinto a further $6000. That was money she didn’t have.

To pay for the surgery, the North Melbourne resident has taken out two buy now, pay later loans, set up a GoFundMe page and is selling her furniture on Facebook Marketplace.

While Ciccio is back home and recovering well, Pinto worries that she may not be able to pay her rent.

“I have listed my bedside tables, the TV unit, the buffet cabinet. I’m trying to sell what I can,” she says.

John Panagiotopoulos’ only option with pet dog Max was to email Pet Medical Crisis to explain his plight.

Within days, the charity had arranged for Max to be operated on at Port Phillip Animal Hospital for $2750 – a fraction of the price that the Panagiotopoulos had been quoted by the other clinic. Panagiotopoulos chipped in $1000, and the charity funded the rest.

Max is now at home and tearing through the backyard on his recovered leg, which has been reinforced with steel pins.

“He’s a special dog,” Panagiotopoulos says. “We love him.”

He would like to see the competition regulator monitor vet prices more closely, and believes every pet owner should be given the option of a payment plan.

“We need to cut the costs down from where they are,” he says. “There’s always hope. We were lucky.”

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