Pet owners across the UK could soon benefit from major changes to how vet practices operate, under new proposals revealed on Wednesday by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The long-awaited report into the UK’s £6.3 billion veterinary industry recommends sweeping reforms to help customers make better-informed choices, and save money.
The provisional plans include:
Requiring vets to publish full price lists
Create a national price comparison site
Tell customers when medicines are cheaper online
Clearly state when a practice is part of a corporate chain
Provide itemised bills and written estimates for treatments over £500
For Lucia Hart, the reforms can’t come soon enough.
Her 9-month-old French Bulldog, Arnie, is fighting for his life after a series of complex health issues.
Lucia estimates she’s spent around £10,000 on vet fees so far, including £4,000 for a single stay in animal intensive care.
“The figures I was given originally were nowhere near the amount it actually cost,” she told ITV News.
“The cost is still mounting with aftercare. It’s an ever-growing debt, but it’s a debt I was prepared to get into because I love him.”
Lucia was also charged £156 for medication she later discovered could have been bought much cheaper online, if only she’d been told.
The CMA says that average vet prices rose 63% between 2016 and 2023; far higher than inflation.
It also found that large vet groups charge, on average, 16.6% more than independent vets and that practices bought by big chains saw prices rise faster than those that stayed independent.
Many owners are also unaware they can ask for a written prescription to shop around or that they have a legal right to do so.
Our investigation found striking price differences between vet-dispensed and online medicines.
A diabetes drug for cats was £136.81 cheaper online.
A medicine for dog dysplasia cost £89.22 less per prescription online.
But only 38% of owners are aware they can buy pet medicines elsewhere.
That’s why one of the CMA’s headline reforms is to cap prescription charges at £16 and require vets to tell owners when a medicine is cheaper online, especially for ongoing treatments.
Dr Angela Jones, co-founder of Petscribers, says many owners stick with their vets out of trust:
“They’re often worried medication won’t be safe or authentic online," she told ITV News. "But it’s absolutely possible to buy safely.”
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