Vet visits are falling as pet care costs keep rising
Veterinary visits are still falling across the U.S., even as pet care prices keep climbing, and the split is becoming more pronounced between delayed preventive care and demand for higher-acuity services. Vetsource data cited in a January 2026 white paper showed visits down 3.1% in 2025 after declines in 2022, 2023, and 2024, extending a four-year slide. Wellness visits fell 3.8% in 2025, while industry revenue still grew, largely because practices raised prices. Trade coverage and analyst commentary point to the same pattern: softer foot traffic, especially for routine care, alongside steadier spending on diagnostics, emergency visits, and complex procedures. (vetsource.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is less a temporary dip than a structural warning. Preventive care is often the gateway to earlier diagnosis, better compliance, and downstream revenue, so losing those visits can hurt both patient outcomes and practice stability. At the same time, recent Gallup data suggests cost is now a central access barrier: 52% of U.S. pet parents reported skipping or declining needed veterinary care, and many said they weren’t offered lower-cost alternatives or payment options. Operational friction may be making that worse. Industry marketing and workflow reporting suggests many appointments are still won or lost on the phone, with nearly three-quarters of new clients calling before booking, 24% to 28% of calls going unanswered, and answered calls converting at only about a 36% rate. That leaves practices balancing margin pressure, team workload, client retention, and medical standards all at once. (news.gallup.com)
What to watch: Watch whether practices respond by redesigning preventive care access, communication, and payment options, or continue leaning mainly on price increases as economists and industry trackers warn of continued pressure through at least mid-2026. Another signal is whether clinics invest in better follow-up and reminder systems; industry estimates suggest multi-channel reminders can cut missed appointments by about 30%, which could matter more as every open slot becomes harder to replace. (frontiersin.org)