Are vet bills and pet medications too expensive?

The Blue Cross welcomes the CMA decision to launch a market investigation into the veterinary sector

Transcript

00:00You've seen a massive uptick in those seeking your services. What are the consequences when

00:06more and more people, more and more pet owners, can't afford that treatment that their pets need?

00:10You know, this is putting more pressure on the charity sector, absolutely. But you know,

00:15some owners are, you know, being put in the most difficult and heartbreaking situation where

00:21they're having to consider giving up their pets and we are seeing an increase in demand for a

00:25rehoming service and also considering, you know, maybe not being able to have that pet anymore.

00:30And our pet loss service is also seeing a spike in calls for people reaching out for support. So

00:36it's really heartbreaking when people get to that point, but we're doing everything we can

00:40to support them. This problem is brought to the attention now of not just pet owners,

00:45but those who don't even have pets, because we've heard about this CMA market investigation.

00:50How do you envision that investigation affecting the transparency and affordability of veterinary

00:55services across the sector? Well at Blue Cross we welcome the CMA investigation and I do feel

01:01that anything that helps pet owners make choices around more affordable treatment options is going

01:08to be better. And I think that, you know, vets across the country do have a duty to really

01:16explain treatment costs to pet owners before they sign up to a treatment course. But it's

01:22also the responsibility of pet owners to really be clear about their budgets when speaking to

01:29their vets about treatment options. And, you know, we are faced with some, you know, really lovely

01:34kind of examples and TV shows that show really, you know, advanced surgical procedures, but never

01:41talk about costs. So it's really important that people understand the cost of these treatments

01:46before they embark on a treatment option, because the worst case scenario is they agree to a

01:50treatment, then they run out of money and they can no longer afford it. And that's the impact

01:54that we're seeing as a charity, where people are coming to us and saying we can't afford this

01:58treatment anymore, can you help us?