The middle class is being hollowed out, because the less affluent are getting less affluent, shared Steve Ballmer during a Numbers Geek podcast <link>. He also noted single people without children account for 43 percent of all of the households in America. Meanwhile, the AVMA Veterinary Economics Division has been working to understand factors affecting veterinary visits. While some may not feel the declines, animal health pros continue to work to promote the importance of veterinary care for disease prevention.
Addressing the needs of dog owner households earning less than $59,000 annually is critical to the success of the veterinary profession and to the ability to deliver the best possible veterinary care to all animals.
Source: JAVMA, January 15, 2020. Link. According to the 2017 Pet Demographic Survey, 18% of dog owners overall say they don’t see a veterinarian once a year. Business models and financial instruments such as pet health insurance, short- and long-term loans, wellness plans, and other tools that smooth spending for veterinary care for pet owners may help incentivize more interactions with dog owners and more frequent treatment of pets by veterinarians for households facing tough economic times.
INSIGHTS: An industry colleague who presented at VMX said many veterinarians took issue with metrics he shared about declining vet visits. Still, I wonder how many pets are being missed in the footprints of those clinics not experiencing a decline in visits.