Are veterinarians money hungry and greedy? Compared to an office visit to see your human physician, veterinary care is relatively inexpensive. Veterinary care for your pet is, like regular feeding, the price of owning a pet. So why does a visit to a veterinarian seem to cost so much?
Like human doctors, veterinarians attend a medical school after obtaining undergraduate and graduate degrees at a university. Both human and veterinary doctorial students attend about the same amount of time (four years) earning a medical doctorate degree. The educational difference occurs after graduation.
Human doctors must intern for several years while veterinarian doctors can begin a practice right away. The difference in earnings, though, can be staggering. A salary comparison locally for doctors shows that human doctors just starting out can expect to earn $90,000 to $135,000. A veterinarian fresh out of school can expect to earn $50,000.
Admission into a veterinary college is extremely competitive. Evaluation for admission requires a minimum of 72 semester units of completed college credit with a GPA (grade point average) of 3.40, or above. Only the best-qualified students from the applicant pool are selected. While attending undergraduate college, special attention must be placed on taking lower division required courses, which include Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Biochemistry, Embryology,
Genetics and Physiology. Evaluation processes are based 50% on undergraduate GPAs. Previous veterinary experience accounts for about 30% of the evaluation process. A minimum of 180 hours veterinary experience is required just to be evaluated as an applicant. Admitted applicants average 2,500 hours of experience.
It was discovered, during research for this article, that most veterinarians leave veterinary school owning $100,000 or more in student loans. Undergraduate fees can run from $16,000 to $25,000 per semester while graduate fees can run from
$20,000 to $30,000 per semester. Current average enrollment, registration fees, housing, and personal fees for a California veterinary school are over $45,000 for a resident and over $71,000 for a non-resident per year. Books, computers, microscopes, surgical and diagnostic equipment are extra. One local veterinarian interviewed has a student loan of over $110,000. Scholarships only went so far.
The last couple of semesters of this doctor’s training ran over $50,000 each, not including books and housing.
Add to education costs, the cost of opening a veterinary practice and most people will quickly begin to see that veterinary costs are not outrageously expensive but, on the contrary, are pathetically inadequate.

The very same equipment used on humans to diagnose injuries and illness is used on animals. Does it cost any less just because the patient is animal vs. human? Unfortunately this is a resounding NO.
What is required to open a veterinary practice? At a bare minimum the practice requires employees, supplies, insurance, equipment, utilities, cages/kennels, a building, etc. Typical equipment used in a small animal veterinary practice include X-ray machine ($4,000-$50,000), laser surgical equipment ($1,500-
$50,000), weight scale ($700+), microscopes ($500-$1,000 each), EKG & ECG monitors ($1,500 used) lab equipment, surgical equipment and lighting, examination tables, dental equipment ($500-$1,800), blood analyzers ($1,500-
$40,000). Add to these costs such disposables as hypodermic needles, syringes, cleaning supplies, medications, office supplies, IV solutions, bandages, etc.
A huge difference between a veterinarian and a human doctor is that the human doctor can open an office with little more than a room or two, a couple of chairs, a phone and a computer. Little medical equipment is needed to open the doors of a human clinic. A human doctor can write a prescription for an x-ray, for blood testing, for medications and send the patient to the local hospital. The human doctor can meet a patient at the hospital for surgery and will never need to purchase diagnostic nor surgical equipment. The local hospital has building facilities and equipment often purchased with the help of taxpayer dollars.
A veterinarian has no taxpayer help. They can’t write a prescription and send the patient to the local hospital for x-rays or surgery. Veterinarians must have all the diagnostic and surgical equipment in their clinic. To open a new veterinary practice costs $750,000+.
A veterinarian must also keep a fully stocked pharmacy on site. If your vet writes a prescription to be filled at one of the local pharmacies, it would cost you four times what the veterinarian charges for the same medications.
Veterinarians also deal with patients who don’t speak, can’t tell them where it hurts. A veterinarian must make a diagnosis of their patients without using spoken language as a diagnostic tool.
Qualified staff is just as important to a veterinary clinic as it is to a human medical clinic. Qualified staff requires higher pay and benefits than non-technical offices.
Add the cost of opening a veterinary practice, student loans and hiring qualified staff and costs can easily be over a million dollars. All financed and, on earnings of $50,000-$60,000, makes for a very long time paying off loans.
Veterinary practices require doctor s to be available for their client’s emergencies
24 hours a day 7 days a week. Human doctors have the local hospital available after hours. Our local area veterinarians have joined together to provide needed

treatment, at all hours, to their clients while assuring each individual has the time off necessary to keep themselves healthy.
Can you incur thousands of dollars in veterinary medical costs caring for your pet? Absolutely. Medical advances in veterinary medicine have followed hand in hand with those of humans. Most miraculous treatments available for humans are also available for animals. Many treatments humans now take for granted were first developed in the veterinarian field. Cures in Malaria, yellow fever, botulism, organ transplants, anticoagulants and hip and joint replacement were developed in veterinary medicine. While human medical costs continue to skyrocket due to new miraculous treatments, veterinary medical costs have not risen at quite the same pace.
Locally are we getting a good deal for our money? Consider that a human doctor office visit is $127.87. A veterinarian office visit is $34.00. A CBC (complete blood count) and Thyroid panel costs $114.00. A veterinarian charges $84.00 for the same tests.
Comparison prices for a 40-pound dog and a cat between Tucson, Arizona and
Silver City are as follows.
Spay 40 pound dog
Neuter
Locally
$85.00 - $129.00
$70.00 - $81.50
Tucson
$210.00 - $253.00
$170.00 - $254.00
Spay Cat
Neuter
$65.00 - $70.50
$37.50 - $45.50
$138.00 - $216.50
$108.00 - $206.50
Why do veterinarians do it? The love and caring they have for animals. Getting rich and having a “real” life outside of caring for animals are not realistically possible. Next time you think your vet bill is outrageous, stop and consider what goes on behind the closed doors. Your veterinarian deserves a good pat on the head and a tummy scratch.