Where did all your veterinary clients go?

The majority of pet owners question the need for regular veterinary care. That's according to new data from 2,000 dog and cat owners in the Bayer Veterinary Care Usage Study conducted by the National Commission of Veterinary Economic Issues, Brakke Consulting, and Bayer Animal Health.

The data should make every one of you sit up and take notice, says John Volk of Brakke Consulting. Collected through a combination of surveys, individual interviews, and focus groups, the data set offers the profession robust information about why pet owners are avoiding routine veterinary care.

Reasons behind the decline:

• 63 percent of dog owners and 68 percent of cat owners question the need for regular veterinary care.

• Older pets see the veterinarian far less frequently than younger pets.

• One-third of cats have not been to the veterinarian in the past year.

• Many pet owners find the costs of care higher than they expected.

"The need for routine veterinary care is simply not well understood by pet owners," Volk says. The survey indicates that pet owners more likely associate veterinary care with vaccinations. And results show that the frequency of exams and the benefits to the pet and owner are not clear to many pet owners. "Associating the veterinarian with shots is really standing in the way of pets getting the kind of routine exams they need," Volk says.

Educate your clients

Pet owners' failure to understand the importance of shots and exams isn't the only challenge. Study results show six root causes for this decline in veterinary visits:

1. Greater access to veterinary care beyond traditional veterinary hospitals (shelters, mobile vaccine clinics, etc.)

2. Pet owners substituting Internet research for office visits

3. Perception by pet owners that regular medical checkups are not necessary

4. The rising cost of care

5. The economic recession

6. Resistance to seeking feline care.

Dr. Karen Felsted, CEO of NCVEI, says pet owners don't visit the veterinarian as often as they used to. "The recession exacerbated that, but the recession is simply not the cause," Felsted says.

Keep the clients coming back

Never fear, solutions are here

So what can you do to offset those alarming study results? Help educate clients, says Dr. Karen Felsted, CEO of NCVEI. After all, clients spend just as much time with team members as they do with veterinarians. Felsted suggests setting up training sessions so every employee knows what to say to clients who are, for example, taking their older pets to the veterinarian less frequently instead of more frequently or are failing to seek care for their cats. Here are a few more solutions, as suggested by the study:

• Develop industry-wide and clinically supported guidance on annual veterinary visits and promote the standard to pet owners.

• Communicate to pet owners the health and economic value of regular treatment.

• Make veterinary practices more cat friendly (quiet rooms for cats, separate entrances, etc.).

• Make it easier for pet owners to schedule appointments.

Consider alternative pricing strategies or financing options for pet owners.