VetVerifi 🐾’s Post

I have a lot of thoughts on this, but to your last point about increasing vet access by creating community networks - YES, I think that is key. Lack of education on pet care is a major issue among pet owners, unfortunately. There is a lot of focus on getting dogs and cats adopted - as there should be because we’re in a crisis of overflowing shelters - but I find that educating the folks who are adopting on how to best care for those pets is not as extensive as it should be. We need to be setting owners up for success better. For example, you’d probably be surprised at how many pet owners aren’t familiar with what substances are toxic to their pets (chocolate, etc.) and at how many don’t understand the importance of spay and neuter, dental care, not socializing puppies until they’ve had all the required vaccines - there’s so much. There are also so many different types of pet owners. You have people like me who treat their animals like literal children (not sorry) and who are at the vet the first time their dog starts acting funny, and you have people on the other end of the spectrum who aren’t as concerned with routine and preventative care because they are “just dogs”, and then all the people in between.

Conor, your insights from VetVerifi 🐾 are quite revealing and point to a broader issue of preventive health prioritization. This reminds me of car maintenance, many people (me included!) love getting their car washed, polished or a new air freshener for it. BUT, only visit a mechanic when there's a glaring problem, rather than for routine check-ups that prevent major issues down the road. Even when buying a new car, how many people are blinded by the shiny paintwork and ignore looking at the service history or getting a detailed background history check on the car? Similarly, pet owners often skip regular vet visits unless there's an immediate need, despite the long-term benefits of preventive care. To bridge this gap, pet service facilities could play a pivotal role in advocating for veterinary care, much like how a good mechanic or even the gas pump attendants might educate customers on the importance of regular maintenance. Building stronger community networks between vets and pet services might not only drive better health outcomes but also foster a more holistic approach to pet wellness. What are your thoughts on incentivizing these facilities to promote routine vet visits as part of their service packages?

I'm curious how much/how many of these stats correspond to owner health patterns .... for example, if an owner is not prioritizing their own wellness, do they skip the same for pets? What decisions are financially driven? And, perhaps most interesting to me, are there behavior activations that can bring both pets and pet owners to sites of care more often? (The fact that all vet clinics are already completely overloaded is a whole other problem to solve.) I also wonder how much, or whether, current anti-vax rhetoric, combined with low health/veterinary literacy, contributes to these numbers. Has there been a drop in pet vaccination rates since 2020? And to dig a little further, "recommended vaccine schedule compliance" based on … what? Manufacturer recommendations, vet recommendations, or legal requirements (in the case of the rabies vaccine)? Some vets are still following vaccine protocols that are based not on immunological need, but on $$$-based protocols set by manufacturers. Other vets follow modified or reduced vaccine schedules based on current veterinary research, and/or recommend titers as a means to evaluate if certain vaccine boosters are needed.

Thanks for sharing these insights, Conor. From my perspective as a pet owner (who wants to support & champion those in vet med), I think one explanation comes down to instant gratification. Owners see clear cut & noticeable "results" from pet services: for example, a fresh haircut with a clean, good-smelling dog, or normally energetic pup who snoozes on the couch after coming home from daycare. Preventative care—by definition—is working primarily through out of sight, out of mind channels. The result is, essentially, that there's no result. Preventative care is critically important, but owners don't have a visibly different pet when they get home from the vet after an annual wellness. There's no instant gratification for the owner outside of them knowing they're doing the right thing for their pet's health. I think you can start to address this through innovative client experiences. A final thought: when I'm reminded by my dogs' daycare to update vaccines, it's through an administrative lens, e.g. "you must show proof of vaccines for your dogs to attend daycare." How can we increase the overlap of messaging between service providers & veterinarians to provide a more connected approach?

I love that you and the team are out there rolling up sleeves to observe. It makes a lot of sense that people are complying more when they are required to (for pet services). Routine, preventative care can come with unknown costs and, often, unseen benefits (good health is expected?), so I imagine a lot of people don't keep those top of mind for those reasons. For my own human health, I have insurance that covers 2x wellness for dental (cleanings) and 1x annual for health (physicals) so I just do it. For veterinary care, unless someone has a wellness plan, perhaps we can all do a better job of making the routine costs and outcomes easier to understand by making them part of discussions everywhere pets are seen...

Conor Guptill -- I'd echo some of the comments below. I think humans (myself 100% included) are often lazy. We do what's immediately necessary first and ignore/de-prioritize/procrastinate the things that aren't immediate or nearly immediate. This makes sense too because the list of things that I COULD do today is almost endless. As a result my pooch's preventive care (like my own) takes backseat to immediate necessity until it gets higher on the "urgency" list. The example I use for this -- and a reminder for myself -- is that I need to change my furnace filter. I NEVER do that on schedule because until my furnace freezes up, it never seems urgent.

Having worked at both ends... in vet med practice and managing a pet services business, this resonates. I think we can do better at reminding our clients when their pets are due but we also need to get better at emphasizing the need for the EXAM, not just the vaccines. I think most clients utilizing pet services will get exams/vaccinations done if they are truly, effectively made aware. For those not using pet services, it's a different story. I've got to admit, that my work keeps me hopping and I hate to admit that vaccine schedules for pets (I have a lot) can fall off my radar if I'm not reminded. As I type this, I realize my horses may be overdue.......

Convenience and price transparency have to factor in here. It seems to me you bring the veterinarian to the pet service provider as a solution. If our daycare had a veterinarian, for example, every Wednesday, I’m certain this would help many people access the services they need.

I think the biggest reason is COST. We spend a lot of time talking about “access to care” and communicating value, but if we listen to consumer behavior, they are seeking basic care (vaccinations) at the lowest possible cost and without the “guilt” of a vet or their staff talking to them about everything else they should be doing. Access is not the same as affordable. We need to recognize there are a great deal more pet owners in the middle and on the low side of the spectrum of care and find ways to serve them.

After 22 years in industry, I believe most people have a tendency to treat the problems they perceive to be problems. If your pet is matted, it is very apparent they need grooming. If you’re going on a pet-free or pet-unfriendly vacation, boarding facilities require updated vaccines. Lack of layperson knowledge about pet pain scores, symptoms of early stage health conditions, and the need for preventative care create an environment of reactivity rather than set the stage for proactive wellness care. Many humans go without preventative care themselves, so a relatively young and seemingly healthy pet that is eating and has no obvious physical manifestations of illness is what most people perceive as “healthy”. The number of instances that a pet parent has said to me “I feel so guilty, but no one ever told me this could happen” is too numerous to count. In many cases the journey to having the information necessary to make informed decisions starts at the source, where resources are least prolific: municipal shelters. I would love to see more opportunities where information sharing is outsourced to qualified partnering private veterinary practices at adoption.