(10-12-2025 08:31 AM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  

Quote:American Veterinarian was at a Veterinary Conference

She says that all the Vets there say the same thing, they are all being bombarded with weekly phone calls from corporations and private equity firms to buy their practices

This is why taking your pet to the vet has skyrocketed in price

“This is a huge problem in the veterinary industry. When I'm at this conference with all of these very boutique, artisan, amazing veterinarians that are so passionate about what they do, the biggest thing that they talk about is this corporate takeover of the veterinary industry — it's just steamrolling the industry and it really affects the patient care and every step of the process”

“I asked her, I said, are people bombarding you? Are corporations bombarding you to buy your practice? And she said, yes, they are. It's constantly. Every single week, she has multiple corporations that are approaching her with great offers to buy her practice.”

Its not just the vet business. Private equity is using the same plan for multiple industries. For instance, its happening in the HVAC industry as well.

The plan by these private equity firms is to take over enough small mom-and-pop HVAC companies in a given market area to be able to effectively monopolize the local market enough to double or even triple prices. They keep the name of each company they buy in place in order to appear to still be a bunch of separate small mom-and-pop companies. Homeowners in the area call around and get bids from what they think are 4 or 5 different companies----but the companies they are calling are actually all the same company using the same super high mark ups. Buyers think the ridiculously high bids must just be the cost for every provider and end up accepting one of these highly inflated bids.

Been happening for decades. Look up Service Corporation International and funeral homes.

Rollups are amazingly common. Have been amazingly common.

Once a small handful of corporation own everything, then will come their special digital mark and number you need for buy or sell.

They have to have control of all the small businesses for it to work. So this is a key and vital step.

They get to make more money, and they get to be the gatekeepers of all commerce.

(10-12-2025 02:22 PM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  

(10-12-2025 09:56 AM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  Wow.

I treat my dogs better than I treat myself. It wasn't always like that. When I was younger and living a more rural lifestyle a dog was a farm implement to a lot of country folks. I still know some of them who still think the same way, they're mostly in their 80's. I wouldn't want it to become known if I was a person who hurt or killed one of my dogs.

Unconditional love.

I'm not advocating for hurting or killing animals. Please.

I'm just surprised that people have an annual physical for a dog. I don't even have annual physicals for myself.

When I was a kid people didn't take their animals to a vet when it came time to put them down.

Why is it ok for a vet to put down an animal and not ok for the person that loved that animal to do it?

I guess I find some of these ideas people have about dogs and cats funny. Not funny as in haha.

Animals have very short lives, I understand people wanting to keep them as healthy as possible. If you can extend their life by 4-5 years and add quality to it, its worth it for those people.

30 years ago dogs hardly ever tore ACLs. Now they limp for a day the dog moms run to the vet and the vet is trying to buy a new boat off of repairing both ACLs. ACLs are an entire industry now.

Annual checkups? FFS. We get their shots every few years and that's the only time they go to a vet unless something goes wrong.

I'm doing something right...lab made it to 15, boxer made it to 15, English bulldog made it to 13, current great Dane is methuselah and he's been to the vet maybe 4 times in his life. Those are the dogs just in the past 20 years.

Annual checkups...sheesh.

(10-12-2025 04:04 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  30 years ago dogs hardly ever tore ACLs. Now they limp for a day the dog moms run to the vet and the vet is trying to buy a new boat off of repairing both ACLs. ACLs are an entire industry now.

Annual checkups? FFS. We get their shots every few years and that's the only time they go to a vet unless something goes wrong.

I'm doing something right...lab made it to 15, boxer made it to 15, English bulldog made it to 13, current great Dane is methuselah and he's been to the vet maybe 4 times in his life. Those are the dogs just in the past 20 years.

Annual checkups...sheesh.

I've never done annual checks up either but if other people have the money and want to who am I to complain? Its their money, their pet and their business.

Its probably required for those who have insurance.

I have had dogs all my life. Never took one for a checkup, only when they were sick.

Have 3 dogs and our vet sold to a national company about 7 years ago.

We pay like 35 bucks a month per to get them everything they need. 6 month or 12 month heartworm shots (way better than remembering to pop a pill) rabies and other yearly shots. Flea and tic chewable comes in the mail once a month.

Boarding and grooming... thats where people pay out the nose. I used to board 2 of the 3 for about 400 for the week, last I checked for 3 of them it was going to be about 2k. I was like nope, ill have my daughter, mom, and neighbor handle the dogs.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

We like to take vacations. That means boarding the dogs, which means shots, which means the "annual checkup"

It's a racket, but you have to play by their rules or spend the money on in home dog sitters.

We take vacations all the time, too. My dogs still only see a vet every few years. Maybe. They get the shots cheap at tractor supply when needed when they do their booster clinics. In and out. Paperwork in hand. Cheap.

Vets have turned into a racket that preys on people's heartstrings and purse strings.