Advanced Veterinary Care: Not Just for Insured Pets!
The UK has some of the most sophisticated veterinary care ever available to pet owners. CT and MRI scanning, advanced surgery, oncology and other specialist treatments that were once exceptional are increasingly part of modern veterinary medicine.
That is a remarkable development. But it raises an important question: as veterinary care becomes more sophisticated, how do we ensure that advanced services remain accessible to owners who pay for their pet's care themselves?
The Competition and Markets Authority's final report into veterinary services for household pets, published in March 2026, provides important context for that question.
A market under scrutiny
Following one of the most extensive reviews of UK veterinary services in generations, the CMA concluded that although the standard of veterinary care is generally high, the market is not working as well as it should for pet owners, veterinary professionals or the animals they care for.
Importantly, this is not a criticism of individual vets. The CMA explicitly recognises their professionalism and commitment to animal welfare. Its concerns are principally about the market in which veterinary care is delivered — including prices, transparency, competition and the information owners receive when making decisions.
And this is a substantial market. UK pet owners spent more than £6.7 billion on veterinary and other pet services in 2024. Meanwhile, the CMA found that average veterinary prices increased by 63% between 2016 and 2023, compared with 32% general inflation over the same period.
For owners without insurance, increases of this scale matter because the cost ultimately has to be met directly from household income or savings.
Affordability can affect access
The CMA makes an important connection between affordability and animal welfare. It notes that if owners are priced out of obtaining a sufficient level of veterinary care, animals may suffer, and consequently there is a close relationship between competitively priced veterinary services and animal welfare.
That becomes increasingly significant as the sophistication — and potential cost — of veterinary medicine increases.
An insured owner may be protected from much of the immediate financial impact of an expensive diagnostic investigation or treatment. A self-funding owner can face the same clinical decision knowing that every pound must be paid personally.
This doesn't mean every pet should receive every available investigation or treatment. Nor does it mean that expensive specialist veterinary services are inherently overpriced. Sophisticated facilities, highly trained professionals and advanced medical equipment cost money.
The more interesting question is whether every element of advanced veterinary care needs to be delivered through the same high-cost model.
Diagnosis before treatment
Advanced diagnostic imaging provides a useful example.
X-ray and ultrasound are widely available within first-opinion veterinary practices. More advanced technologies such as CT and MRI are commonly located within specialist referral centres and veterinary hospitals, where they form part of a much broader range of specialist consultations, diagnostics, surgery and treatment.
For animals requiring complex multidisciplinary care, that integrated model can be entirely appropriate.
But does every animal requiring a CT or MRI scan necessarily need to enter a complete specialist-treatment pathway simply to obtain that diagnosis?
There may be opportunities to separate elements of the pathway.
A first-opinion vet could remain at the centre of the animal's care, referring for advanced imaging where clinically appropriate and receiving a specialist diagnostic report in return. Armed with a clearer diagnosis, the vet and owner can then discuss prognosis, treatment options and likely costs before deciding what happens next.
For a self-funding owner in particular, diagnostic certainty before committing to potentially substantial treatment expenditure has real value.
Transparency and choice matter too
This fits closely with another important theme in the CMA report: owners need better information to make informed choices.
Only 43% of owners surveyed who had received non-routine treatment reported receiving price information in advance. And when pets were referred elsewhere for treatment, only 30% said they had been given a choice of referral provider, even though the CMA found there was often more than one suitable centre reasonably nearby.
Greater transparency and choice could therefore encourage competition not only on price, but on convenience, service and different ways of delivering care.
Innovation in delivery
A sustainable veterinary sector needs profitable businesses capable of investing in people, technology and facilities. The answer is therefore not simply to demand that existing providers charge less.
The bigger opportunity may be to develop different operating models capable of delivering particular veterinary services more efficiently.
Can expensive diagnostic equipment be better utilised? Can advanced imaging be provided independently of treatment where clinically appropriate? Can first-opinion vets have greater choice over where they refer? And can transparent pricing bring advanced diagnostics within reach of more self-funding owners?
The CMA's report should encourage the veterinary sector to explore questions such as these.
As veterinary medicine continues to advance, innovation shouldn't be confined to developing better diagnostics and treatments. We should also innovate in how those services are delivered and paid for.
Because advanced veterinary care shouldn't only be accessible when an insurance policy is picking up the bill.
The goal should be to give more pet owners access to the diagnosis they need to make an informed decision about the care that comes next.
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