Why vet bills feel unpredictable — and what we're doing about it

If your last vet bill surprised you, you aren't imagining things

For a lot of pet owners, the bill at the end of the visit has become the stressful part. Not the waiting room, not the diagnosis — the moment you get handed a total you didn't see coming.

You are not being unreasonable for noticing. The Competition and Markets Authority spent two years looking at the UK vet market and confirmed what many households had already worked out from their own experience: prices have gone up sharply, they're hard to compare between practices, and written estimates for expensive treatments often didn't arrive until after the work was done.

I want to use this piece to do three things: tell you what the CMA actually found, give you my honest read on why the system got here, and walk you through four concrete commitments we make at Tony's Mobile Vets to keep our pricing something you can plan around.

What the CMA has actually found

In its final report on the UK veterinary services market, published in late 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority found:

• Average vet prices rose by around 63% over seven years — well ahead of general inflation.
• Many owners couldn't tell whether their practice was independent or part of one of the large corporate groups (around 60% of first-opinion practices in the UK are now owned by six large groups).
• Owners at corporate-group practices pay more on average than owners at independents, for comparable services.
• Written estimates for high-cost treatments often weren't provided before work started.
• Prescription mark-ups and the cost of buying medication direct from practices emerged as a specific concern.

The CMA recommended clearer price lists, upfront written estimates, and reforms to how prescriptions are priced. Several of those recommendations are being taken forward by Defra and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

(For the full report, see the CMA's final decision on veterinary services.)

My honest read on why the system got here

This isn't a piece about blaming individual vets. Most of the vets I know went into the profession because they love animals, and most of them are working long hours inside a system that isn't designed around the owner-at-the-front-desk experience. I did my time in clinics. I've been on that side of the desk.

But I think the consolidation matters. When a practice is part of a group with targets to hit and shareholders to answer to, the pressure on the price of every consultation, booster and medication tends to travel one way. Quietly, over several years, the economics of owning a pet changed — and most owners only noticed it on their own bill.

I don't think that's inevitable. Tony's Mobile Vets is an independent practice. We have no corporate owner. The pricing you see is the pricing I set, for reasons I can explain.

Four commitments we make on pricing

1. One flat first-visit price, with the exclusions written down

A first home consultation is £99 — one appointment, 60 minutes with an RCVS-registered vet, in your home, for new households. One per pet.

The call-out and a nose-to-tail health check are included. Vaccinations, medication, sedation and euthanasia are not — and we tell you that on the same line as the £99, not in the small print at the footer.

See what the £99 covers →

2. A written estimate before anything beyond the consultation

If I turn up something that needs treatment beyond the consultation itself — medication, a referral, a procedure, a follow-up — you get a written estimate before I go ahead. Not a price "around" something. A number, in writing, for what I'm proposing.

If you want a second opinion, or a quote from another vet, that's fine. I'd rather you made an informed choice than felt stuck.

3. Pack Membership, if you want your pet's year to be predictable

For households who know they'll want more than one visit a year, we offer Pack Membership at £39/month per pet. One tier, one price, billed monthly on a 12-month rolling contract.

What it covers:

• Three home consultations a year (worth more than the monthly fee alone if you use all three)
• Annual vaccinations included
• Nail clips and anal gland expression if needed during a visit
• Microchip scan at every visit
• 15% off everything else — medication, parasite treatments, dental work, end-of-life care

For a second pet in the same household, the monthly rate drops to £31.20/month (20% off). You can cancel after the 12-month term. If your pet passes away during your membership, we cancel your Pack with no early-termination charges and no awkward paperwork.

See Pack Membership in full →

4. Honest advice, even when it costs us

This is the one that's hardest to put on a price list, but I think it's the most important.

I don't upsell. If your pet doesn't need a test, I won't run it. If a cheaper medication is as good as an expensive one, I'll prescribe the cheaper one. If what your pet needs is outside what we do — complex surgery, 24-hour hospitalisation, a specialist referral — I'll tell you that, and I'll help you find the right clinic.

The job is to look after the animal. The price list has to make sense for that to be possible. Anything else is noise.

What the CMA findings mean for you, practically

If you've been feeling like vet bills have got harder to predict, you're reading the market correctly. The CMA has confirmed it. That also means asking more questions of any vet you use is entirely reasonable:

• Ask whether your current vet practice is independent or part of a group. You can check by looking at the practice's "About" page or the RCVS practice register.
• Ask for a written estimate before any treatment beyond a standard consultation. You're entitled to one.
• Ask whether a prescription could be filled by an online pharmacy with a written prescription from your vet. It often works out cheaper.
• Ask what's excluded from any quoted price — the exclusions often matter more than the headline.

You don't need to be confrontational about any of it. Most vets will respect the questions. If a practice doesn't, that's information too.

What's next

• If you're new to us: book a £99 first home visit and see how the pricing feels in practice.
• If you're thinking about a Pack Membership: see the full breakdown on the pricing page.
• If you just want to ask: call 020 4572 2874 or message on WhatsApp. We answer pricing questions on the phone — no form required.

— Dr Tony O'Sullivan Founder, Tony's Mobile Vets

£99 first visit covers the call-out and a 60-minute nose-to-tail health check for new households, one per pet. Excludes vaccinations, medication, sedation and euthanasia. Pack Membership is a 12-month rolling contract billed monthly at £39 per pet (£31.20 for additional pets in the same household). Full details on pricing.