British pet owners spent over £6.7 billion on veterinary and related services in 2024 — around £390 for every pet-owning household — and the Competition and Markets Authority found that average veterinary prices rose 63 per cent between 2016 and 2023, against general inflation of 32 per cent over the same period.

In March 2026 the CMA concluded its market investigation and ordered a set of reforms that give owners something they have never had: published price lists, itemised bills, capped prescription fees and a legal duty on practices to say who owns them. The tool above lets you compare three practices side by side. This guide explains what to compare, and what the new rules entitle you to ask for.

Why vet bills have risen so fast

Several genuine cost pressures sit behind the increases. Veterinary medicine can now do far more than it could twenty years ago — CT, MRI, orthopaedic surgery, chemotherapy, referral-level intensive care — and that equipment and expertise costs money. Staffing has been tight since 2016, pushing salaries up. Medicines, consumables and energy have all risen.

But the CMA concluded that competition itself was not working. Owners were rarely given prices up front, often did not know that the independent-looking practice down the road belonged to the same group as the one they had just left, and were frequently unaware that the medicines they were being sold could be bought far more cheaply online with a written prescription. The estimated cost to consumers was around £1 billion over five years.

What the CMA found, and what changes

The final report, published in March 2026, orders remedies with compliance periods of three to twelve months depending on the size of the business. The remedies Order is to be finalised by 23 September 2026, with the practical effects reaching owners through 2026 and 2027.

The prescription cap matters most for dogs on lifelong medication. A dog on daily heart or arthritis medication can easily spend £60–£120 a month at a practice dispensary; the same drug from a UK-registered online pharmacy against a written prescription is frequently 40 to 60 per cent less. With the fee for that prescription capped, the saving is worth having even on a three-month supply.

Typical UK vet prices in 2026

These are broad national ranges for a dog. London and the south east sit at the top; Wales, the north and Northern Ireland at the bottom. Always ask your own practice — from 2026 they are required to publish these.

Who owns your vet?

Six large groups now account for a substantial share of UK small-animal practices, and most retain the original practice name and signage. This matters for three reasons.

• A “second opinion” may not be independent. Two practices in the same town can share owners, protocols, pricing structures and referral pathways.
• Referrals often stay in-group. Ask whether the referral centre you are being sent to is owned by the same group, and whether alternatives exist.
• Pricing is often set centrally, so ringing three branches of the same group is not a comparison.

From 2026 practices must disclose this. Until the rules bite everywhere, a company search on the practice name usually answers it in under a minute.

Health plans: what they really cover

Practice health plans cost roughly £15 to £30 a month for a dog and bundle routine preventive care. They are not insurance. They cover the predictable things and nothing else.

Whether a plan saves money is a straightforward sum. Add up what you would pay separately for the booster, the parasite treatment and the health checks, and compare it with twelve monthly payments. For most dogs a plan saves somewhere between £30 and £90 a year, mainly because the parasite treatments are bought at practice scale. It is worth less if you buy flea and worm treatment online, and it ties you to that practice.

Out of hours is the expensive part

Out-of-hours provision is where the difference between two practices shows up hardest, and almost nobody asks about it when registering.

Some practices run their own overnight service with their own vets. Many contract it to a dedicated emergency provider, which may be several miles away and charges its own fees on top — an out-of-hours consultation alone typically runs £150 to £300 before any treatment, and an overnight stay with fluids and monitoring routinely reaches £600 to £1,500.

Ask, before you need to know: who covers nights, weekends and bank holidays; where that service is physically located; what the call-out and consultation fee is; and whether your records are shared with them automatically.

What to ask when you ring round

An hour on the phone to three practices is worth several hundred pounds a year for most owners. Work through this list for each one and put the answers into the comparison tool above.

1. What is a standard consultation fee, and how long is the appointment?
2. What does the annual booster cost, and does it include a health check?
3. What do you charge to neuter a dog of my dog's weight? Do you offer laparoscopic spay?
4. What does a dental scale and polish cost, and how are extractions charged?
5. Who provides your out-of-hours cover, where is it, and what does an emergency consultation cost?
6. Do you have a health plan? What exactly is in it, and what is the minimum term?
7. Who owns the practice?
8. Do you charge for a written prescription, and how much?
9. How far ahead are routine appointments booking?
10. Can I usually see the same vet?
11. Do you have on-site X-ray, ultrasound and a lab, or is work sent away?
12. Where do you refer to for orthopaedics, and is that centre part of the same group?
13. Do you offer payment plans, and do you work with the PDSA, Blue Cross or RSPCA for owners on qualifying benefits?

Insurance, health plan or savings pot?

These answer different questions, and most owners need a combination.

The decision that matters is taken in the first year. A new policy excludes anything already diagnosed, so a dog that develops a chronic condition at six is effectively locked to whichever insurer it had at the time. Lifetime cover bought while the dog is young and healthy is the only version that reliably pays for long-term illness in old age. The average UK pet insurance claim is around £848, and illness accounts for roughly 70 per cent of claim value.

Saving money without compromising care

• Ask for a written prescription for any long-term medication and price it at a UK-registered online pharmacy. With the prescription fee now capped, this is usually a clear saving on anything beyond a short course.
• Buy flea and worm treatment on prescription rather than at the counter, and check whether your health plan discount beats the online price.
• Take the written estimate. For anything likely to reach £500 you are entitled to one, and it gives you a basis for asking what is essential now and what can wait.
• Ask what a procedure includes. Dentistry quotes vary enormously depending on whether X-rays, extractions, medication and the post-operative check are bundled.
• Keep the dog lean and the teeth clean. Obesity and periodontal disease drive a large share of avoidable veterinary spending — see the body condition calculator.
• Do not skip preventive care to save money. A missed booster or an untreated dental problem costs several times the saving within a couple of years.
• Check charity eligibility. PDSA, Blue Cross and RSPCA clinics treat pets belonging to owners on qualifying benefits within defined catchment areas; eligibility is postcode and benefit based.

Changing practice

Registering elsewhere is straightforward and you do not need your current vet's permission. Register with the new practice, and they will request your dog's clinical history. The history belongs to the practice that wrote it but you are entitled to a copy of the underlying data, and in practice records are transferred routinely between practices.

Two things to sort out before you move: cancel any health plan properly, checking the minimum term, and tell your insurer the new practice details so a claim is not delayed. If you are mid-treatment for an ongoing condition, finish that course of care first — switching in the middle of a diagnostic work-up costs money and time.

Frequently asked questions