BY: SAMANTHA BARTLETT, DVM

Although the pet population has continued to increase through 2024, many pet owners have decreased spending in response to rising inflation and lowered budgets. This led to a decrease in overall patient visits and product sales in small animal clinics. AVMA’s chief economist, Katelynn McCullock and Vetsource’s vice president of data services, Sheri Gilmartin, presented at the 2024 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Veterinary Business and Economic Forum this past October. They presented findings from a data analysis of 6000 practices across the US from August 2023 and 2024. The findings showed a decrease in patient visits by 2.3% from the year prior with and increase in overall revenue of 3.9%. Revenue increases were mostly attributed to price increase. Because of the decline in overall patient visit, the increase in prices had a lesser impact on overall revenue that previous years. 

Decreased visits are largely attributable to a decrease in active patients by 1.9%. Canine patients had the biggest drop, while feline patients are up 0.8%. Although sick visits are fairly stable, there has been a decline in well visits, new puppy and kitten visits and new clients. Clients are also tending to extend the time between visits by an average of 48%, which also has an impact on overall revenue. 

McCullock predicts a recession is coming in 2025 if it is not already here. Economists predict the health of an economy based on the behavior of the yield curve. An upward sloping curve indicates future economic growth whereas an inverted yield curve reflects lower growth in the future. The current yield curve has been in an inverted pattern since 2022. In addition, consumer debt is increasing while spending is slowing.

As part of the Economic Forum, the AVMA created an Insight to Action Guide as a resource for small animal practices that can be viewed here: 3-2-1 Insight-to-Action Guide