Soaring costs are forcing some Canadians to limit vet visits or even give up their pets

Shannon Shorten and her family have spent more than $8,000 in emergency vet visits for their 12-year-old cat Rolo — and she’s not sure if they can afford yet another expensive procedure amid the current economic climate.

Torontonian Shorten, 52, and her husband adopted Rolo and his brother, Toffee, both orange tabbies, more than a decade ago at a cat rescue.

“I am a redhead, my two boys are redheads, so we needed an orange cat,” she said.

Having grown up with outdoor cats who required frequent vet visits, she initially believed she might be able to save on these costs since Rolo and Toffee are both indoor cats.

But Rolo ended up having pica, the compulsive urge to eat inedible items. He took a liking to Styrofoam and the stuffing inside toys, leading to a blockage in his digestive tract and his first surgery in 2021. The tests and the surgery (which resulted in Rolo getting 18 staples) set Shorten and her husband back at least $4,000.

A year later, Rolo’s bad eating habits hurt him again. Shorten said they opted for a minimally invasive procedure this time to save Rolo some of the pain and trauma, but it meant an additional $4,000 out of their pockets.

“We always have that fear because he has a heart murmur too: Will he even survive (another) surgery?” Shorten said.

She and her husband also aren’t sure if they can afford another emergency vet visit that would cost them thousands of dollars, on top of other financial responsibilities such as meeting their mortgage payments and caring for their children.

They are among a growing number of Canadians grappling with the rising cost of animal care, resulting in skipped vet visits and even pet surrenders.

Half of pet owners have not brought their pets to the veterinarian for care within the past year or have declined previous recommended care, according to research from Gallup, Inc. and PetSmart Charities of Canada.

The majority of those that have skipped or declined care (67 per cent) said this was due to financial reasons, such as not being able to afford care or not believing the care was worth the cost.

Dr. Maggie Brown-Bury, executive member of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), based in St John’s, N.L., said cost has always been an issue deterring some Canadians from accessing veterinary care for their pets.

But she has noticed a shift in the past year or so, with pet owners making fewer appointments and the topic of money emerging more often in decisions to postpone veterinary care. The cost factor is twofold, she said.

“Everything is becoming more expensive, and so everyone has less to spend on their pets,” Brown-Bury said.

“At the same time, veterinary clinics are staffed with people who are facing those same increases, so we’re trying to make sure that we’re paying our staff a living wage, which means the cost of labour is going up, and then the cost of our supplies is going up, and so the cost of our services have to therefore also go up.”

Shorten, who is self-employed, said the ongoing

trade war

has taken a major hit to her baby products business, BabyJack Products Inc., resulting in supply issues, fluctuating sales and unstable income.

She avoids taking the cats to the vet for routine checkups unless it’s necessary.

“To figure out what’s wrong with a cat, you start with the basics, so they’ll do blood work, and then, all of a sudden, it’s an x-ray, and then maybe it’s an ultrasound,” she said. “The bill just rises so quickly with pets.”

A March report from Rover.com found veterinary service costs have surged, with office visits, preventive care and vaccinations increasing by up to 50 per cent for dogs and 25 per cent for cats last year.

This appears to be an ongoing trend: A 2023 CVMA report indicated that households spent a total of $9.3 billion on veterinary and other services for pets in 2022, more than double the $4 billion spent in 2019.

Sophie (whose surname has been withheld to protect her privacy) said she and her partner spend nearly $4,000 in veterinary bills for their two dogs every year.

Diego, a pure-bred American Staffordshire Terrier with a pair of perpetually upturned ears, is a gentle 13-year-old senior, while Murphy is an energetic six-year-old rescue mutt. They feature on Sophie’s pet social media account,

@murphspaldiego

.

Sophie, who is in her thirties, works in the information technology sector and lives on Vancouver Island, B.C. She began posting content about her pets in the beginning of 2024 but started a new series this year in which she documents the monthly costs of pet care.

“I thought it was good to show how (these costs) fluctuate so much, like none of those numbers are ever remotely the same any month,” she said, noting that emergency vet bills can boost expenses significantly.

Diego, for example, requires a monthly injection for his arthritis, which has gone up from about $107 to $126 a month since he started taking it. But he has also undergone four surgeries in his lifetime to have melanomas removed, which set Sophie and her partner back thousands of dollars.

As a dual-income household with no children, the couple has the leeway to afford veterinary care, so far. Sophie said she and her partner have started stashing about $100 a month into an emergency savings account in case of these surprise expenses.

But others struggle to afford the cost of caring for their animals.

The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society told Financial Post it is seeing a 16 per cent increase in the number of animals entering its care for re-homing year-over-year across the province.

PetSmart Charities of Canada president Aimee Gilbreath said advancements in veterinary care result in more potential for pets to recover from illness or injury and to live longer, but noted many of these treatments and procedures are expensive.

“Unlike human healthcare, those are not subsidized by the government or by your employer,” Gilbreath said. “You have to pay the full cost.”

The veterinary care most often declined included diagnostic procedures such as blood tests and preventive care such as annual check-ups and vaccinations, according to the CVMA report.

However, some respondents also said they had forgone recommended medications and declined elective and even life-saving surgeries for their pets.

“The most significant consequence to people hesitating to spend the money is what could have been a small problem becomes a bigger problem, which unfortunately also can mean a more expensive problem — or in the worst-case scenario, a problem that we can no longer fix,” said Brown-Bury.

“There has been an increase in people giving up their pets … and people opting for humane euthanasia (to ensure their pet is not suffering) when there may have been a treatment option that they can’t afford to pursue.”

Chantelle Archambault, communications director at the Vancouver Humane Society, said its McVitie program, which provides emergency funding for life-saving veterinary care for pets in low-income households across B.C., has ballooned from less than 200 applications in 2020 to about 1,600 in 2024.

“This year, we have already processed more than 900 applications,” Archambault said in an email, noting more people are struggling to afford veterinary care as the

cost of living

has gone up.

“Increasingly, applicants … mention that their rent alone is nearly the same as their full monthly income,” she added. “Many applicants report having only $100 to $200 per month left for food for themselves, their pet and other necessities.”

Christine Van Tol, 54, is a two-time recipient of this funding for her three-year-old orange cat, Milo, who has been prone to developing urinary tract blockages.

Van Tol, who has multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and other autoimmune issues and relies on disability paychecks to make ends meet, said she had not intended on adopting another cat when she already had one and was grappling with much higher rent payments.

However, after rescuing the scrawny kitten and being unable to find him a home, Van Tol decided to keep Milo, who developed a special bond with her other cat, Leia. Unfortunately, Leia underwent kidney failure a year later and Van Tol made the difficult decision to opt for humane euthanasia at the vet, scrounging up $800 from birthday money and her income tax refund to cover all the costs.

But when Milo had a urinary tract infection that took a sudden turn for the worse, Van Tol could not afford an expensive surgery so soon after paying for Leia’s veterinary care. She went to three different clinics until she found out about financial aid through the McVitie program.

She received $500 through the program and managed to raise the remaining $1,200 she needed through GoFundMe within two days. However, 10 months later, Milo was suffering from yet another blockage.

Van Tol knew she had to either end his suffering or try one last procedure: a $3,500 perineal urethrostomy (PU) to surgically open the urethra. Luckily, she was able to get funds from the McVitie program and GoFundMe again to get the procedure done this year.

“I sacrificed everything,” she said. “I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.”

Milo is faring much better today, though Van Tol still has him on a special diet.

While pet insurance can save owners money, this can cost pet owners anywhere from $120 to $1,200 or more per year, according to Rover.com. It is also much easier to get coverage for a pet in the early stages of its life, with few providers willing to cover treatment for pre-existing conditions.

Gilbreath advised pet owners to be open and transparent about their financial circumstances with their veterinarians. She suggested asking about payment plans and grants, creating a rainy day fund and searching for clinics with lower cost options.

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“The reality is that the magnitude of the problem in Canada alone is billions of dollars a year,” Gilbreath said. “Addressing this is going to really require all of the facets of the industry to come together.”

• Email: slouis@postmedia.com

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