Prices of veterinary care can be difficult to understand sometimes. Every practice has a different pricing structure, and works out the bill slightly differently. However, there’s one key vet fee that is critical for any pet owner to know: how much is a first consultation? This is the immediate cost for accessing any veterinary care, and so is a key vet price that you need to know.

Table of contents

At VetHelpDirect, we’ve been surveying hundreds of veterinary prices over the last few months. We currently have over 1800 practices signed up to our price comparison system, and we’re always adding more! So if you want to find out how much prices are in your local area, take a look here.

Price variations

The thing is, there isn’t a standard, set fee. All veterinary practices are either commercial businesses, or charities (which we’ll leave aside for now). That means they are in competition with each other; whether as a small independent clinic, or part of a big corporate chain, they are not allowed to work together to agree standardised prices.

Our data shows that the cheapest first consultation fee is £0 – no charge at all; while the most expensive is £120. The average across the UK based on our current data is £47.69; however, many of the larger corporates have not yet come on board, so as more of them join us, that will change.

That doesn’t mean that’s what you can expect to find in your area though 

The price of veterinary care varies significantly across geographic areas. So, for example, the median consultation fee in Dumfries and Galloway is only £32.50, while in Bournemouth it’s £59.00.

As you might expect, London tends to be more expensive than average. But even here there’s significant variation, with the cheapest first consultation fee in the W postcode area being £49.50, and the most expensive £85.

So why the variation?

Well, there are a number of factors.

Different costs to different practices

As with any other business, if the costs are higher, you have to charge more to pay them. So in areas with high property values and costs of living, business rates are higher, and staff salaries need to be higher to allow people to live and work there. On the other hand, in cheaper areas, the prices can be lower as the cost of living is lower.

This explains why the highest prices are generally found in the most expensive cities – London, Oxford, and Bristol, for example, compared to lower prices in Belfast, Sheffield and Carlisle. 

Different levels of care, skill and expertise

That doesn’t account entirely for the variation, though, because there is also significant variation within an area. So we also need to consider what type of care is that practice providing? Are they providing gold-standard, human-grade care to wealthy clients? If so, that costs: you need more vets, more nurses, and much more expensive equipment – and that all needs to be paid for. As a result, all the fees will tend to be more expensive. We see this with many accredited Veterinary Hospitals, for example.

Alternately, are they trying to provide good quality contextual care on a budget? In which case, we can expect them to have less equipment and lower – although still safe – staffing levels. 

Neither approach is right or wrong, they’re just different. And most practices don’t try to go to one end of the spectrum or the other, but to offer a range of options somewhere in the middle.

How long is the consultation?

The cost to the practice of a consultation, alone, will depend on two factors: the cost of the vet’s time to run it, and the cost of the support staff and equipment needed to enable it (for example, receptionists to book it, computer systems to record the booking, and as we’ve seen, the cost of keeping the building open and insured, etc). 

However, one major variable is how long the consult is. In general, 10 minute consults are inevitably going to be cheaper to provide than 15 or 20 minutes!

Profit margins

A vet practice is a business: whether it’s a corporate chain or a little one-man band, the profits made are what keeps it open. They pay for the staff, they pay off the loans on equipment, buildings, and other finance, and (in many cases) they pay back the investors who sunk lots of their money into the business to get it off the ground.

What those profit margins are will vary – but profits after costs aren’t as big as most people think, and most businesses and corporates in the vet world make between 5% and 15% profit before tax (not counting VAT, of course, which is always added to the client’s bill).

Different pricing policies

How the practice balances out all these factors is the final consideration. Some practices keep consult fees as low as possible, to minimise the barriers to care. This is admirable, but of course means that the costs have to be recouped somewhere else – for example, in more expensive surgery or medicine prices. Others go to the opposite extreme, with very expensive consults, but once your pet is “in the system”, everything else is less expensive. And, of course, most practices fit somewhere in between.

So, how do I find out what my practice charges?

Firstly, check out their listing on our Find a Local Vet site. If the price isn’t listed as being available, then they haven’t chosen to give it to us yet – but you should always check their website, as increasing numbers of practices are adding basic pricing info. If not, give them a ring and ask! Most practices are happy to share this information with their clients!

Further reading: