Pets are family, too: barriers to accessible veterinary care and solutions to explore

Abstract

As pets and companion animals are becoming more and more like family members than possessions, being able to provide them with the health care that they need is becoming more essential. However, many barriers to accessible, affordable, and effective veterinary care exist, for both veterinarian and pet owner. Some barriers even overlap with barriers seen in human health care. While there are solutions currently in place to try to relieve this, those solutions should be revisited, and new solutions should be considered. Doing so would make effective and affordable veterinary care services more accessible to any pet owner, whether their pet is just a part of their family or their pet is their whole family.