A pharmaceutical giant's global survey of 1,046 veterinarians shows 87% feel their diagnostic expertise goes unnoticed and rising bills with falling visits suggest pet owners are already paying the price of that disconnect.
According to the global survey, almost nine in ten veterinarians believe the quiet, continuous diagnostic process is an invisible layer of expertise that pet owners are least likely to recognise.
The survey, commissioned by animal health pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim and conducted across 51 countries in March and April 2026, gathered responses from 1,046 qualifying veterinarians. Its headline finding is striking: 87% of pet veterinarians identified "spotting hidden health problems" as the most important aspect of their role and the one most likely to be overlooked. The timing and funding of the research deserve scrutiny, Boehringer Ingelheim profits directly from veterinary prescriptions and products, but the underlying tension the data describes is real, measurable, and worth understanding.
• 87% of pet veterinarians surveyed say their hidden diagnostic work goes unrecognised by animal owners, according to Boehringer Ingelheim's 2026 global survey of 1,046 vets across 51 countries.
• Veterinary costs in the United States have risen 38.5% since 2019, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA), cited by Healthy Paws Pet Insurance in 2024.
• Vet visit numbers fell for a fourth consecutive year in 2025, driven by price sensitivity among pet owners, even as revenue per practice grew through higher prices rather than more patients.
• About 45% of pet parents say cost has kept them from taking their pet to the vet, according to a 2023 PetSmart Charities survey.
• A veterinary degree takes five to six years; specialist training adds four or more years on top — meaning a specialist's clinical judgment represents over a decade of formal education before a single appointment begins.
Are Vets Undervalued by Pet Owners — Or Simply Misunderstood?
The gap between what veterinarians do and what pet owners perceive them doing is not simply a matter of professional pride. It has practical consequences for animals. When owners do not understand the diagnostic reasoning behind a recommendation — a blood panel, an early dental check, a weight assessment on a routine visit — they are more likely to decline it. That decision, multiplied across millions of households, means conditions caught late, treatments that cost more, and animals that suffer longer.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, citing the American Pet Products Association's 2024–2025 National Pet Owners Survey, approximately 71% of U.S. households, or about 94 million families, own a pet — up from 56% in 1988. That is a vast population making daily decisions about animal health with, if the survey data is accurate, a significant blind spot about what veterinary expertise actually involves.
The financial stakes are growing alongside pet ownership. According to the Insurance Information Institute, citing the American Pet Products Association, total pet industry expenditures in the U.S. reached $152 billion in 2024, up 3.4% from $147 billion in 2023. Veterinary services represent a substantial slice of that figure and that slice is expanding faster than almost everything else in the consumer economy.
The Details: What the Survey Actually Found
The survey distinguishes between three veterinary disciplines: Companion animal practice, equine medicine, and livestock veterinary care. Each group identified a different dimension of invisibility.
For pet veterinarians, the central concern was diagnostic reasoning. Qualifying as a veterinarian requires five to six years of university study. Specialist veterinarians may complete four or more additional years of advanced training. That accumulated knowledge informs every clinical decision and almost none of it is visible to the owner sitting across the examination table. "Diagnostic and treatment decisions are based on the veterinarian's professional training and experience," said Dr. Jim Berry, President of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association. "This unnoticed layer of expertise ensures animals receive precise, efficient, and life-preserving care."
Equine veterinarians highlighted a different form of hidden labour: Preventive surveillance. In the survey, 60% ranked "detecting hidden pain and subtle early disease signs" as the most overlooked part of their role, and 42% cited "using a horse's environment and clinical history to predict risk." For livestock veterinarians, the concern extended beyond individual animals. A majority — 65% — identified "protecting food-chain safety" as the aspect of their work the public most consistently fails to recognise, followed by disease surveillance at 62%. These are not abstract concerns. According to the survey's supporting data, 60% of human infectious diseases are known to spread between animals and humans, and 70% of emerging diseases originate in animals.
The Bill That Keeps Rising, the Visits That Keep Falling
The survey's findings land in a specific and uncomfortable economic moment. According to Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, citing NAPHIA in 2024, veterinary costs have risen by 38.5% since 2019.
The response from pet owners has been measurable. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, citing Brakke Consulting analysis in 2025, veterinary visit numbers declined for a fourth consecutive year, down roughly 3%, even as revenue per practice grew approximately 2.5% — a growth driven entirely by higher prices, not more patients. The system is generating more revenue from fewer visits. That is a warning signal. According to Vet Advantage, citing a 2023 PetSmart Charities nationwide survey, about 45% of pet parents say the cost of a vet visit has kept them from taking their pet to the veterinarian, and nearly 30% say they would struggle to pay a veterinary bill of $500 or more.
What This Means When You Are Standing at the Reception Desk
Understanding the expertise behind a veterinary visit does not require accepting every bill without question. It requires a different kind of conversation. Before or during any appointment, pet owners can ask their veterinarian to explain what they are looking for during a physical examination and why. When a test or treatment is recommended, asking "what are we hoping to find or rule out?" shifts the dynamic from passive payment to informed partnership.
The 87% figure — the proportion of vets who feel their diagnostic work goes unnoticed — is an invitation. If the expertise is invisible, ask to see it. A veterinarian who can explain their reasoning in plain language is not only demonstrating their value; they are giving you the information you need to make genuinely informed decisions about your animal's care. That conversation will not reduce the bill. But it may make it easier to understand which parts of it are worth prioritising, especially for the nearly 30% of pet owners who would struggle to cover $500 in unexpected costs.
The Boehringer Ingelheim survey is a marketing document with a genuine insight at its centre. Veterinary expertise is largely invisible to the people who rely on it most and in a climate of rising costs and falling visits, that invisibility has real consequences for animal health. The solution is not simply to trust the bill. It is to ask better questions, understand what a clinical examination actually involves, and build the kind of dialogue with your veterinary team that makes every visit and every dollar spent count for more.