ARE INDIVIDUALLY OWNED VETERINARY CLINICS GOING THE WAY OF THE MOM AND POP DRUGSTORE?

Mars Petcare announced October 9th it will acquire Blue Pearl, the nation's biggest chain of companion animal specialty and emergency care clinics. They already own more than 900 Banfield pet hospitals, Royal Canin, Pedigree, Iams, Eukanuba, and Natura pet foods, with a total of 38 brands in their portfolio. (I'm guessing we won't be seeing Hill's prescription diets offered at Banfield.)

VCA (WOOF on NASDAQ) is a leading provider of pet health care services, owning over 600 small animal veterinary hospitals (VCA Animal Hospitals) in the US and Canada. They also own one of the largest veterinary diagnostic laboratories in the US and Canada (Antech Diagnostics), the leading animal diagnostic imaging company in the market (Sound), and VetSTREET, a leading provider of veterinary practice marketing solutions. Word is they have also bought a PR firm to handle their advertising and marketing.

Smaller corporate ventures like Vetcor, Brightheart, National Veterinary Associates, Petpartners, Vetpartners, and others are also buying up privately owned veterinary practices. Most veterinary corporations are not owned by veterinarians. They are owned by investors and business folks. Do they have the best interest of our pets or their bank accounts as their main concern? They certainly have greater buying power by purchasing items in huge quantities, getting discounts the independent practices will never see. To be efficient, large corporations often set up standards of what the doctors can and can't do, how they can and can't do it, and what they can and can't buy. They standardize everything. Does that jeopardize the healthcare of the patients? Can doctors and pet owners make their own choices?

The days of the independent veterinary practice may be numbered, like the mom and pop drugstores of my youth. Does this really matter to the pet owner? Statistics show that most clients choose their veterinarian based on location and the doctor. If they like the doctor, they stick with the practice. Most people don't really seem to care whether the practice is corporate-owned or independently owned.

I think there are pros and cons to every situation. My best advice is to find a practice you like, whether it is close to home or far away. Find a doctor that communicates with you and loves your pets. After all, the pets are what really matter.