Chaotic charges, human and veterinary use—uncovering the tip of the iceberg in pet healthcare

(Source: Beijing Business Daily)

A typical medication for stomatitis costs 24 yuan, while a single surgery can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan, which seems to have become the norm for pet healthcare. “I’m not worried about my pet’s food and drink; I’m worried about my pet getting sick” has become a shared concern among modern pet owners. Currently, the pet medical market is continuously expanding, with many pet hospitals pricing their services based on costs, showing some similarities to private medical institutions. The costs for purchasing medical equipment, introducing medications, and the labor costs of medical staff vary from one hospital to another. The tip of the iceberg in pet healthcare lies not only in the myriad of pricing standards but also in numerous irregular medical practices, including over-treatment, the use of human medications for animals, and issues with physician qualifications.

“The Disappearing Prescription”

Li Li pulled out a bill from last year for her cat’s thyroid tumor removal, totaling 12,000 yuan, which exceeded her budget for a standard consultation.

Among the charges, besides the core expense of 3,968 yuan for the thyroid tumor removal, and 800 yuan each for Calofen injection and Nuonuo Life Yuan, and 1,320 yuan for Zhongbaomu Life Yuan, there were also various seemingly insignificant but substantial fees. For instance, the VIP cage fee was 1,040 yuan, surgical monitoring was 200 yuan, a disposable sterile surgical gown was 100 yuan, and nursing fees were 320 yuan…

Doubts about high charges have become a common sentiment among pet owners. On one hand, there are cost differences that customers cannot see; similar medical equipment may not have the same purchase prices in different hospitals. The professional level and service quality of hired medical personnel also vary by hospital.

On the other hand, there is also a noticeable price difference between medications prescribed by pet hospitals and those available “externally.” Wang Xin, a pet owner in Guangdong, provided a more direct comparison. She recalled that when she took her pet cat to a pet hospital for vaccinations, the veterinarian prescribed doxycycline for stomatitis at 24 yuan per tablet, totaling 168 yuan for seven tablets. Meanwhile, a customer service representative at Meilianzhonghe Animal Hospital in a first-tier city told a Beijing Business Daily reporter that the price of the medication varies by specification, ranging from 7 yuan to over ten yuan per tablet.

The reporter found that on e-commerce platforms, a box of cat doxycycline tablets costs 18.63 yuan for a total of eight tablets. In offline pet supply stores, a box of doxycycline tablets ranges from a few dozen yuan to twenty yuan. For example, at Ling Xiaohu Pet Supply Store in Tongzhou District, a box of six tablets costs 15.8 yuan. At Mengte Pet Supply Huangqu Store, a box of 22 tablets costs 22.8 yuan.

In addition to the medication costs, pet owners are also frustrated by sometimes unclear expenses. Just before this year’s Spring Festival, Liu Qian spent 7,300 yuan at Chongqing Beili Pet Hospital for her dog Chou Bao’s treatment, which involved an initial diagnosis of spinal misalignment, surgery, and subsequent wound infection, ultimately resulting in the pet’s death. Throughout the treatment, Liu Qian never received the prescription or detailed billing breakdown, with the hospital citing “the attending physician is on vacation and cannot provide it.” Liu Qian told reporters that throughout Chou Bao’s treatment, the hospital did not provide any corresponding prescriptions or medication details. Wang Fang encountered a different situation. She took her cat Xiao Tao to Pet Love Pet Hospital in Qujing City, Yunnan, for blood tests, fecal tests, and antigen testing. Because Wang Fang purchased a group-buy coupon for these services on an e-commerce platform, she was refused when she asked the hospital to issue a detailed list of the examination items. The hospital staff explained that since it was a discount package, they could not provide a prescription or detailed list, although the corresponding item details were available on the coupon’s package interface.

The Beijing Business Daily reporter contacted relevant personnel at Chongqing Beili Pet Hospital, who stated that the medication, treatment, and costs were communicated in a treatment group during the medical period. “This was known to everyone during the preliminary treatment,” the personnel said. However, when the reporter inquired whether a paper or electronic version of the official prescription and medication details were provided after the treatment concluded, the personnel repeatedly emphasized that this was known to both parties: “If you don’t ask, we wouldn’t know if you wanted it.” At the same time, the personnel claimed that the relevant medical records, prescriptions, and medication details were provided to the Agricultural Committee (Rural Agricultural Committee of Jiulongpo District, Chongqing). After failing to obtain the relevant materials, Liu Qian filed a complaint against Chongqing Beili Pet Hospital with the Rural Agricultural Committee of Jiulongpo District, demanding the hospital be shut down for rectification and that the relevant physician be investigated and punished.

Liu Lang, Deputy Director of the National Companion Animal (Pet) Standardization Technical Committee, Vice President of the Chinese Veterinary Association, and President of the Pet Industry Branch of the China Animal Husbandry Association, told the Beijing Business Daily that pet hospitals have introduced a large number of expensive human medical devices (such as MRI, CT, endoscopes, etc.), and the costs of purchasing and maintaining these devices are ultimately passed on to each examination. Moreover, due to the small population of pets, the usage frequency of the equipment is relatively low, making it difficult to recover costs and achieve profitability in a short time. In addition to the equipment, the high costs of research and production of pet-specific medications, coupled with their production volumes being far lower than those of human medications, lead to higher unit prices for pet drugs. Furthermore, the costs of talent cultivation also contribute to the high expenses. The pet medical industry is a high-tech, asset-heavy, and high-compliance-cost sector, but its service target (pets) does not have a national health insurance system like humans do; thus, the price per consultation is inevitably high.

Regarding the chaotic pricing in the industry, Liu Lang also offered his suggestions, stating that to promote the healthy development of pet medical charges, it is essential to push for industry transparency and standardization, making cost details clearer, and helping consumers understand which are examination fees (diagnostics) and which are medication and surgical costs (treatment), thereby reducing the ambiguity created by “packaged pricing.”

Incomplete Hospital Qualifications

In addition to high costs and opaque pricing standards, another major concern for pet owners during the development of pet healthcare is the safety issues arising from hospitals’ violations, including the use of human medications for animals and incomplete hospital qualifications.

According to pet owner Wang Qing, her nine-month-old dog, Xi Bei (a Shiba Inu), never returned to her after being treated at Pet Nidi Hospital. “This hospital did not legally obtain the ‘Radiation Safety License’ and unlawfully used Class III radiation devices to conduct medical activities (‘built without approval,’ ‘used without inspection’),” Wang Qing said. She reported the hospital to the local Ecological Environment Bureau, which confirmed the violation. In the follow-up response from the relevant department that Wang Qing provided, it stated: “Your unit is engaged in the use of radioactive isotopes and radiation devices without a license.” After Wang Qing filed her complaint, the hospital gradually obtained the necessary qualifications. Currently, Pet Nidi Hospital is operating normally, and when reporters attempted to interview the hospital regarding the above issues, the personnel stated it was inconvenient to accept an interview but would relay the interview request.

Pet owner Zhang Xin encountered a case of using human medication for animals. Zhang Xin explained that her pet dog, Juan Juan, went to the hospital for treatment due to vomiting and died on the spot after three hours of treatment. “Within those three hours, the veterinarian gave Juan Juan two tablets of Pimobendan (a veterinary prescription drug mainly used for treating canine heart disease, which must be strictly administered twice a day (every 12 hours), with dosages usually calculated at 0.25 mg per kilogram of body weight). They then administered human nitroglycerin, and Juan Juan worsened after taking it, eventually vomiting blood and dying on the spot.”

Regarding the specifics of using human medication for animals, a veterinarian from Letong Animal Hospital informed the Beijing Business Daily that this medication is mainly used for treating canine heart disease and must be administered at a specific dosage; generally, a 6-pound dog only needs one tablet. According to Zhang Xin, Juan Juan weighed 6 pounds. Additionally, the veterinarian indicated that using human medications like nitroglycerin on animals is quite common. “Currently, many medications in the pet medical field are common medications (human medications), and many drugs are sourced from human medications; currently, many animal medications do not have corresponding veterinary drugs,” the veterinarian said.

The Beijing Business Daily found that Article 41, Clause 4 of the “Regulations on the Administration of Veterinary Drugs” clearly states: “It is prohibited to use human medications for animals.” Furthermore, Article 62 of the “Regulations on the Administration of Veterinary Drugs” stipulates that those who use unapproved medications, human medications, or counterfeit veterinary drugs may be ordered to correct the situation and fined between 10,000 and 50,000 yuan; if losses occur, they will bear the liability for compensation according to the law.

“The shortage of specialized veterinary drugs, the lag in research and development of pet-specific medications, long approval cycles, and limited varieties lead to the clinical dilemma of ‘no medications available,’ which is one of the objective reasons for the widespread occurrence of the ‘human medications for animals’ phenomenon. Although there are laws to adhere to, enforcement resources are limited, and with the vast number of medical institutions, daily supervision is difficult to cover comprehensively. Additionally, due to the strong professionalism and ambiguous definitions of behaviors like ‘over-treatment,’ it is hard to investigate,” added Shi Yuchen, a lawyer at Zhejiang Zeda Law Firm.

Beijing Business Daily reporter Zhang Junhua