Last year, I was interviewed for a documentary on the rising cost of veterinary care, and the challenges this is causing for both owners and veterinarians. As many of you know, this is a topic I deal with extensively in my book. We spent more than $15 billion dollars on vet care for our animal companions in the U.S. alone in 2015, handing over our credit cards for everything from routine exams to open heart surgery. It’s great that we live in an age where we can provide almost human-like medicine to our cats and dogs, but how much is too much to spend? Should people go broke trying to save their pets? And what sort of ethical dilemmas does this create for both owners and veterinarians?
The documentary–a CBC program called Pets, Vets and Debts–delves into some of these issues, and I’m excited to be a part of it. You can see a promo for the doc above, and read more about it at the link in the previous sentence. Unfortunately, you need to reside in Canada to watch the program over the web. I hope they will make it available to the rest of the world soon!