Rural vet: 'I give away €500 monthly in free services'

Rural vet: 'I give away €500 monthly in free services'

A rural veterinarian with nine years of experience claims he loses "at least €500 a month" through unbilled services, gifted materials, and free care for three animal shelters and foster homes for cat colonies. He shared this during a public discussion about the profession, which began with a warning: if it didn't spark interest, he would delete it within hours. He did not.

The Spanish veterinary business, seen from the inside, differs greatly from the golden-margin narrative often told by clients. The professional describes a sector where prices are inflated "but not just for you, also for me": a bag of well-known brand dog food that costs €65 for 12 kilos online costs him the same via any distributor. Buying it at a large supermarket would be cheaper than through official channels. A similar situation occurs with medications, to the point where he sends clients to pharmacies more often than he sells them in the clinic.

How much revenue is lost in a rural practice

The figure of €500 per month is not a closed accounting calculation but an estimate by the business owner himself. It includes what he doesn't charge by choice, what he charges below fair value, and free services provided to three nearby shelters and foster homes for cat colonies. In a rural environment, with clients who sometimes haggle and young people trying to avoid paying, the business's cash flow suffers on the income side, not the expense side.

One piece of data helps understand the context: the veterinarian admits they are scammed more often than they scam others. They sin —he says using the first-person plural, as a guild— by not charging too often or charging less than due. Read economically, this phrase describes a sector with a problem of price setting and professional culture, not demand.

The real cost of pet food sold in clinics

The conversation devotes a long segment to animal nutrition, revealing the most uncomfortable data for the business: brands sold in clinics are not necessarily better than those sold in supermarkets, and in any case, the professional's margin is minimal. His advice to owners is not to trust his clinic blindly and to check compositions themselves. "You'd be surprised by the crap some of the best-known brands contain," he summarizes.

Regarding cheap supermarket kibble, his diagnosis is direct: it's a good option if the owner wants to spend money on vet visits for digestive or skin problems. This statement has a catch, because the author later admits animals love that food. His own recommendation mixes high-end kibbles with cooked foods and wet food, rotating brands periodically.

BARF diet, vaccines, and cobi19: unanswered questions

The chapter on the BARF diet —raw meat and bones, offal, whole prey— receives a nuanced response: it is the best option for dogs, but it has a serious problem rarely mentioned. Animals are more likely to become infected with bacteria or parasites like salmonella or E. coli, transmitting them to owners without developing the disease themselves. Personally, he cooks their food.

The question about annual vaccines and their possible link to cancer remains open. The professional states he doesn't know, noting that tumors are increasingly common because animals live longer and are exposed to many factors, including genetic ones in most cases. Regarding cobi19 in veterinary medicine, his answer is explicit: he is not a specialist and leaves speaking without knowledge to others. He adds context: his vvife is also a vet, and he doesn't know many colleagues who go to get vaccinated.

Cats destroying practices and dogs with hip dysplasia

The tone changes when anecdotes arrive. A cat that turned into "the Exorcist girl" upon entering the practice, jumping on shelves and knocking everything down. A setter that destroyed part of a magnetotherapy blanket. Cats breaking things or scratching the professional almost weekly. The vet admits he no longer even mentions it. He also confesses to having had ringworm for five months, a fungal infection transmitted by contact with animals.

In the clinical chapter, the discussion focuses on canine hip dysplasia. The advice is not to take X-rays until the animal looks regular, not bad, and to monitor that they don't jump relying on their hind legs. Regarding spaying females, the doubt is raised without a definitive answer in the available material.

The degree that doesn't teach how to insert an IV line

One of the professional's harshest criticisms targets his own training. The veterinary degree is "a mess," focused on production and hygiene rather than small animals. He graduated without ever inserting an IV line. This deficiency explains why practical skills are learned in the clinic and why he advocates for specialization: a generalist vet does poorly trying to cover everything. He himself does not perform equine surgery, refers traumatology cases, and limits himself to rehabilitation and maintenance.

His business combines small animals and equines. The sector evolution he describes is social, not technological: more people treat pets like children, with cremations, urns, and concern over pet food ingredients. He doesn't see this as a radical novelty. Cat ladies, he says, have always existed.

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The conversation gets stuck at the same point where the sector's accounts do: if the vet gives away €500 a month while saying prices are inflated for everyone, where is the margin sustaining the business? No one fully resolves this. Available data points to a trade with growing demand and questionable profitability, and to a professional who prefers not charging over arguing.