A new industry survey finds that nearly half of all pet owners in the US have delayed or skipped veterinary care in the past year because of cost. At the same time, three separate developments, one legal, one regulatory, and one clinical, suggest that the access gap in vet med is finally getting serious attention.

The Numbers Are Hard to Ignore

The 2026 Lovet Checkup Report surveyed pet owners on their relationship with veterinary care. The results are stark: 46% of respondents said rising veterinary costs have caused them to delay or skip care in the past 12 months. More than 90% said they would take on debt to save a pet's life.

That gap between commitment and access is where the problem lives. Pet owners aren't disengaged. They're priced out, or they don't know where to turn for lower-barrier options. For practices, that 46% represents patients who aren't coming through the door, relationships that aren't being built, and preventive care that isn't happening.

The Landscape Is Shifting

Three recent developments illustrate the range of approaches gaining traction.

In Rhode Island, a new law signed June 23 allows veterinarians to offer virtual services, including first-time appointments, without requiring a prior in-person visit. Vets can now prescribe non-controlled medications after a virtual visit, with a 30-day prescription and one renewal. Rhode Island joins a small but growing group of states loosening telehealth restrictions that previously blocked meaningful virtual care for pets.

On the treatment side, the FDA granted full approval for Laverdia, an oral at-home treatment for canine lymphoma developed by Anivive Lifesciences and distributed by Dechra. As an XPO1 inhibitor, it represents a new class of veterinary cancer treatment. Crucially, it's designed to be administered by pet owners at home. This isn't just a clinical milestone. It's a signal that the future of some veterinary treatment is outpatient and at-home by design.

The shift is broader than any single law or drug. Chewy Health published a free 2026 CE calendar covering both medical topics and non-medical skills, explicitly designed for distributed, digitally enabled veterinary teams. The profession is slowly but steadily building infrastructure for care that doesn't require every touchpoint to happen in a clinic.

What This Means for Practices

That 46% isn't just a public health statistic. It's a revenue gap and a care gap at the same time. The practices positioned to close it won't be the ones waiting for clients to show up. They'll be the ones building hybrid care models: combining in-clinic appointments with telehealth triage, at-home monitoring, and in-home services for patients who face barriers to clinic visits.

Senior pets with chronic conditions, pets in households without reliable transportation, patients who experience high anxiety at clinic visits: these are the cases that traditional models often lose. They're also the cases where at-home care delivers the most value.

The access problem in veterinary medicine isn't going to solve itself. But the tools to address it are arriving faster than most practices realize.

What this means for your practice:

  • Understand your region's current telehealth laws. Rules are changing fast, and the practices that know them will move first.
  • Look at your chronic-care and senior pet population. These patients may benefit most from hybrid or at-home care models.
  • Consider what portion of your current patient base is deferring care, and why. The Lovet data suggests it's a larger share than most practices assume.
  • Staff and partner for the future of care delivery, not just the present model.

Bring Vet Care to the Pets Who Need It Most

Homelove sends licensed vet techs directly to patients' homes for the kind of ongoing care that keeps pets healthier between clinic visits. If you're looking for ways to extend your practice's reach to underserved patients, learn more about partnering with Homelove.