Vet visits and spending are down, yet sentiment towards pets and their care is stronger than ever. Yesterday, the RSPCA's 2026 Animal Kindness Index published findings that 75% of UK pet owners felt the cost of caring for their pet had increased over the previous 12 months, while 10% were already seeking pet-care advice or support from AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity.
The cost of veterinary care is creating difficult decisions for families. In a recent US survey, 52% of pet owners said they had skipped or declined recommended veterinary care in the previous year. Among those who had forgone care, 71% identified cost as a key reason.
Pet owners are not looking for less care. They are looking for answers they can afford.
AI — Friend or Foe of Pet Care?
While there's no direct evidence that veterinary costs are causing owners to turn to AI - or conversely, that AI is replacing the need to consider vet care - it does raise the question: how can veterinary teams support pet owners in using AI to optimise the health and welfare of their pets?
AI has huge potential to support pet owners, for example to organise questions before a consultation, support routine monitoring and help people record, understand and digest information with their veterinary team. The wider pet-care market is already embracing AI-enabled health tracking, wearables, smart litter boxes, symptom chatbots and diagnostic tools. One industry compilation estimates that 52% of US owners use at least one AI-enabled pet technology, while 15% have used an AI chatbot to assess a pet symptom before contacting a vet.
But affordability must not turn AI into a substitute for clinical assessment. An algorithm cannot palpate a painful abdomen, assess hydration status, detect subtle neurological change or understand the full context of an animal's history and behaviour. The RSPCA report notes that animal health problems and treatments can only be accurately diagnosed in person by a skilled veterinary professional.
Good vs. Bad AI in Pet Care
Good AI for animals should be transparent about what it can and cannot do. It should be validated for its intended use, clear about uncertainty, protect data, identify when urgent veterinary care is needed, and support rather than displace professional judgement.
The opportunity for veterinary professionals is not to discourage the use of AI by pet owners. It is to support good decision making around appropriate use and selection of the best models and tools to support holistic, preventative and interventional healthcare. It is to ensure that the correct safeguards are in place for appropriate use, including a human-in-the-loop to spot errors that could lead to harm.