I don’t doubt what you say at all regarding the escalation in operating costs and increase in supplies.
Do you think that is caused, in part, by people willing to spend more on their pets? I, myself, probably spent less on veterinary care in “the old days”. I pretty well self-doctored them and only took them to the vet for emergencies and annual shots. Heck...back then I could get the vaccines at the feed store and do that myself!
Do you think that is caused, in part, by people willing to spend more on their pets?
I share the same perceptions. I realize the rising price of medicines, but the labor costs have skyrocketed as well. I think something changed when dogs changed from farm animals to family members. In the old days, if an animal got sick, you put it down and got another. It is harder to put down something you love, and the vets know it.