American Pet Owners Turn To Vets In Mexico For Affordable Care

While over 1 million Americans routinely travel to Mexico for medical, dental or other health services each year, pet owners are doing the same – saving hundreds or even thousands on vet bills.

“The price difference is insane,” Valerie Silva told USA Today. Silva took her first trip to a Mexican vet clinic at the beginning of 2022 after her chihuahua mix needed vaccines and a spay. She later had her husky vaccinated at the same clinic, where she said eight shots for two dogs came out to roughly $200, while the spaying procedure was $80.

“It’s just so much easier being able to go in there and not have to worry about it being like $70, $100 for a shot.”

A 2022 Forbes Advisor Survey of 2,000 dog and at owners revealed that nearly two-thirds report inflation has made it more difficult to pay a surprise vet bill. A bill of less than $1,000 would cause 42% of pet owners to go into debt, while bills of less than $500 would cause 28% of pet owners to go into debt.

According to data from the Mexican government, more Americans are entering Mexico with their pets, as both costs and wait times at US vet clinics soar.

“We’ve got this perfect storm in terms of pet vet tourism,” said Dr. David Vequist, director of the Center for Medical Tourism Research at the University of the Incarnate Word in Texas. “People are trying to find care at the price that they want.”

According to Mexico’s SENASICA agency, which inspects all pets entering the country, crossings with pets hit 33,500 in 2022, up 68% from 2019.

In addition to inflation, the surge in border crossings comes as US vets suffer staff shortages amid a booming pet population.

The number of pet dogs jumped as much as 16% between 2016 and 2020, while pet cats climbed as much as 6%, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Clinics in the U.S. have raised salaries to attract more workers, but the wage hikes coupled with inflation mean higher costs are passed on to pet owners. The cost of veterinary services is up 10% year-over-year, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

A shortage of nearly 15,000 veterinarians will likely still exist by 2030, according to a 2022 report from Mars Veterinary Health, a network of more than 2,500 veterinary clinics, hospitals and diagnostic labs. Over 75 million U.S. pets may not have access to vet care by then without intervention. –USA Today

In 2015, San Diego dog owner Anna Ginsky said she was quoted around $2,000 for dental work. Instead, a Mexican clinic charged her just $300.

Ginsky turned her experience into a business, launching MexiVet Express in 2018 – a transportation and liaison service which shuttles American pets back and forth from clinics in Baja, California.

“Some people just can’t afford $5,000 to remove a tumor off of their pet’s leg,” she said. “If they don’t know about an alternative option, then their only option is to let their pet suffer. In a lot of cases, that’s when they find us.”

During the pandemic, Ginsky says her client list doubled. She’s now up to around 60 clients per week and has nine employees.

Mexican vets, meanwhile, report that business is booming. Maria Mariño, a veterinarian and owner of two clinics in Ensenada, says that roughly 20% of her patients were from the US before the pandemic – a figure which is now closer to 30%.

“The treatments are very expensive there, so they travel to check another second option,” she said.