Most Cats Aren’t Visiting Veterinary Clinics Even Once a Year!

Each year from 2013 to 2015 (more recent data is available, of course), the number of actively feline patients visiting vet clinics in the US (about 20 million) has grown by a small amount. On average, these pets go to the clinic 2.65 times a year. But only 28% of these cats go to the clinic yearly, while the rest of them go less often.

The VetInformatics database was used to get the information and includes around 1,000 veterinary clinics across the continental United States. This team of vet-informatics researchers are working to provide the most accurate information possible.

Frequency of Feline Clinic Visits!

Veterinarians often use tjeir Practice Management System to track their patients. If a feline patient has visited within the last 24 months, they are labeled as “active” patients.

Our feline pets should be visiting the veterinary clinics more often. However, this is a concern for total veterinary care. 

The overhead pie diagram illustrates the frequency of feline clinic visits and gives a transparent scenario to how often cats go to the vet. 

VetInformatics research has found that 28% of cats come in annually. 34% come in every other year, and 12% come every three years—24% change annually due to death or relocation.

Actual Number of Active Felines to Veterinary Clinic!

We define active feline patients as those that visit at least once every other year. It is measured by finding at least one invoice in that time period..

In 2015, 20.2 million cats were recorded. Of those cats, only 5.7 million visit veterinary clinics every year. Besides, almost half of the cats visit veterinary clinics every two or three years. Some 4.8 million are newly treated cats.

Their numbers were as follows:

Table 1: Active felines and growth rate (Between 2013 – 2015)

This table represents the number of active felines visiting feline veterinary centers or veterinary clinics annually. But the growth of feline clinic visits is increasing, which is a matter of slight relief.