Secret shopper survey reveals generally reasonable access to preventive veterinary appointments for dogs, with notable gaps in rural areas and for other outliers

Abstract

Objective: To assess barriers to veterinary care related to contact-information accuracy, appointment availability, and geographic accessibility. Methods: We fielded a secret shopper survey of general veterinary practices in 6 states (California, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington) from February 4 to April 11, 2025. Practices were randomly selected based on addresses proportional to county populations. Callers posing as dog owners used Google Maps to identify practices and collected observational data. We relied on descriptive analyses and logit and ordinary least-square models to analyze the data. Results: Simulated dog owners reached out to 5,053 veterinary practices and were able to get an appointment in 67.0% of attempts. Primary reasons for failures were inability to connect with staffers (15.1%), excessive hold times (8.2%), or staff refusal (1.9%). Inaccuracies occurred in only 2.2% of cases. In 3.9% of cases, veterinarians lacked the capacity to accept additional patients. When successful, simulated dog owners on average had to wait 6.36 days for an appointment and travel 11.1 minutes or 6.4 miles. Outliers experienced substantial barriers to care. We identified substantial differences by state and rurality. Other common correlates of access such as population size, poverty, and median income generally had no substantive effect. Conclusions: Our findings indicated that wellness appointments are generally available to most dog owners, but rural residents and outliers may experience delays and travels. Inability to connect with staffers at times may provide additional challenges. Clinical Relevance: Barriers to care may impact animal and human welfare and the professional experiences of veterinarians.