Hi, it's Diane, on my mind, the high price of veterinary care. I recently took my blood dog Bella to the vet, the same vet I've used for quite some time.

And I have to tell you the size and the bill really shocked me.

I had noticed fellas cost of care ticking up over the last couple of years but this time the price jump was undeniable.

This is very clearly a play by corporations to make money.

Beth Helene Olin, she is a veteran journalist, focused on the intersection of money, personal finance, inequality, and public policy. In April, she

wrote a piece about the rising cost of veterinary care

or of the Atlantic.

She says this kind of inflation

is happening throughout the pet care industry. joined me to explain why.

Helene you've written two books about personal finance and the

personal finance industry.

How did you then become interested in the veterinary animal hospital part of the finance industry.

Well, I am a dog mom and at the time

I was the dog mom of Katie, a miniature poodle, and in the winter of 2021 during the pandemic, she begins coughing one day.

She's about 14 at the time. And the worst cough I've ever heard. After over a thousand dollars in

vet bills it turned out she was in advance heart failure and we were given a nine month prognosis.

I should say Katie lasted another two years,

almost two years, and it was because we were able to pay for it. It was very expensive and as I'm as I'm dealing with this. I mean I was

heartbroken I should say as you can imagine. I had literally once written a piece for Slate about how I called Katie my daughter as opposed to the the human children who are two sons.

So I could say she was my favorite daughter, right?

And at some point, I'm realizing I'm getting batted back and forth between VCA's blue purls, all these chains, right?

And the bills are adding up.

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