Can Pet Owners Get a Veterinary Appointment? What a Secret Shopper Study Revealed

Can Pet Owners Get a Veterinary Appointment? What a Secret Shopper Study Revealed

From Veterinary Vertex by AVMA Journals

March 7, 2026 · 20 min

About this episode

The episode discusses a secret shopper study on veterinary appointment accessibility for pet owners.

Send us Fan Mail Worried pet parent meets phone tree is a stress spiral no one needs—so we put it to the test. We sat down with health services researcher Dr. Simon Haeder to unpack a large secret shopper study that mimicked real owners calling nearby clinics to book first-visit puppy care. Across six diverse states, the results upend common assumptions: two-thirds of callers landed an appointment, average waits hovered around six days, and typical drives were about 13 minutes. Even better, d...

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Simon Haeder

Topics covered

  • veterinary care
  • pet ownership
  • health services research
  • appointment accessibility
  • secret shopper study

Keywords

  • veterinary appointment
  • pet care
  • secret shopper
  • health services
  • appointment wait times
  • puppy care

More episodes of Veterinary Vertex

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Veterinary Vertex podcast page.