Low cost vet clinic near me open now

Open Door, a low-cost vet clinic in West Asheville, opened to great fanfare in early 2019. As promised, its lower prices have made veterinary care accessible to pets that would otherwise have to do without.

But Open Door’s pricing has also disrupted the vet industry in Asheville — and left pet parents wondering why their vet is so much more expensive.

Aimee St. Arnaud, a representative for Open Door, was quick to explain they’re not trying to undercut local vets. “We’re not cutting quality by setting our prices lower, and they’re not gouging by setting their prices higher,” St. Arnaud said. But how can both be true?

If you have to ask, you can’t afford it

The Citizen Times surveyed 15 area veterinary care providers to assess whether Open Door’s prices are indeed “low-cost.” While that claim certainly held true (Open Door's vet exam is $35, compared to $50-65 from its competitors), the survey highlighted a problem many pet parents are all-too aware of — a total lack of price transparency.

Other than Open Door, only two area vets included any pricing information on their websites (and that was hardly cut-and-dry — Avery Creek Pet Hospital’s only number was a two for one special on kitten immunizations, and Banfield Animal Hospital offers unlimited vet exams for a monthly subscription fee). This makes it extraordinarily difficult for pet parents to shop around, particularly for services that should be identical — such as vaccinations, pills, and topical medications.

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Many of the vets surveyed were reluctant to put a number to their most standard service, the yearly vet exam. Some vet clinics said that posting a one-size-fits-all price is misleading — and can lead to unhappy customers.

Robert Sinclair, of Haw Creek Animal Hospital, said it’s impossible to know what a wellness visit will turn up — perhaps ear mites or ingrown toenails, which are a quick fix but an additional fee — and he's seen customers balk when the final cost of treatment is higher than the original quote. Some of the vets even reported being hesitant to provide estimates when prospective customers call and ask about pricing.

How is Open Door so much cheaper?

According to St. Arnaud, Open Door’s founders envision the clinic as more of a self-sustaining public service than a traditional business. They provided the seed capital to get started but don’t expect much of a return on investment. St. Arnaud said they’re generally aiming to cover operating costs but not generate profit beyond the salaries of vets and technicians.

Open Door also doesn’t have the bells and whistles that many local vets do — the surgical lasers, hydrotherapy tanks, and cat acupuncture (which is becoming an increasinglystandard amenity in Asheville’s vets).

The case for your old vet, according to Open Door (paradoxically)

The people behind Open Door are adamant they're “not trying to call out” other vets for their pricing. In fact, they asked the Asheville Citizen Times news director to pull this story for fear of generating ill-will through direct price comparisons.

St. Arnaud explained that Open Door’s founders never imagined the clinic would be a competitor to established vets, and frequently praised other vets’ involvement in the community and pro-bono work in conversations with the Citizen Times.

"We want to be a resource and a companion to work with them," St. Arnaud said.

It appears the people behind Open Door expected to treat animals that would otherwise receive no veterinary care. But since Open Door doesn’t have an income cap for its affordable services, its low prices are also attracting transfer patients from other area vets.

Some of the math behind Open Door’s business model appears a little hand-wavey. Though it certainly doesn’t lack for customers — members of the prolific Facebook group Asheville Cat Weirdos frequently complain about how booked Open Door is.

Running a traditional vet practice isn't a walk in the (dog) park

Any conversation on veterinary care is incomplete without acknowledging the current industry crisis. Vet practices across the country have been dropping like flies since the early 2000s, and the survivors are plagued by woes both economic and existential.

Veterinarians often graduate with crushing student debt, but without the sky-high salaries their M.D. counterparts have to look forward to. Private practices worry they'll go the way of the hometown grocery store as mega-corporations like Walmart enter the veterinary game. 

Due to these financial stressors and the often distressing nature of veterinary medicine itself, veterinarians are between two and four times more likely to die by suicide than the general population, according to a 2018 study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Community response

Open Door Veterinary Care has generated considerable buzz in Asheville's pet communities.

Local pet owner Abbey Rachel Lee shared her experience with Open Door in Asheville Cat Weirdos, the cat-affinity Facebook group with surprising clout.

"It's much easier to budget a vet visit when you have some idea of what the cost will be ahead of time," Lee said. "I couldn't afford everything (my dog) Winston needed that day so (Dr. Bayer) & I worked out a plan & I paid for what was going to help his healing the most." 

"I don't plan on ever going anywhere else," Lee added. 

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