Expectations vs. reality: 5 questions your veterinary team needs to answer in 2025

An audience’s expectations don’t always match up with the current reality being provided to them, but that doesn’t have to be true for the clients at your veterinary clinic. Even though most pet parents consider key areas of digital communication and engagement with their vets to be important, many practices fall short of meeting the evolving communication and technological needs of today’s pet parents. This is especially true in areas such as booking appointments, receiving reminder messages, and accessing or sharing their pets’ health records.

To keep up with the changing times, we’re asking five questions you and your team members should be answering in 2025. Our insights will help you focus on using better technology to improve the veterinary experience across all demographics and, most importantly, prevent you from losing clients to clinics with superior digital solutions.

The following statistics come directly from PetDesk’s 2025 Pet Parent Research Report. In this study, we surveyed 1,000 pet owners in North America to explore their preferences around communication with veterinary practices, the importance of digital solutions, and their current levels of satisfaction with their vets. Our findings reveal a noticeable gap between the expectations of pet owners and the technology veterinary clinics currently provide.

1. Does your veterinary clinic provide convenient self-serve options and easy ways for clients to communicate?

Convenience is an important factor for successful veterinary practices. Through self-serve options and simple communication methods that help pet parents effortlessly stay in touch with their vets, clinic staff can reduce daily call volume and save valuable time. Here are the aspects of customer service that pet parents view as important, along with whether they’ve experienced these forms of customer service at their current clinics.

Accessing and sharing pet health records: Having pet parents talk on the phone or schedule appointments simply to access their pets’ medical histories isn’t just tedious for them, but also time-consuming for your team. Even though 83% of pet parents view the ability to easily access or share their pets’ health records as important, only 36% report having done so with their current vets. You can meet your clients’ expectations with modern digital solutions, like a client-facing veterinary app that enables pet owners to access pet health records without contacting your clinic.

Receiving automatic alerts: Almost 9 out of 10 (87%) pet parents say that receiving useful reminders from their veterinary clinics about their pets’ appointments and vaccinations is important. However, the reality is that more than 4 in 10 (42%) pet owners report not receiving these types of alerts from their vets. Automatic veterinary reminders and confirmations ensure pet owners stay in the know about their pets’ health needs, whether it’s reminding them two days before they’re due to arrive for an appointment they’ve booked or letting them know when it’s time to schedule a routine checkup or vaccination. This is an important aspect of customer service for your clinic to invest in since it will not only improve the pet parent experience, but also help to lower your rate of no-shows and last-minute cancellations.

Paying on a device that best suits them: The in-clinic checkout experience can often be stressful for pet owners, especially those with an anxious pet by their side. Flexible checkout options are critical to providing a smooth and stress-free customer experience, which is why 66% of pet parents say that the ability to easily pay on any device (such as a link sent to their mobile phone) is important to them. However, only 27% of pet owners have actually paid digitally on any device with their vets. If your veterinary clinic doesn’t offer digital veterinary payment solutions for clients, you may be inviting the risk of pet parents looking elsewhere for care.

Communicating non-urgent information without a phone call: 38% of pet parents have interacted with their vet through text or online chat. However, this reality doesn’t meet the needs of today’s pet owners, with 77% regarding the ability to communicate routine information with the clinic by text or online chat as important. One solution for clinics is using digital veterinary solutions such as two-way texting, which replaces non-urgent over-the-phone and in-person interactions with a quick and familiar way to communicate through SMS. You can also double down on your phoneless communication efforts by offering online chat on your custom veterinary website, conveniently connecting pet owners to your clinic without your team having to rush to respond.

Tracking vet loyalty rewards on any device: Customizable veterinary loyalty programs help drive clinic revenue by incentivizing pet parents with reward points for every purchase. Maintaining a successful loyalty program is a great way to attract more pet owners to your practice, while encouraging long-term business from your clients. But there’s one problem: while half of pet parents say it’s important to be able to track vet loyalty rewards on any device, an astounding 86% of pet owners say they haven’t done this with their vets. That’s where you come in! It’s important to not only invest in a loyalty program to offer your own clients, but also spread the word about its benefits through your website and social media channels.

Filling out paperwork before their appointments: Having to keep up with daunting but important piles of paperwork isn’t a great experience for clinic staff or pet owners, not to mention having to guess what someone’s handwriting says. If you’re longing for a better way to manage information, you’re not alone—75% of pet parents say that being able to fill in paperwork ahead of appointments on any device is important to them, yet only 37% report having done so with their vets. You can make things easier on your staff and clients with branded online veterinary forms, giving pet parents the opportunity to share their information with you before arriving at the clinic. Rather than manually organizing and keeping track of physical files, you can digitally store all client and patient data in one secure and easy-to-navigate platform.

2. Are your phone calls super fast and personalized for each veterinary client?

While a digital veterinary communication solution provides a better and more convenient way for pet owners to communicate routine or non-urgent information with their vets, having a speedy and efficient phone system is crucial for when a client does need to call in. There are a number of phone-related factors that can invite a poor customer experience, and risk pet owners not coming back to the practice for future care. One particular concern for pet owners is having to wait on hold for long periods of time just to schedule a visit, with more than 1 in 3 (35%) pet parents saying they’ve experienced long phone hold times when trying to book an appointment with their vet clinics. This is due to many factors, such as the clinic staff placing the client on hold to tend to other calls during high volume, or having to take time to track down client and patient information.

To better navigate high call volume and provide more personalized care, clinics need to invest in veterinary phones that sync with practice information management systems (PIMS). This pairing promotes faster and more efficient phone calls by providing instant access to client and patient information when a pet parent calls in. With everything they need to be prepared before and during the call, front desk staff can easily view pet health information, quickly greet the caller by name, and update pet details or share important advice on the spot. Having a powerful phone system at hand will make every client phone call an impressive experience, and keep pet owners coming back to your clinic for care.

3. Do you enable pet parents to skip the phone call and book appointments themselves 24/7?

83% of pet parents regard the ability to book appointments with their veterinary clinics at any time on any device as important. More than half (57%) of pet parents, however, have encountered issues when booking these appointments, which increases to 69% for pet parents between the ages of 18 and 34, and 63% for pet owners living in urban areas. With appointment booking being at the core of every veterinary practice’s operations, this is an alarming statistic—but one that can be addressed through 24/7, error-free direct booking software.

While reducing daily call volume for clinics, direct booking software solves a number of booking-related problems that many pet parents are facing today. The issues pet parents point to when trying to schedule appointments include the lack of:

Available appointment slots: 50% of pet owners report difficulty finding available appointment slots with their veterinary clinics.

After-hours booking: 1 in 3 pet parents report not being able to book future appointments for their pets when the clinic is currently closed.

Online booking functionality: 24% of pet owners say their veterinary clinics do not offer a way to book appointments online.

With accurate 24/7 veterinary booking technology, you can keep your front desk open when the clinic is closed and allow pet owners to continue scheduling future visits online without you having to do a thing. Plus, you’ll have all the rules and customizations you need to stay in complete control of your schedule, making it easy for you to allocate clinic and staff resources and provide flexible appointment availability to accommodate any pet parent’s routine.

4. Does your veterinary website offer pet owners useful pet care tips and tools?

As you know, veterinary practices are often busy. There are many tasks that take priority over refreshing and maintaining the clinic website, but having someone create and manage a custom veterinary website for you will help save you time while attracting and retaining more long-term clients. You’ll be able to provide an exceptionally professional, modern, and informative experience for pet parents by using your website to share pet care tips, answer commonly asked questions, keep pet owners up to date with your clinic, offer online booking, and so much more.

Instead of considering it as just another task on your to-do list, know that 72% of pet parents say that accessing useful pet care tips and tools on a veterinary clinic’s website is important, but only 30% report having done this with their vets. This highlights the clear need to lean on your website in meeting pet owner expectations, reinforcing your clinic as a reliable resource for veterinary care.

5. Does the animal hospital down the road have more convenient veterinary tools for pet parents? 

Trust and technology play significant roles in maintaining strong relationships between pet owners and their vet clinics. With nearly 1 in 3 (31%) pet parents indicating they’re likely to change their veterinary clinics this year, practices must take additional steps in strengthening connections with their clients in order to provide a one-of-a-kind experience. The combination of modern veterinary technology and high-quality pet care is what matters most to pet parents when choosing their vets; maintaining a positive, welcoming, and accommodating veterinary environment goes a long way in fostering a trustworthy relationship with pet owners. They simply want to know that their pets’ health needs are in good hands, while enjoying a stress-free veterinary experience that’s supported by convenient and user-friendly digital tools.

You can stay ahead of the competition and prevent pet parents from considering other options for their veterinary care by equipping your clinic with powerful veterinary-specific solutions. This technology makes life easier for clients and staff, supporting pet parents throughout their pets’ health journeys and solving daily clinic challenges that your team may be facing (such as high call volume and an overall lack of time).

Based on the latest expectations of today’s pet parents, here are the areas of customer service in which clinics need to reinforce with powerful technology:

Convenient veterinary communication

You can provide pet parents with a veterinary mobile app that enables self-serve options throughout their pets’ health journeys. This includes easy access to shareable pet health records, appointment and prescription refill requests, pet health insurance offerings, and the ability to receive alerts when it’s time to schedule a visit or pick up their pets from the clinic.

Having all your communication tools in one place isn’t just useful for pet parents, but your veterinary team as well. That’s because veterinary communication solutions let you easily manage all your digital tools in one easy-to-use place. Whether it’s sending automatic reminders and confirmations to reduce no-shows, providing pet parents with flexible ways to pay, skipping the phone call and communicating through two-way texting and mass messaging, or eliminating paperwork with online veterinary forms, your team will be able to effortlessly stay in control of all your client communication tools.

Plus, you can drive consistent business with custom veterinary loyalty programs and build stronger relationships with your clients by rewarding them for being responsible pet parents. Just be sure to let them know they can track their loyalty rewards right in the mobile app, and redeem points for discounts on services, free nail trims, or anything else you decide to offer!

Quick and personalized client phone calls

Using a veterinary phone system that works with your PIMS will create a better phone experience for clients and staff. This PIMS-friendly pairing lets you instantly view and access client and patient data before you even answer the phone, keeping your team prepared to greet the pet parent by name and provide quick and personalized pet health advice on the spot.

You and pet owners will enjoy shorter phone calls and more productive conversations, allowing clients to interact with your clinic without having to be placed on hold. The best PIMS-compatible phone systems come with voice features designed to make your team more productive and sound more professional than ever, including but not limited to caller ID, call recording, voicemail management, unlimited extensions, conference calls, and intelligent call routing.

Direct online veterinary appointment booking

Offering 24/7 direct appointment booking to pet parents is a key factor in ensuring the best possible veterinary experience. Online booking lets pet owners accurately schedule appointments anytime, anywhere, and on any device without having to give your clinic a call. Pet parents can conveniently use your website, social media channels, or a veterinary mobile app to book an appointment, and can only select the specific services, veterinarians, and time slots you’ve made available. That means clients can schedule the services they need when they need to schedule them, and staff can stay focused on other important tasks while staying in total control of the schedule.

Even better, direct booking software offers online deposits for veterinary clinics. This helps to secure revenue and prevent missed appointments by letting you request pre-appointment deposits or full payments from pet owners before they arrive for their appointments. By holding clients financially accountable for the services they’ve booked, you’ll be able to maintain better control of your schedule with less no-shows and last-minute cancellations. You can use direct booking software to decrease your rate of no-shows even further with automated appointment email reminders, which are sent directly to a client’s inbox to remind them about their upcoming visit in advance.

Custom veterinary websites and digital marketing strategies

For pet owners, your website often serves as a digital first impression. Whether your website helps to attract new clients or convinces pet owners to move onto a different option depends entirely on its look, feel, functionality, and usefulness. Even if you already have a website for your clinic, you need a custom-made, veterinary-specific website that offers up-to-date pet care tips, tools, and information. A well-designed, user-friendly, mobile-responsive, and informative website will help you improve your relationships with pet parents and encourage their long-term commitment to your clinic.

Attracting and retaining clients involves much more than your custom website, however. Veterinary digital marketing tools are paramount for spreading the word about all of the services and promotions you’re offering. You can count on search engine optimization (SEO) to remain easily discoverable online, social media marketing to capture the attention of more pet parents, and Google pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to extend your digital reach. The best veterinary marketing agency services also come with reputation management, where a dedicated team of web experts will maintain your online image by keeping an eye on and responding to all of your clinic’s reviews for you.

Provide pet parents with a more supportive and memorable experience that stands out from other clinics

With a powerful mix of customizable veterinary technology and excellent pet care, veterinary clinics like yours can keep up with the evolving needs of pet owners and retain more long-term clients. Rather than letting pet parents choose a competitor with better digital solutions, you can explore powerful products that provide clinic staff and pet owners with an easier and more convenient veterinary experience. Knowing the latest 2025 pet parent data is a start, but investing in the most powerful veterinary software to separate your clinic from others is the solution.

If you aren’t sure about next steps, or want to learn more about veterinary-specific technology, feel free to schedule a quick call with us or reach out to the PetDesk support team anytime. We’ll be happy to help upgrade your practice to where you want it to be—and beyond.