Veterinary luminaries speak out on the challenges facing the veterinary profession

"We know that some drugs and products will go away. What will never go away is our ability to prevent disease through good preventive programs. We need to focus on early diagnosis of disease. If we can make diagnoses earlier through good physical exams and routine health checks and appropriate laboratory work, it will provide great reasons to seek out veterinary care. We need to break down the fragmentation in our health-care delivery system. And we need to do it together."

—Jeffrey S. Klausner, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, senior vice president and chief medical officer, Banfield

"The healing power of pets... If you think of that pet as directly impacting my health, my children's health, my parents' health. What will we do to protect that life-support system? I think it changes the whole equation. I think evangelizing that message is the key to increasing client visits and compliance."

—Marty Becker, DVM, author, media personality

"Pet visitations are going down year after year. I see the message from consultants to raise prices to offset it. I believe traffic is the issue. When traffic goes down, we all suffer."

—Darin Nelson, senior vice president, VCA Antech

"It's deja vu all over again. When I started, the agriculture market started changing to OTC. As a practitioner, I couldn't afford to compete on price. Today, how many large animal practitioners do we have? The point I am making is ... it is just a matter of time that small-animal practice suffers the same fate. There has to be something done."

—Bruce W. Little, DVM, consultant, former executive vice president American Veterinary Medical Association

"We need to think about where the value is. Veterinarians provide a major service. We do as much about educating people about their preventive care as their pets. It's a huge opportunity for the One Health initiative, and it's a way to showcase that we are part of the healthcare team."

—Marguerite Pappaioanou, DVM, executive director, Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges