Numbers of practising veterinary surgeons relative to the cat and dog population

This ratio of the "number of practising veterinary surgeons over the number of cats and dogs" also gives an indication of the "health care cover" of a country. This health care cover is better or worse according to purchasing power and thus to the ability to pay for pet health care. Health care cover also depends on the possibility veterinary surgeons have to delegate tasks to veterinary assistants. This delegation depends on national regulations or sociological factors.

The chart shows differences from country to country. On average, the countries studied have 1 400 pets per veterinary surgeon. Finland as well as Spain and Slovenia are amongst those countries with fewer pets per vet. These three countries have a ratio of less than 700 pets per vet. In the case of Spain, there are sociological reasons for a high proportion of veterinary surgeons as training for this profession is more easily accessed than in other countries.

The other countries have a higher figure, except Denmark and Hungary which sit on the average.