Correction: Prices for veterinary care of dogs, cats and horses in selected countries in Europe

There was a mistake in Table 1 as published. There was a minor problem with the exchange rates for the Norwegian prices from the price comparison site. The conclusions and general reasoning remain identical. The corrected Table 1 appears below.

Table 1.

Direct validation demonstrating differences (in percent) in price between the price at the veterinary clinic (web) and the price-comparison site (vetpris.se, VP) for cat and dog gonadectomy for two countries.

Species	Gender	Country	Time	N	Min	Median	Max
Cat	Male	NO	I	35	−50	0	46
			II	34	−47	4	35
			III	36	−43	1	56
			IV	41	−43	8	78
			V	46	−94	−1	53
			VI	44	−95	−1	17
		SE	I	42	−14	0	45
			II	42	−7	1	55
			III	37	0	0	55
			IV	37	0	0	55
			V	39	−4	0	55
			VI	40	−4	2	55
	Female	NO	I	33	−83	0	45
			II	32	−83	3	37
			III	35	−14	0	39
			IV	40	−83	2	55
			V	43	−83	5	45
			VI	42	−83	−1	9
		SE	I	38	−83	0	36
			II	37	−83	0	36
			III	33	−85	0	41
			IV	35	−85	0	48
			V	37	−85	0	46
			VI	39	−85	5	53
Dog	Male	SE	I	32	−14	0	23
			II	29	−13	0	25
			III	28	−25	0	31
			IV	31	−25	4	36
			V	33	−13	2	36
			VI	35	−13	3	43
	Female	SE	I	27	1	1	1
			II	26	−11	−1	−1
			III	26	−7	1	1
			IV	29	−11	0	0
			V	32	−12	0	0
			VI	32	−15	0	0

There was a mistake in Table 2 as published. There was a major problem with the exchange rate from the Danish prices from the price comparison site and minor problem with the exchange rates for the Norwegian prices from the price comparison site. The conclusions and general reasoning are moderately different for the Danish prices while they remain identical for the Norwegian prices. The corrected Table 2 appears below.

Table 2.

Descriptive statistics of the prices (€) for gonadectomy of cats by country.

Source/country		Time	Male cats				Female cats				Change (%)
											National currency
			N	Min	Median	Max	N	Min	Median	Max	Male	Female
Web	NO	I	67	81	123	281	63	35	235	415
		II	63	80	124	231	60	35	242	436	2	4
		III	50	94	132	225	48	176	242	325	16	11
		IV	56	72	120	196	54	31	238	393	10	14
		V	66	9	148	271	63	32	269	400	31	24
		VI	65	9	146	272	62	32	258	400	28	19
	SE	I	54	50	74	93	49	14	131	233
		II	55	49	71	96	49	13	135	247	0	6
		III	47	48	70	97	44	13	133	244	0	6
		IV	48	46	71	96	46	13	129	190	5	8
		V	51	47	74	98	49	13	136	238	7	11
		VI	52	52	79	108	51	14	152	248	10	20
	UK						138	60	136	221
							137	79	134	218		1
							19	100	138	267		2
							132	93	151	347		10
							150	89	155	331		17
							163	104	160	302		17
VP	DK	I	47	76	136	265	48	139	226	391
		II	47	73	131	256	48	134	219	378	−2	−2
		III	61	72	139	253	62	132	226	349	4	1
		IV	94	69	147	253	94	132	235	352	9	6
		V	127	71	152	255	127	134	238	357	16	9
		VI	153	73	152	304	153	135	240	405	14	8
	NO	I	131	72	121	312	130	115	230	521
		II	153	71	124	309	152	114	228	517	3	0
		III	206	67	120	323	205	106	219	484	7	2
		IV	206	64	114	313	205	101	212	478	6	3
		V	210	68	132	331	208	107	241	506	18	13
		VI	210	68	134	332	209	107	250	507	20	17
	SE	I	358	37	70	133	345	56	126	233
		II	367	36	69	175	352	54	127	225	3	4
		III	376	35	71	137	361	53	131	244	7	9
		IV	370	34	68	151	354	51	125	233	7	9
		V	375	35	72	191	353	69	130	238	10	11
		VI	381	41	77	198	359	59	137	248	13	12

Values are missing for male dogs in the UK because ≥10 prices could be found during each extraction (Supplementary Table 1, see sheet ‘full versions of Tables 2–6'). Change in median price presented in national currencies, related to extraction I. Prices extracted from the web of veterinary clinics (web) and the price comparison site (vetpris.se, VP, the VP price is originally web-based) at 6 extractions (Time), approximately every 3 months during autumn 2022–winter 2023/2024. The standardised price at VP concerns a dog has its testes, or the uterus and the ovaries, or only the ovaries removed. The price includes that the procedure is performed during regular-hours including: veterinary fee, consultation fee, surgery, anaesthesia and consumables. Prices are averaged over weight ranged in case such were found.

There was a mistake in Table 3 as published. There was a major problem with the exchange rate from the Danish prices from the price comparison site and minor problem with the exchange rates for the Norwegian prices from the price comparison site. The conclusions and general reasoning are moderately different for the Danish prices while they remain identical for the Norwegian prices. The corrected Table 3 appears below.

Table 3.

Descriptive statistics of the prices (€) for gonadectomy of dogs by country.

Source/country		Time	Male dogs				Female dogs				Change (%)
											National currency
			N	Min	Median	Max	N	Min	Median	Max	Male	Female
Web	SE	I	34	265	384	384	30	535	656	884
		II	34	256	388	388	31	517	665	967	5	5
		III	34	261	386	386	31	468	653	842	6	5
		IV	37	267	377	377	34	508	636	805	8	7
		V	39	273	390	390	37	474	656	824	9	7
		VI	41	284	420	420	37	493	704	894	13	11
	UK	I					85	250	391	744
		II					83	231	383	730		0
		III
		IV					72	333	445	699		12
		V					79	328	461	701		22
		VI					90	339	463	725		18
VP	DK	I	54	279	385	658	54	532	706	1,117
		II	54	270	371	635	54	514	682	1,079	−2	−2
		III	66	199	391	698	66	412	675	1,063	3	−3
		IV	92	200	392	700	90	413	674	1,118	4	−3
		V	123	201	396	1,828	121	416	670	1,180	7	−1
		VI	147	203	398	707	145	418	682	1,185	5	−2
	NO	I	29	207	422	773	23	544	719	1,415
		II	31	214	428	795	24	539	802	1,457	2	12
		III	39	210	437	795	31	505	802	1,457	11	20
		IV	36	200	413	755	28	480	760	1,385	10	19
		V	36	211	438	796	28	506	803	1,458	12	20
		VI	38	212	440	797	29	403	805	1,462	12	21
	SE	I	321	186	382	382	290	419	665	1,018
		II	329	180	391	391	296	405	676	983	6	5
		III	338	171	405	405	300	416	682	968	11	8
		IV	334	164	387	387	295	426	659	926	11	9
		V	329	168	396	396	276	425	668	948	11	8
		VI	335	180	412	412	279	441	707	1,000	11	10

Change in median price presented in national currencies, related to extraction I. Prices extracted from the price comparison site (vetpris.se, VP, the VP price is originally web-based) at 6 extractions (Time), approximately every 3 months during autumn 2022–winter 2023/2024. The standardised price at VP concerns a horse with both testes descended. The procedure takes place at home or at a clinic. Included are 30 km journey to the farm or a consultation fee, veterinary fee, sedation, local analgaesia and castration.

Supplemental material Supplemental Figure 1 was omitted. The file(s) have now been published.

File Presentation 1.pdf was erroneously published with the original version of this paper. The file has now been removed.

File Data Sheet 1.xlsx was erroneously published with the original version of this paper. The file has now been removed.

File Supplementary Table 1 was erroneously published with the original version of this paper. The file has been replaced with Supplementary Data Sheet 1.

File Supplementary Table 2 was erroneously published with the original version of this paper. The file has been replaced with Supplementary Data Sheet 2.

File Supplementary Table 3 was erroneously published with the original version of this paper. The file has now been replaced with Supplementary Table 1.

The Abstract included an exchange rate error within the Results section. This previously read: “By October 2023, median prices for male cat GDY ranged from €72 (SE) to €230 (DK), and €130 (SE) to €361 (DK) for females; for dog GDY from €390 (SE) to €599 (DK) for males, and €461 (UK) to €1015 (DK) for females. Across sources, median prices for cat and dog GDY increased by 2–24% over a year for procedures with at least 10 clinics per extraction.” This has been corrected to read:

By October 2023, median prices for male cat GDY ranged from €72 (SE) to €152 (DK), and €130 (SE) to €269 (NO) for females; for dog GDY from €390 (SE) to €438 (NO) for males, and €461 (UK) to €803 (NO) for females. Across sources, median prices for cat and dog GDY varied from a decrease of 1% to an increase of 31% over a year for procedures with at least 10 clinics per extraction.

A correction has been made to Results, Prices section, second paragraph. It previously stated: “For cat GDY (Table 2; Supplementary Table 1) the median web and VP prices (VP prices originally from the web) were generally similar. For male cat GDY, SE had lowest prices after 1 year (in fall year 2023 median for web and VP, respectively, was €74/€72), followed by the UK (few prices found, Supplementary Table 1), NO (€148/€135) and DK (VP €230). For female cat GDY, in SE (for web and VP, respectively, the prices were €136/€130) and UK (€155) had lower prices than NO (€269/€247) and DK (VP €361). For male cat GDY (Table 2) and male dog GDY (Table 3), in the UK few prices were found (because it was not possible to readily identify them in the collected data, see Supplementary Table 1 for actual numbers). The smallest median price in the fall of 2023 for male dogs was found in SE (for web and VP, respectively €390/€396), followed by NO (VP €449) and DK (VP €599). For female dog GDY, after 1 year the median web price in the UK was €461, followed by SE (for web and VP, respectively €656/€668), NO (VP €823) and DK (VP €1,015). Yearly changes in price [from first to fifth extraction] varied from 2% (female dogs in DK) to 24% increase (female cats in NO). Supplementary Figure 1 shows PPP-adjusted prices along with prices in Euro for the data in Tables 2, 3. Both measures suggest the same between-country differences. Note that while currency rates are continuous, PPP is set per year, which makes it difficult to compare price changes within a year between Euro and PPP-values.” This has been corrected to:

For cat GDY (Table 2; Supplementary Table 1) the median web and VP prices (VP prices originally from the web) were generally similar. For male cat GDY, SE had lowest prices after 1 year (in fall year 2023 median for web and VP, respectively, was €74/€72), followed by the UK (few prices found, Supplementary Table 1), NO (€148/€132) and DK (VP €152). For female cat GDY, in SE (for web and VP, respectively, the prices were €136/€130) and UK (€155) had lower prices than NO (€269/€241) and DK (VP €238). For male cat GDY (Table 2) and male dog GDY (Table 3), in the UK few prices were found (because it was not possible to readily identify them in the collected data, see Supplementary Table 1 for actual numbers). The smallest median price in the fall of 2023 for male dogs was found in SE (for web and VP, respectively €390/€396) and DK (VP €396), whereas the price in NO was larger (VP €438). For female dog GDY, after 1 year the median web price in the UK was €461, followed by SE (for web and VP, respectively €656/€668) and DK (VP €670). NO (VP €803) had the largest mean price. Yearly changes in price [from first to fifth extraction] varied from −1% (female dogs in DK) to 31% increase (male cats in NO). Supplementary Figure 1 shows PPP-adjusted prices along with prices in Euro for the data in Tables 2, 3. Both measures suggest the same between-country differences. Note that while currency rates are continuous, PPP is set per year, which makes it difficult to compare price changes within a year between Euro and PPP-values.

A correction has been made to Discussion, first paragraph: “For pet GDY, the results showed median price hikes ranging from 2% (female dogs in DK) to 24% (female cats in NO) over the year.” This has been corrected to:

For pet GDY, the results showed median price changes ranging from a decrease of 1% (female dogs in DK) to an increase of 31% (male cats in NO) over the year.

A correction has been made to the Discussion, Price comparisons, section, First paragraph. The incorrect paragraph reads as follows: “We attempted to focus on several procedures with the aim of obtaining valid, comparable results across countries and with relevance to similar procedures within each country. Magnitudes of prices were prioritised over price changes as the time window was short, only 12–15 months. We note that even though prices for male cat and male dog GDY from the UK were found in the dataset (found during ‘manual' scrutiny of data), few were captured for analysis (Tables 2, 3; Supplementary Table 1). It was deemed impossible to securely filter those out (correct species and correct sex) from the dataset, even when using extensive regular expressions (Supplementary Data 1; sheet SAScode castration). The data for GDY were represented by a large number of clinics in SE, with most other countries having at least 10 observations per extraction, which was deemed the minimum for interpretation. Considerable variation in prices was observed at each point in time across all countries, with clear differences in median prices between countries. In the autumn of 2023 (1 year after the initial extraction), SE had the most affordable male cat GDY (for web and VP, respectively €74/ €72), while SE and UK were collectively the cheapest for female cat GDY (SE web/VP €136/130, UK web €155). The highest prices for cat GDY were observed in NO (males approx. €140, females ≥ €247) and DK (males €230, females/€361). The price for female dog GDY ranged from €461 (UK) to €1015 (DK) at the penultimate extraction. Prices of GDY may have been subsidised relative to other prices, as previously found (40), which could vary across countries. For GDY there was no direct relation between price and prevalence of insurance. This may be due to that GDY is not generally covered by insurance and thus prices are lower in Sweden (GDY may be covered by insurance if part of essential treatment of disease). The reason for low prices on GDY in the UK may be that GDY prices has been kept low for the greater good, to keep the overpopulation low, for quite some time. However, to compare prices between countries more generally necessitates price information on a large number of procedures. Considerable variation in standardised prices was also observed within each country. However, the variation would likely have been even larger if actual amounts on receipts had been directly used. In SE, prices for emergency procedures for dogs differed substantially between clinics, with the highest price being up to 5 times higher than the lowest. Median standardised prices for regular-hours caesarean section/pyometra in SE were approximately €2,300, rising to nearly €4,000 for after-hours procedures in the final extraction.” This paragraph has been corrected to:

We attempted to focus on several procedures with the aim of obtaining valid, comparable results across countries and with relevance to similar procedures within each country. Magnitudes of prices were prioritised over price changes as the time window was short, only 12–15 months. We note that even though prices for male cat and male dog GDY from the UK were found in the dataset (found during “manual” scrutiny of data), few were captured for analysis (Tables 2, 3; Supplementary Table 1). It was deemed impossible to securely filter those out (correct species and correct sex) from the dataset, even when using extensive regular expressions (Supplementary Data 1; sheet SAScode castration). The data for GDY were represented by a large number of clinics in SE, with most other countries having at least 10 observations per extraction, which was deemed the minimum for interpretation. Considerable variation in prices was observed at each point in time across all countries, with clear differences in median prices between countries. In the autumn of 2023 (1 year after the initial extraction), SE had the most affordable male cat GDY (for web and VP, respectively €74/ €72), while SE and UK were collectively the cheapest for female cat GDY (SE web/VP €136/130, UK web €155). The highest prices for cat GDY were observed in DK (males €152, females €238) and NO (males approx. €140, females ≥€241). The price for female dog GDY ranged from €461 (UK) to €803 (NO) at the penultimate extraction. Prices of GDY may have been subsidised relative to other prices, as previously found (40), which could vary across countries. For GDY there was no direct relation between price and prevalence of insurance. This may be due to that GDY is not generally covered by insurance and thus prices are lower in Sweden (GDY may be covered by insurance if part of essential treatment of disease). The reason for low prices on GDY in the UK may be that GDY prices has been kept low for the greater good, to keep the overpopulation low, for quite some time. However, to compare prices between countries more generally necessitates price information on a large number of procedures. Considerable variation in standardised prices was also observed within each country. However, the variation would likely have been even larger if actual amounts on receipts had been directly used. In SE, prices for emergency procedures for dogs differed substantially between clinics, with the highest price being up to five times higher than the lowest. Median standardised prices for regular-hours caesarean section/ pyometra in SE were approximately €2,300, rising to nearly €4,000 for after-hours procedures in the final extraction.

The original version of this article has been updated.

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