“EVEN a dog could get diabetes?” Xiao Lin’s mother laughed when she heard that a pet dog was diagnosed with diabetes 10 years ago.

Time has passed since then. And so now, when she recently heard that a dog has tumor, she asked with sincere care: “What did the vet prescribe?”

The attitudes and thoughts regarding how to care for pets has greatly changed among citizens over the past couples of years, based on observations made by a long-time veterinarian, Guo Zhongbo, who has worked in veterinary sector in Shenzhen for more than 16 years. More and more pet owners are regarding their pets as a family member.

Chen has spent more than 1,000 yuan (US$156) on her cat’s urinary problems in a pet hospital over the past month. Chen raises two Sphynx cats and she spends more than 5,000 yuan on her cats’ health care every year.

The abdomen tumor is fast-growing in Xiao Lin’s beloved dog, who has companied her for 17 years. Xiao Lin considered all the expenses, as much as 20,000 yuan, for the tumor treatment are worthwhile, especially when realizing the latest surgery could prolong her dog’s life for half a year.

Guo, the vet from Ringpai Pet Hospital, recalled that 16 years ago some pet owners would choose to abandon their pets if they were told the cost to treat a disease was hundreds of yuan. The pet hospital he served received three to four abandoned pets a day at that time.

Guo realized the situation has changed since 2012. Pet owners tend to pay more attention to their pets’ physical health and are more willing to pay for their illness’ treatment.

He noticed that some owners take their pets for physical checks on a regular basis and do preventive health care against diseases.

According to incomplete statistics cited by Shenzhen Economic Daily, nearly 600,000 residents in the city keep at least one pet.

With the increasing number of pet owners, and their willingness on medical treatment for pets, the pet health care sector has been given a significant boost.

There are now more than 600 licensed pet hospitals and clinics in Shenzhen, according to data from the database query platform Tianyancha.com. Most of pet hospitals or clinics are distributed in well-equipped communities.

As for now, the monthly revenue of the hospital, a small- and medium-sized one, Guo worked in, stands at over 150,000 yuan.

However, many pet owners have been complaining about the opaque and unregulated prices for pet health care. “Outsiders are hard to tell the difference between a hospital that charged a higher price and the others for cheaper price,” a pet owner said.

The city’s small animal veterinary association has published pricing regulations to encourage the businesses in the sector behave themselves.

(Chen Siqi)