Pet owners may be overpaying for medicines and vet treatments

The UK's competition watchdog said it has found "multiple concerns" about the vets market following a review of the sector, including that pet owners may be overpaying for medicines and not being given enough information about treatments.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was going to launch a formal market investigation after the initial review which garnered about 56,000 responses from the public and veterinary professionals.

Sarah Cardell, the CMA's chief executive, said the regulator "identified multiple concerns that we think should be investigated further".

"Given these strong indications of potential concern, it is time to put our work on a formal footing," she said.

Meanwhile, Pets at Home has said it is disappointed with the CMA's findings into the vets market and that it does not think its business model reduces competition.

A spokeswoman for the group said: "We are incredibly disappointed the CMA's findings today do not fully reflect our unique business model of locally-owned vet practices.

"Whilst our brand is national, our veterinary practices are led by individual entrepreneurial vets who have clinical and operational freedom.

"They choose all pricing, products and services to ensure the best care for clients and their much-loved pets in their local area, which promotes competition in the market and helps to keep prices low.

"We have been working closely with the CMA on their areas of concern and will continue to do so as their inquiry progresses to ensure the distinctiveness of our model is fully recognised."

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