To those shaping the future of veterinary practice.

We are being asked to do better.

We are being asked to practise with greater awareness of antimicrobial resistance, to uphold the principles of One Health, and to ensure that every prescription is justified, targeted, and responsible.

And we agree. This matters.

It matters for our patients.

It matters for public health.

It matters for the future of medicine.

But there is a disconnect we can no longer ignore.

Because at the same time we are being asked to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use, the cost of the very tools that allow us to do this properly continues to rise. The end cost of diagnostics to clients is becoming increasingly expensive. Testing that guides appropriate treatment, culture and sensitivity, PCR, baseline panels, can easily sit in the hundreds of dollars by the time it reaches the client.

And yet, the alternative?

A course of antibiotics can cost a fraction of that.

So what are we really asking of people?

We are asking clients, many already under pressure from a rising cost of living, to spend hundreds of dollars to “do it right,” when a far cheaper, faster option exists.

We are asking them to value antimicrobial stewardship at a level that even the system itself does not make accessible. And when they cannot justify that cost? The burden falls back on guesswork.

On empirical treatment.

On exactly the kind of prescribing we are trying to move away from.

This is not a failure of veterinarians.

This is not a failure of clients.

This is a system problem.

Because we cannot claim that antimicrobial stewardship is a priority while making appropriate testing financially out of reach.

We cannot promote One Health while placing the full cost of responsible decision-making onto the individual client.

And we cannot expect meaningful change if the “right choice” is consistently the most expensive one.

The reality is simple:

If we want better medicine, we need to make better medicine accessible.

That means confronting the rising cost of veterinary services.

That means questioning the impact of corporate consolidation and increasing test pricing.

That means building systems where doing the right thing is not a luxury, it is the standard.

At Avian Empire, we are already thinking about what this looks like in practice.

When we build our clinic, we will prioritise making testing as cost-efficient and accessible as possible.

Because the difference between treating a bird and not treating a bird should never come down to whether someone can afford a diagnostic.

And the responsibility of good medicine should not sit solely on the client.

We all have a role to play here, corporate groups, clinicians, laboratories, regulators, and the wider industry.

But if we are serious about antimicrobial stewardship, about One Health, and about the future of veterinary care, then we need to align our systems with our values.

Not just in what we say.

But in what we make possible.

Avian Empire