Vets Pets

What Vets Pets does

Vets Pets is a privately-owned cooperative network of veterinary hospitals headquartered in Wilson, North Carolina, founded in 2007 by Dr. Frank Batten and CEO Steve Thomas. The company operates more than 35 small-animal veterinary hospitals across North Carolina spanning general practice, emergency, specialty, urgent care, spay/neuter, and pet resort service lines, organized under branded sub-networks including Points East Veterinary Group (emergency and specialty), Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital (full-service companion animal care in Raleigh), Wilson Veterinary Hospital, Kindred Heart Animal Hospital, and AVL Animal Urgent Care. The core go-to-market combines directly operated hospitals with a co-ownership model in which veterinary leaders maintain equity stakes while Vets Pets provides operations, HR, technology, and continuing education support; the company also grows through tuck-in acquisitions of independent practices and new hospital development. The underlying technology stack is built around the third-party Instinct EMR system for clinical documentation and practice management across the network, supplemented by an internal pharmacy (Companion Pharmacy) and centralized CE/internship pipelines.

Revenue is generated through fee-for-service veterinary clinical care (wellness, diagnostics, surgery, dentistry, emergency, specialty), plus ancillary boarding, grooming, daycare, and pharmacy services, with prices set at the individual hospital level. The customer base consists of pet-owning households across North Carolina, supplemented on the supply side by 20+ veterinarian partner hospitals. Vets Pets has scaled from two practices at founding to 35+ locations with 700+ team members, 100+ veterinarians, and 300+ RVTs, and was recognized as a Triangle Business Journal Fast 50 company in 2021, 2022, and 2025. Recent strategic emphasis is on geographic and service-line expansion (four new sites planned for 2026), specialty build-out (Internal Medicine added at Points East in 2025), and operational professionalization (new COO Audrey Lysko appointed May 2026).

Name

Vets Pets

Legal name

Vets Pets

Website

https://thevetspets.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Vets Pets is a privately-owned cooperative network of 35+ small-animal veterinary hospitals across North Carolina, offering general practice, emergency, specialty, urgent care, and pet resort services to pet-owning households through owned and partner-co-owned practices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Veterinary Hospital Services

NAICS

Veterinary Services (541940), Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services (812910)

SIC

Services-Offices & Clinics Of Doctors Of Medicine (8011), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Companion Animal Veterinary Clinics & Hospitals (AFAEANAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Preventive Care & Vaccination Clinics (HLAMAAAB), Mobile & House-Call Veterinary Services (HLAMAAAF), Veterinary-Affiliated/Medical Boarding (HSANADAG)

Keywords

• Veterinary hospital network
• Emergency veterinary care
• Companion animal medicine
• Veterinary specialty services
• Pet urgent care

Headquarters

HQ city

Wilson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Veterinary Clinical Services: Revenue generated from providing veterinary medical services including wellness exams, diagnostics, dentistry, surgery, emergency care, and specialty services. Services provided at owned and partner hospitals across North Carolina.
2. Pet Boarding and Grooming: Additional services including boarding, doggie daycare, and grooming offered at select hospital locations such as Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital locations.
3. Pet Resort Services: Wags East Pet Resort & Spa and similar facilities provide boarding and related pet care services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Vets Pets is a privately-owned cooperative network of veterinary hospitals that delivers companion animal medical care across North Carolina. Its core offering spans general practice (wellness exams, vaccinations, diagnostics, dentistry), 24/7 emergency and urgent care, specialty services (surgery, internal medicine, critical care), and pet resort services including boarding, daycare, and grooming through 35+ owned and partner hospital locations.

Product overview

Vets Pets operates as a cooperative network of small-animal veterinary hospitals across North Carolina. The portfolio includes emergency hospitals, primary care practices, specialty hospitals, urgent care facilities, spay/neuter clinics, and pet resorts. Key branded hospital networks include Points East Veterinary Group (emergency and specialty), Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital (five general and emergency locations in Raleigh), and Wilson Veterinary Hospital (two locations). Additional services include an internal pharmacy (Companion Pharmacy), dermatology (Carolina Veterinary Dermatology Clinic), mobile care, and grooming/boarding facilities. The organization provides hands-on operations management, HR support, continuing education, and advanced technology to partner veterinarians.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Points East Veterinary Group: A unified network of emergency and specialty veterinary hospitals including locations in Wilson, Greenville, Fayetteville, and upcoming Wilmington.
• Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital

Products and services

• Points East Veterinary Group Unified network of emergency and specialty veterinary hospitals operating under shared identity, mission, and standard of care across Wilson, Greenville, Fayetteville, and upcoming Wilmington.
• Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital Full-service companion animal veterinary hospitals across five Raleigh locations providing complete medical care, diagnostics, comprehensive dentistry with digital radiography, boarding, doggie daycare, grooming, and training; South Saunders location offers emergency and urgent care.
• Wilson Veterinary Hospital Established companion animal practice with 50-year history serving families and pets in Wilson, NC; offers preventive wellness, vaccinations, diagnostics, dentistry, and surgery, expanding with a second location.
• AVL Animal Urgent Care Same-day and walk-in urgent care for companion animals, open 12pm to 10pm at lower cost than emergency rooms, addressing after-hours gaps in central Asheville.
• Points East Veterinary Specialty Hospital 17,000 sq ft specialty and emergency hospital offering advanced veterinary medicine with emergency, surgical, critical-care, diagnostic, and therapeutic technologies, staffed with boarded surgeons, criticalists, and emergency clinicians.
• Internal Medicine Service at Points East Internal medicine specialty service led by Dr. Claire Wiley providing expertise in molecular diagnostics, genetics, and comprehensive internal medicine care as part of Points East's advanced specialty offerings.
• Kindred Heart Animal Hospital Progressive veterinary care with multiple locations in Carrboro and Chapel Hill offering full-service care plus grooming, including mobile veterinary house-call services.
• Companion Pharmacy Internal pharmacy service operated by Vets Pets and managed by the Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services, offering prescription services, pricing updates, and technology integrations for client and team convenience.

Quantifiable outcome

• 7% DVM turnover rate vs 23% national average (AAHA study)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Dr. Frank Batten (Eastern Carolina Veterinary Emergency Treatment Services)foundationalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006Dr. Frank Batten founded Eastern Carolina Veterinary Emergency Treatment Services (ECVETS) in 2006 in a 2,500 sq ft industrial complex in Wilson. One year later, Dr. Batten and Steve Thomas co-founded Vets Pets with ECVETS as one of its first practices, establishing the foundation for what became the Points East Veterinary Group.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Veterinary Practice Partners: Operates a co-ownership/partnership model very similar to Vets Pets, partnering with veterinary leaders who retain equity stakes while VPP provides operations, HR, and technology support. Closest structural analog to Vets Pets' cooperative model.
• PetVet Care Centers: Multi-specialty veterinary hospital consolidator with general practice, emergency and specialty locations across the U.S. Direct competitor for veterinary talent, partner practices, and referral flow.
• MedVet: Specialty and emergency veterinary hospital network operating across multiple U.S. regions. Comparable to Vets Pets' Points East specialty/emergency footprint and competes for referral relationships.
• Heartland Veterinary Partners: Acquires and operates general practice and mixed animal hospitals, emphasizing partnership and culture. Direct structural analog for Vets Pets' cooperative partnership strategy.
• UrgentVet: Walk-in veterinary urgent care franchise positioned between general practice and emergency. Closest direct competitor to AVL Animal Urgent Care within the urgent care niche.

Broad incumbents

• National Veterinary Associates (NVA): One of the largest U.S. veterinary consolidators with a broad portfolio of general practice, specialty, and emergency hospitals. Competes with Vets Pets for practice acquisitions across the Southeast.
• VCA Animal Hospitals (Mars Veterinary Health): Mars-owned nationwide network of animal hospitals and reference labs with deep capital backing. Represents the upper bound of scale in the U.S. companion animal veterinary market.
• BluePearl Pet Hospital (Mars Veterinary Health): Large U.S. specialty and emergency veterinary hospital chain. Most directly comparable to Points East Veterinary Specialty Hospital for complex case referrals.
• PetIQ: Public pet health and wellness company operating veterinary clinics and wellness centers inside retail locations. Different delivery model but competes for low-acuity veterinary visits and pharmacy/drug spend.

Regional players

• VetStrategy: Canadian-owned consolidator with a partnership model similar to Vets Pets, operating companion animal hospitals across Canada. Comparable operating model, though geographically non-overlapping.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCUY_igs3yNs0oCWMyV2GRGg
• Facebookfacebook.com/thevetspets
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thevetspets
• Instagraminstagram.com/vetspetsnc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vets Pets