A VET says the Government must act with great care after an inquiry into the animal health industry.
Rhona Warnock, of Donaldson and Partners in Maple Street, Aspley, said pet care costs could rise sharply unless the issue was dealt with carefully.
The inquiry by the Competition Commission said vets did not charge high enough fees and relied for too much of their income on profits from selling medicines.
Mrs Warnock said that Donaldsons, like most practices, had a proportion of clients on low incomes and their position should be protected.
"We would not like to see a situation where clients were afraid to come to us with a problem because of the cost of consultation," she said.
Mrs Warnock added that by making some income from profits on medicines the practice could ensure that people on lower earnings could at least have the opportunity to see a vet and receive advice.
But you wouldn't get that opportunity if people were put off coming through the door in the first place, she said.
"Our main concern is offering the highest possible level of service in the face of social and economic changes which affect pet ownership, the rise of single-parent families, the rising price of property and the fact that many house owners have to buy smaller homes with smaller gardens," she said.
Mrs Warnock spoke out after a major international veterinary conference in the Stresa, Italy.
She was among more than 100 vets from all over the UK who discussed practice management.
The commission inquiry was widely discussed.
Many delegates raised fears that they might be forced to raise their consultation fees if they were no longer able to make sufficient profits from selling medicine.
