In my experience in my city [Portland, OR, US], PE owns most of the large clinics (NW VCA, BluePearl, Banfield). There are still a lot of smaller vets, but it's harder to get an appointment with them and most don't do urgent care/24hr emergency or have an app where you can do scheduling.

- In an emergency/urgent care situation, you can't really do a price comparison/shop - The pricing is opaque until they you receive the service. Even in routine/non-emergency situations, you get a quote for the services often 20-30 minutes into your appointment, even for annual exams, so it's pretty obnoxious to switch services at that point. - FWIU, Banfield and BluePearl both have a strategy where have lower cost exams to get patients in the door, but then make that up in super high testing/drug fees, e.g. a $300 UTI test that labs charge $30-100 and 10x upcharges on antibiotics readily available from Chewy/neighborhood pharmacies.