Brazilian Veterinarian Fee (CRMV)

Veterinarian Fees (CFMV/CRMV)

Brazilian veterinarians fall under Law 5.517/1968 and CFMV Resolution 1.275/2019, and each state's regional council (CRMV) puts out a reference fee table for clinical work. The math at its simplest is total = consultations × rate. A general small-animal consultation usually runs R$ 100 to R$ 300, and seeing a specialist costs 1.5x to 3x that.

What you pay changes a lot depending on the animal. Small animals (dogs and cats) sit at one end; exotic pets like birds, rabbits and reptiles in the middle; large animals such as cattle and horses at the other, where the bill often folds in travel and hourly rates plus volume discounts per head on a farm. Lab work (hemogram, biochemistry, urinalysis, imaging) and surgery get billed on top of the consultation, not inside it.

Applications

Clinics use it to quote treatment packages, and owners use it to get a rough idea of costs across the different specialties. That covers cardiology (echocardiogram, ECG), ophthalmology (tonometry, ulcer treatment), oncology (chemotherapy protocols), orthopedic and soft-tissue surgery, dermatology, dentistry, neurology, and emergency or intensive care. Keep in mind that pet health insurance pays back by its own table, which doesn't always match the CRMV reference.

FAQ

Is the CRMV table mandatory? No, it's a reference and nothing more. Every clinic sets its own prices. That said, charging well below cost can draw ethical scrutiny from the regional council.

Why do specialists charge more? CFMV recognizes more than 30 specialties. A board-certified specialist has paid for extra training and equipment (echo, MRI, endoscopy) and takes on the more complicated cases, so the higher fee follows from that.

Does pet insurance cover everything? No. Most Brazilian pet plans (Pet Love, Petlandia, Porto) run on co-pay tables, restrict which clinics you can use, cap what they'll pay per surgery, and have waiting periods (carencias) before coverage kicks in. Read the contract before you sign.