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Does it cost too much to take your furry friends to the vets? That's something the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) - an independent department of the UK government - is investigating.

An average trip to the vet could now cost around £393, according to research by Tesco Bank Pet Insurance, and some families have said they've had to sacrifice things like holidays to afford to pay for their pet's treatment.

The CMA launched a review last year to ask people if they had any concerns that they could be paying too much, and received 56,000 responses from pet owners, vets and charities.

Now, they are launching a formal investigation, which means they could step in and force companies to make changes to how things are run in the future.

The British Veterinary Association said that vets were "fundamentally motivated by animal welfare".

The CMA looked at around 1,400 websites for vet practices from big corporate groups and found that 83% of them did not show prices for any of their services. It was a similar picture on independent vet practices' websites too.

"The unprecedented response we received from the public and veterinary professionals shows the strength of feeling on this issue is high and why we were right to look into this," CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said.

"We have heard concerns from those working in the sector about the pressures they face, including acute staff shortages, and the impact this has on individual professionals," she said.

Some of the top concerns from the review included:

The review also showed that many pet owners did not know they could get a prescription - a list of the medicine recommended by a doctor or vet - and then buy it elsewhere, meaning they are potentially missing out on saving money.

The new four-week investigation by the CMA will close on 11 April.