Dog vet bills always seem to creep up when you least expect it. And for some reason or another, they tend to simmer in the higher digits. Yes, you do have to take your companion to see the veterinarian at least once a year. It’s super important you don’t miss that yearly appointment. But you don’t want to be visiting your vet more often than you visit your family.
Luckily there are many things you can do to avoid spending your cash on unnecessary vet bills. Here are my top 10 that will help with vet bills and help keep some moolah in your pocket.
1. Find a Holistic Veterinarian, pronto. If you remember only one thing from this article, make it this one. A Holistic veterinarian will save you lots of money. They typically use natural principles and techniques. Their motto is to “support the entire body while it heals on its own.” Traditional veterinarians generally push drugs and medication, whereas, Holistic vets use kinder and gentler methods that don’t disrupt the delicate balance of your dog’s body. I promise your dog veterinarian bills will take a drastically going nose-dive. Check online for a Holistic vet in your area.
2. Feed your Dog Healthy Natural dog food. I cannot stress this point enough. If locating a Holistic Vet is my number one tip, then switching your dog to a more healthy natural diet has to be my second. The choices are aplenty: Holistic dog food, organic dog food, raw diets and homemade dog foods are your very best options. Find out how to balance your budget with all natural dog food here. I’ve written many articles on this topic on HBD. I highly recommend you check those out if you want to keep your furry baby both happy and healthy for years to come.
3. Avoid Unnecessary Surgeries. Going under the knife is risky business and many things can go wrong whenever your dog needs to go under anesthesia. Abstain from general cosmetic surgeries that are not life threatening. If you can live with that empty patch of fur on your dog’s behind than that’s great.
4. Get rid of those Rawhides and Cowhides. We’ve had a near death experience with those highly toxic foods for dogs. Halle got very sick one night chewing on a cowhide when she was just a pup. I’m telling you, it’s not worth the risks. They’re cheap and poisonous, end of story.
5. Always keep your Dog on a Lead. Your dog can run into traffic and get hit by a car in 10 seconds flat. That’s the last experience you want to go through. Stay on the safe side and always have your dog under control. Your best bet is to keep him on a lead at all times, unless you’re in a dog friendly area. Use your judgment.
6. Keep your Dog’s Teeth in check. This one is very important. You have to clean your dog’s teeth (either naturally through a raw diet and recreational dog bones or physically with a dog toothpaste) and get routine veterinarian teeth cleanings. I recommend you opt for an anesthesia-free dog teeth cleaning because it’s a gentler technique that’s better for your dog. Also, if you want to save on dog veterinarian bills, I urge you to reduce your commercial kibble diet for a healthier dog mouth.
7. Don’t over Vaccinate. Ultimately the less you vaccinate your dog, the healthier he will be. There’s no need to overly vaccinate on a yearly basis because it does more bad than good to your dog’s delicate body. Yes, puppies need a few more vaccinations. But healthy adult dogs do not require so many. Think of it this way, do you get vaccinated every year? Save on vet bills and skip the yearly vaccines. I’m sure your Holistic vet will agree. I will be discussing this topic in more detail soon.
8. Exercise your Dog Intellectually and Physically. Keep your dog’s brain and body in top shape. Do physical exercises like walking, running and sporting games like dog tug of war. Keep his head balanced and stimulated with regular positive training sessions and various fun doggy activities. The healthier he is, mind and body, the lesser your pup will be prone to disease and injury. Ultimately you want an athlete not a couch potato.
9. Offer your Dog Clean Filtered Water. The most simple and potentially life saving thing you can do right now, is offer your dog clean fresh filtered water. Tap water contains a host of nasties including, toxic chemicals, pharmaceutical and commercial waste, agricultural runoffs, bacteria and so much more. Filtered water will prevent your dog from getting sick and in the end, that equals smaller dog veterinary bills for you.
10. Don’t Forget to Socialize. I’m not saying you HAVE to host dog parties every weekend. Just let your dog explore his surroundings and the world around him. The more you expose your dog to a variety of different situations and people the more balanced and adapted he will be in certain situations. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a depressed hobbit or a fearful monkey? What do you think the vet prescribes to them? Unnecessary drugs obviously. Please don’t keep your dog contained to the yard or the house. Let your little Napoleon venture off and be a dog.
“Napolean? I’m Princess Halle the Great!” } Halle
Essentially the closer you raise your dog to nature, the happier and healthier he will be. Plus you’ll be saving so much money and that’s always a good thing. I’ve written an extensive e-book titled “Give Your Dog an Official Holistic Life Experience”. In it, I go into the details on how you can easily bring your dog back to his natural roots while saving you tons of money on dog vet bills.
Now it’s your turn. I want you to give me your top tips on how you save on dog veterinarian bills? What are your secret saving strategies?
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
My tips:
Vet clinics that offer multiple-pet discounts are a blessing. They never have explained to me how it’s calculated or what percentage you save on the total bill, but some clinics do give you a discount if you have 4 pets or more. My clinic back home, which I continued to frequent even after I moved away, offers this feature. The vet we see where we live now doesn’t (but we have opted to “break up” with our old vet for other reasons) and none of other clinics here in town do, either, but still… it’s been nice to save $10-15 on routine appointments, flea/tick/heartworm meds, etc… on every animal for every visit for these past 10 years.
Make use of your local low-cost spay/neuter clinics, if possible. Often they also offer discounts on vaccines, microchipping, etc… The downside to this is that 1) some such clinics are government-run programs, and only service pet owners that are already enrolled in some other form of government assistance plan, and, 2)there can be a very long wait. In June I looked into using such a program to neuter a stray dog I’d found that my sister was going to keep, and the first available appointment wasn’t until August!
Re: vaccines, keep in mind that some states (and even counties) still call the shots regarding how often you are required (by law) to vaccinate your animal, based on the presence and extremity of some zoonotic diseases in your geographical region. Here in TX, it’s determined by county. For example, the threat of rabies is so bad in my hometown that even though vets administer the 3-year shot, the COUNTY still requires people to vaccinate their animals yearly, because it’s a very rural county with lots of wildlife. 3 hours further south, where I live now, the county says every 3 years is fine, though in the beginning they want to see at least 3 year’s-worth of annual vaccination before they allow you to reduce it to every 3 years. Know the ordinances for individual counties if you are moving soon or have recently relocated. Yes, you can still opt for titers to determine levels of vaccines in your animal’s blood and that is sufficient, but it still isn’t as widely accepted/recognized as advocates of this process would like. I’ve always just vaccinated yearly, because we move around so much that I don’t want to take any chances in the event that one of my animals bites someone. I want that paper trail that shows I’m being responsible. In this case, I feel it’s the right thing to do, otherwise, I would definitely vaccinate less often.
Finally, when possible, when at the vet I opt for the “old school” methods and procedures. It may sound unappealing to some readers, but when my former vet clinic purchased a bunch of brand new, high-tech, top-of-the-line equipment, and then charged more for procedures making use of them, I requested they continue to perform these standard procedures the old way. In all of my life as a child in a pet-filled family and as an adult and parent of pets, I’ve never lost an animal to these older methods. Sometimes I will even seek out older vets with older practices, because they are set in their old ways, and are more affordable as a result. I know the newer procedures and equipment are all about pain management, comfort, speedier recovery times, and so on, but none of my pets are any worse for the wear for having to go under a scalpel rather than a laser. Keep in mind you have to make your decisions based on what is best for your animal and also what YOU can afford. It never hurts to ask. In my case, the vet offered it as an option upon check-in “do you want us to use this method and this equipment at this price? or this other method without that equipment at this other price?”
As with your own health, prevention and healthy living is always more affordable than treating a problem after it occurs. A lady in the grocery store asked me last week “have you gotten your flu shot this year?” I explained to her that I never get a flu shot, and rarely ever fall ill because I do what I’m supposed to: I eat right, drink enough fluids, get enough rest, exercise, take my vitamins, wash my hands and don’t touch my nose, eyes or mouth… “Well it’s airborne.” she sniffed, “so you’re going to get it anyway if you’re breathing somewhere where someone else who has it has been.” Uh, not if my immune system is healthy I’m not!
P.S.
Filtered water tip- Filter your own water by purchasing an in-home water filter. There are many options. We have one that attaches under the kitchen sink, and filters our water for 6 months before it needs replacing, and it was very reasonably-priced. The price varies according to the model you chose, based on how often the filter needs replacing . “Whole house” filters are also available.
Amen. Holistic approach plus good diet and quality water is better than symptom-based-treatment.
Gotta hand it to my better half, I’m feeling this article!!! :)
WOW Jennifer, thanks for your incredible TIPS! Some of what you mentioned is pure mint for HBD Readers. Thank You.
hello, my dogs have no.1 sarcoptic mange, the lesser of the mange range..my vet is money-mad is there somink i can buy say from a chemist shop/health store?? much oblighged…mark.
Great article! Thanks so much for sharing, we all need to work hard to spread the word about using natural, species appropriate ways to keep our dogs healthy and happy!