Pets and Finances

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Do you want to keep your pet happy and healthy, but worry about your wallet? Here are some tips for being a financially responsible pet owner:

  • Examine your economic situation before choosing to adopt a pet. Have you made room in your budget for the vet care, food costs, adoption fee, and spaying/neutering? If you need to wait a few years for some more financial stability, go ahead and do so. (Check out our blog post related to this topic here.)
  • Once you have a pet, it’s best to invest in preventative care. Preventative care, such as shots, heartworm pills, and regular check ups with a veterinarian, could prevent major (and expensive medical emergencies down the line).
  • When choosing a vet, make sure you’re not comparing apples and oranges. That is, make sure you’re comparing costs for the same procedure, pre-op, and post-op. Don’t be fooled–a vet could offer a particular procedure at a very low rate, but have more expensive pre-op bloodwork.
  • Cost shouldn’t be the only factor your consider when choosing a vet, however. Convenience to your home, how the staff treats you, and how your pet responds to the vet should be factors, because comfort and willingness to visit the vet ‘s office will be worthwhile in the longer run. With that in mind, be careful when relying on online information to make decisions about your pet’s health. The internet is a great resource, but separating out the reliable information from the unreliable can be tricky.
  • One area where you might not be able to compromise on price is your pet’s medications. Be wary of any less expensive substitutions a local pharmacy may offer, and if you want to use an online pharmacy choose a reputable one with a license in your state.

For more tips, and a more thorough analysis of responsible pet finances, please visit the page cited at the bottom of this article!
Source:
https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Reference/Pages/Money-tips-for-caring-pet-owners.aspx