PPA is a medication which many dogs take for urinary incontinence. It tends to work well but it can be a little pricey. I have a lot of dogs in my practice on an alternative medicine called Stilbestrol. Stilbestrol can be a little controversial. The drug insert for this medication tells us that ... Read More »
Pet Advice That Save You Money
Let's face it! Good vet care is expensive!
Tips that help pet owners who are on a budget. There are tips that work for all pet owners, as well as tips specific to pets with certain medical problems. Whichever your case is, here is some advice for you. Read here facsimiles from the book, Save Money on Vet Bills - 75 tips that are guaranteed to save you money!, by Dr. Marie.
Some of the tips in this book are things that everyone can use. Some of them are specific to pets with certain types of medical problems. No matter what type of animal you have, there should be a good number of tips in this book that will save you money.
"While I never want to cut corners on medical care I usually try to do all I can to make the recommended treatment course as economical as possible."
Avoid Costly Dentistries (chs. 40-42)
The vast majority of animals in my practice are in need of a dental cleaning under an anesthetic. This can definitely be pricey! Depending on whether the animal requires preanesthetic bloodwork, whether extractions are necessary and other variables the cost can be between $300 and $1500 and in some ... Read More »
Care Credit and Medicard (chs. 38-39)
While these organizations do not directly help you save on your vet bills they can sometimes help you to finance a large vet bill. Many of my clients have a Medicard account that they use whenever they have an unexpected bill. They pay their bill with the card and then make monthly payments to ... Read More »
Ask Your Vet if They Have Any Specials (chs. 35-37)
In many practices they will have specials at certain times of the year on certain services. For many vet clinics, February is dental month. If your pet needs a dental cleaning under an anesthetic and your vet feels it can be postponed until dental month you can often save 10% or more by booking the ... Read More »
Use the Services of an Online Vet (chs. 33-34)
OK. I have to admit that I am biased here. I run an online veterinary advice website called: http://www.AskAVetQuestion.com. There are many times where an online discussion with me has saved people paying money for an office visit fee with their regular vet. We talked earlier about how your vet ... Read More »
Get your Bordetella Vaccine With Your Annual Shots (chs. 28-32)
Is your dog likely to be going to a boarding kennel this year? Most good kennels require that he or she has a bordetella (kennel cough) vaccine. My advice is to be pro-active and get the vaccine done with your dog's annual shots and not to wait to see if you will need it later. Often I will have ... Read More »
Heartworm Testing (chs. 25-27)
Depending on where you live in the world, a heartworm test may not be necessary every year. Why do we do a heartworm test? This test determines if there are adult heartworms present in your dog. Heartworms are spread to a dog via mosquitos, so if you have mosquitos in your area then it is important ... Read More »
Does Your Vet Want to Do an ACTH Stim Test? (chs. 22-24)
An ACTH stim test is a test for a condition called Addisonʼs disease (otherwise known as hypoadrenocroticism). Addison’s occurs when a dog’s adrenal glands are not functioning properly. It can sometimes be hard to pick up by looking at a dog’s clinical signs because they are very vague and can ... Read More »
Ask For Local Anesthetic (chs. 16-21)
In some cases you can save a lot of money by having surgery performed under a local anesthetic. Some lumps can be removed with a local. Also, skin biopsies can usually be done with a local.A local anesthetic is a lot less expensive than a general anesthetic. Also, your animal does not need to have ... Read More »
Be An ‘A’ Client (chs. 11-15)
In every practice that I have worked there is a small number of clients who are just absolutely amazing. These are the clients who bake us cookies, send us a Christmas card, or just send us a card of encouragement when they see we have had a hard week. I will often give clients like this a small ... Read More »
