20 Easy Ways to Save - A User Friendly Guide

Step 17: Take Care of Your Pets

If you don't think your animal needs a heartworm preventative, have your vet show you a heart full of them. It's sad, disgusting, and unnecessary. Plus, heartworm treatment costs a fortune and may come too late to save your pet. Don't want to fork out for the better brand of flea and tick medicine? The store varieties can make your pet very sick and not work as well. You can save tons on this on ebay or 1800petmeds. Without that protection, your putting your pet at risk for things like tapeworm and putting your family at risk of catching not only the tapeworms, but lyme disease, if they happen to bring a tick into the house with them. How much money do you think lyme disease would cost you? No rabies shots for your 'indoor' animal? If they happen to get out or you're walking the dog and they startle an animal and get bit, at the very least you're looking at a 10 day quarantine at the vet ($$$), and at the worst, you're pet may show the signs of it and have to be put down. I have a vet who's wonderful, and for possibly serious matters I am willing to pay a little more to have my pets taken care of. But for vaccines, I go to a good but cheap vet clinic where I pay a ton less for the shots. I don't feel guilty. I need to save the money, and I need my pets protected. Also, if you can't afford a big vet bill (i.e. no savings) and you really love your pet, and you know that if anything big happened you'd go into hock before you'd have them put down, you need to look into pet insurance.

Comments

[HarlieD]

If you go to Banfield inside of most Petsmart stoers, they have an in-clinic wellness plan. Right now, it costs $39.95 to just sign up the first pet, $24.95 for each additional pet, plus the first month's payment, which is either $19.95, 25.95, or $32.95 for cats, I think similar for dogs. With it, you get FREE vaccinations, & FREE UNLIMITED office visits for an entire year! The vaccinations would cost, depending on which ones they need that year, & which plan your pet has, 3-6 months payments in that 1 visit. They also get FREE basic bloodwork done twice a year.The 2 more expensive plans also include a FREE dental cleaning once a year. You also get a discount on all other services, including any & ALL medications, which includes heartworm meds. My cat needed x-rays, & they ended up costing over $100 less then if she hadn't been on the plan. It may be worth it in the long run, depending on your pet's needs.

[HarlieD]

I believe in all areas, you can find FREE rabies shots for your pets. Do a search online, or ask a vet's office. They can tell you the low cost clinics, & you can get that one for free! :)

[superMacaroni]

You should mention spaying and neutering. It costs money to take care of the kittens/puppies/bunnies/whatever.

[diygirl]

You're absolutely right. My pets have always been spayed or neutered, but primarily for the purpose of not supporting the overpopulation of unwanted pets that then end up on the streets or put to sleep in pounds.

[superMacaroni]

Or just making it a bit more obvious to animal shelters the pet is lost, not from a feral colony.