Veterinary Expenses - Finding Affordable Alternatives And Cost Cutting Steps

Veterinary expenses are an unavoidable part of being a pet owner. Even under the best of circumstances, your dog will still need regular veterinarian care. The SPCA approximates the annual cost of caring for a medium sized dog at almost $1200.00 per year. The cost of just an annual vet visit alone are estimated at $120.00 per year and this doesn't include dog food cost, grooming, clippings and other necessities.

Everyone is trying to cut their budgets these days, causing many families to re-evaluate their spending habits. Unfortunately this can often mean that if their dog doesn't appear sick, they will skip their annual checkup with their veterinarian. By sacrificing your dog's health care, you may inadvertently cost yourself higher vet bills and cost your dog their good health.
Many people fall back on the old idea of only taking the precious pup to the vet when they are sick or hurt. However, that is actually the wrong way to think of your relationship with the veterinarian. Instead, consider the following points:


Keeping their annual check-up appointments
Maintaining their vaccination schedule
Feeding a quality dog food
Supplying daily exercise
By providing these preventative benefits to your dog, you will ensure that they will be able to fight off diseases and heal from any injuries much faster.  Even though it's important to maintain your dog's health care, there are several simple ways for you to cut cost in your dog's veterinarian expense budget.
Preventative Care Methods:
The first way to reduce your veterinarian expenses is to of course keep your annual vet exams as we discussed above.  This gives your vet the opportunity to get to know your dog better when they are healthy.  That way, if and when they do get sick, your vet will know your dog's personality and any known health problems beforehand to help them better diagnose the current problem. 
The next way to save is to monitor your dog and their behavior closely.  By noticing a change in their behavior, and identifying any illness or injury and treating it early, you will save money in the long run by catching the problem before it gets severe.  Severe injuries or illnesses can require surgeries, long term medical treatments and other invasive procedures that are costly.  Early diagnosis not only prevents potential serious health problems but it will give your dog a longer, healthier life. 
Next, make sure you protect your dog from common diseases and parasites which can cause serious illness and even death.  This means making sure they get their annual vaccinations and treating them for fleas, ticks and even heart-worms.  By protecting your dog from these preventable illnesses, you will avoid paying for costly medical treatments. 
You always need to make sure dog is getting plenty of daily exercise.  This means more than just potty breaks and a walk around the block.  Dog's need a place where they can run, jump and play to properly exercise themselves.  Not only will this keep them from becoming overweight, it makes for a much happier dog.  Being overweight can cause multiple health problems like heart disease and diabetes and lack of exercise only increases the problem.  By allowing proper play time and exercise you not only keep them healthy but avoid other potential issues like chewing on furniture out of boredom, which also can be quite costly. 
If you haven't been taking care of your dog's dental care, then you need to start.  Dental disease can account for various other problems in your dog including heart disease.  Obviously there are many of you that are thinking you are not going to brush your dog's teeth but there are other preventative methods.  Purchase hard chewing bones and dental bones for your dog.  This is your dog's natural way of cleaning their teeth.  If you're dog's breath is bad, it's time for a teeth cleaning.
Other ways to save on your dog's veterinarian expenses include shopping around for better prices at different veterinarians and utilizing online shopping to find deals on dog food and other accessories.  Another option is pet insurance.  There are multiple options available online and I would also check with your veterinarian to see what they accept and recommend.  If you have more than one pet, most insurance companies will allow you insure them as a group, which also allows for additional savings. 
Watch for local groups to have vaccination drives.  This is often a big money saver as they will usually only charge for the vaccine itself and sometimes a small donation.  Sometimes the city itself will sponsor these drives and you can also check with local groups like 4-H. 
Last but certainly not least is choosing a quality dog food.  I cannot stress enough how important this choice is in your dog's life.  Poor quality dog foods lead to a multitude of illnesses and health conditions including kidney failure and arthritis.  Purchasing a quality dog food may seem expensive but actually once your dog adjust to the new food, they will actually eat less because it's not full of fillers.  Plus, you will avoid serious potential health risk associated with poor quality dog food and save yourself plenty of veterinarian expenses.