You want your pet to have the best care possible, but vet bills can add up quickly – especially in emergency situations. To help alleviate some of this financial pressure, we’ve put together a list of tips on how to save money at the vet.

Invest in a high-quality diet

Your dog’s food has a big impact on their overall health, so another way you could start saving money at the vet is by investing in a high-quality diet. Brands that use by-products, fillers, additives, and preservatives are less expensive at the time of purchase, but these short-term savings are lost in the long run as your pet starts to experience issues related to poor nutrition. When choosing a diet for your pet, there are several questions you should ask yourself, including:

• Do they use high-quality
  ingredients?
• Is a veterinary nutritionist
  involved in the company?
• Do they share the exact
  nutritional content of the food?
• Do they have recipes tailored
  to different nutritional needs?

Freshpet is a great choice because every line offers well-balanced recipes that are full of high-quality ingredients and nutrients to help your pet maintain a clean bill of health. For a full list of questions to ask yourself when choosing food for your pet, take a look at our blog.

Don’t skip your annual wellness
checks

It
may feel like you’re saving money by only scheduling appointments when your pet
is sick, but in the long run, this will likely end up costing you more. Even if
your pet appears to be completely healthy, it’s important to bring them in for
their annual or bi-annual wellness checks. Animals – especially cats – are
great at hiding pain and illness, so these appointments give your veterinarian
the opportunity to catch an illness before it gets to the point your pet can no
longer hide it. Not only will this give your pet a better prognosis, but the
later the stage, the more expensive the treatment tends to be.

Stay on top of chronic conditions

If
your pet has a chronic disease like diabetes or hypothyroidism, your vet will
recommend an examination scheduled tailored to your pet’s needs. This will
enable them to monitor the disease on a consistent schedule and alert them if
anything changes so they can adjust medication or treatment plans accordingly.
Similar to wellness examinations, sticking to this schedule and keeping your
pet’s chronic illness stable will save you money long-term.

Keep on top of their dental care at
home

Did
you know that over 80% of pets have some stage of dental disease?
Unfortunately, if left untreated, dental disease can contribute to issues such
as:

• Oral pain
• Bad breath
• Unintended weight loss
• Systemic diseases.

The further your pet’s dental disease progresses, the more likely they will need to have a professional dental cleaning and possibly teeth removed, which isn’t cheap. You can avoid this by keeping on top of their dental care at home. It’s ideal if you can brush your pet’s teeth twice a day, but it can take a while to work up to that frequency. To start, try brushing their teeth twice a week and increasing it from there. To learn how, read our guide on brushing your dog’s teeth at home.

Consider pet insurance

No
matter how much effort you put into preventative care, emergencies can happen
and when they do, you can save money by being prepared. With pet insurance, you
can have peace of mind knowing that in the event of an emergency, you can make
decisions based on what is best for your pet, not the cost. Generally,
insurance providers offer two different types of coverage:

• Emergency coverage: This coverage can be used when emergency situations
  arise, but doesn’t provide any coverage for standard things like annual
  appointments or vaccinations. It also usually has a lower monthly premium.

• Regular coverage: This is more extensive coverage that can be used any
  time your pet visits the vet, whether it’s for routine care or an emergency.
  The monthly premium is also usually higher when compared to emergency coverage.

In
addition to coverage provided by an insurance company, some veterinarian
clinics offer an in-house insurance plan that patients can subscribe to. While
the offers are specific to the clinic, they usually help cover the costs
associated with wellness checks, vaccinations, and similar routine care.

Maintain a healthy weight

A
final way to save money at the vet is to help your pet maintain a healthy
weight. Aside from dental disease, obesity is one of the most common diseases
veterinarians see in their patients. If not addressed, obesity can lead to serious
illnesses, including:

• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Hypertension
• Many types of cancer

In addition to causing new issues, obesity can also worsen existing conditions like osteoarthritis. By keeping your pet at a healthy weight, you’ll minimize the chances that they’ll develop obesity-related illnesses – all of which will require extensive veterinary care treatment. The good news is that keeping your pet at a healthy weight can be easily done by following these tips!

We hope that these tips give you inspiration on how you can start saving money at the vet. Have other tips we didn’t include? Share them in the comments!

Source: Freshpet