Dreading the Vet Bill? 5 Ways to Afford It Without Stress

Amy Castro (00:00.108)
If you're dreading your pet's annual vet visit, not because it's hard to lift your dog into the car or to round your cat up to get him in a carrier, but because you feel like a single checkup could just wipe out your bank account, well, you're not alone. In this episode, we're talking about how to stop dreading your pet's annual vet visit and start planning for it like a pro. From unexpected fees to budget-busting lab tests, you'll learn how to stay prepared, ask the right questions, and walk out of the clinic with your wallet and your sanity still intact.

Amy Castro (00:35.649)
You've reached the Pet Parent Hotline, your lifeline to practical solutions for your toughest pet parenting challenges. I'm your host Amy Castro, and I'm here to help you cut through the noise and turn expert advice into step-by-step strategies so you can stop chasing your tail and start enjoying life with pets again.

Amy Castro (01:00.215)
To give you some perspective, I'm not just talking about theory here. You all know I run a rescue and I process the bills for a minimum of 100 vet visits a year. And even in what we considered a light year last year, we still spent over $34,000 on vet care. And that's with a significant discount that we get for the rescue. And for my own pets, I recently took two cats in for a routine visit and walked out with a bill that was almost $900.

So when I say I understand how expensive vet care can be, I really do. And I also know when I pull out my credit card and hand it to the front desk person, it still makes my stomach drop once I hear that total. Because although I know when I bring multiple pets in, it's gonna be more, quote unquote, I had no idea how much. And that day reminded me that most pet parents aren't probably struggling to keep up with routine vet care because they don't care about their pets. I know you love your pets.

But you might be struggling because nobody told us how to plan for all this. We're told pets are gonna be expensive. We're told to be prepared for it. But how expensive and how do we prepare? And that's what today's episode is here to fix. So let's start with what this feels like. You take your pet in for what should be a routine visit and the total hits you like a Mack truck. I see people posting about this on social media.

all the time and they're looking to switch veterinarians because the checkout price was so incredibly high. And sometimes we might be sitting there as they're telling us all the things that we need to do for our pets, you know, and thinking kind of, wait, do I really need to do all of these things? But many of us will feel guilty even thinking that because, you know, if we're questioning the cost that sends a signal maybe that we don't care about our pets, so we don't ask those questions.

Or maybe you're worried you're gonna be judged for skipping services or asking about prices. And I think it can be very overwhelming for people to predict costs that feel like they're completely unpredictable. And when you check your bank account after the visit or your credit card statement, yes, it hurts, it still hurts. So here's the truth. Most pet parents don't have a plan, myself included. They assume vet visits are gonna be affordable until they're not.

Amy Castro (03:17.239)
They don't know what is essential versus optional, and they approach vet care kind of as a reactive thing, not really a proactive thing, and that's the real problem. So first I wanna talk about some of the mistakes that pet parents make, because I see them all the time. First of all, waiting until the appointment to think about the cost instead of preparing ahead. That's a big one. I mean, if we're talking about annual vet visits here, not an emergency visit, that's a whole different ball of wax.

But if we're talking about annual vet visits here, you had 364 days to think about that. We all did before it came around. So we probably could do a little bit better job of getting ourselves mentally and financially prepared. We also have a tendency to assume that if the vet recommends it, it's gotta be done and it's not negotiable. The other thing that we tend to fall into is we let guilt

or embarrassment dictate our decisions, especially when it comes to things like skipping tests, tests, asking for estimates. It's your pet, it's your money, and you have a right to question and you have a right to make decisions about what you do and don't want done.

Another mistake I think that people make is just avoiding talking about money with your vet entirely. And maybe that comes from the fact that we don't sit there and have conversations with our own human doctors about how much is this going to cost? How much is that going to cost? But I will tell you, working with veterinarians on a regular basis, they are totally fine with you asking those questions and they can get you that information. don't try, you know, don't use that as an excuse for

not knowing what the sticker price is going to be until you walk out of the vet's office. Another mistake that we have a tendency to make is we treat every one of our pets the same instead of making maybe adjustments based on their age or health or lifestyle. One of the things that I've started to do, and I'm not advocating this as something that you should do for your pets, that's something you should talk to your veterinarian about, but I very much do different things for younger pets.

Amy Castro (05:26.134)
than I do for older pets. I do more blood work on my older pets after they cross the age of eight, for example. Now I'm gonna start doing senior blood work. I'm not gonna start at five. That's my personal choice. I have my reasons. I won't get into them, but there are things that I will do. I also will forego certain vaccines after a certain age because I feel like they're pretty well covered if they've had a certain vaccine a couple of times in their youth. So that's something that you need to do your research.

You need to talk to your own veterinarian about, but you know, if you have three cats, don't treat them all the same. And then the very big one is kind of going to the opposite extreme because of all these other things that we're worried about. We just decide I'm going to put off that veterinary care. I'm not going to go to the vet every year, which I will tell you is not a good thing to do. It's going to usually lead to bigger, more expensive problems for you down the road. So.

Those are some of the mistakes. So what do do instead? I mentioned before planning like a pro. Here are some of the things that I've learned to do and that I recommend when people ask me, you know, how can I make save money on this? What can I do to not have this stickers chalk? The first thing you can do is call your vet in advance and ask for an estimate for your pet's annual visit. Now an estimate is an estimate, but

At least asking for a ballpark estimate or a range based on the services that you anticipate are needed is going to get you somewhere in the zone of the cost. Had I done that with those two cats I brought in, I think it would have been less sticker shock if they said it was going to be six to $900 and it comes out at 875. Then if I didn't call it all, which I didn't, and you know, I kind of thought it would be closer to.

400 and something, I don't know why I thought that, but I was obviously way off in my estimate. So call them in advance and ask for a ballpark estimate. And then don't wait until two days before your appointment to do this. Do this now, call now. If your pet's due in six months or a year, you get that number now and then budget for it between now and the appointment date or the month and year of the next appointment.

Amy Castro (07:42.124)
Even six months of planning or being able to have a six month budget to say, it's probably going to cost me $400, so I need to put X amount of dollars away over the next six months is going to be a lot less painful than coming up for it after the fact. And you know, if you want to be smart, buffer it by 20 % just in case. Give yourself a little wiggle room in that price. Also find out if your vet offers a wellness plan or some type of membership or free, you know, I call it frequent flyer, but

You know, if you have multiple pets, they might do certain discounts or they might be able to bundle certain services to spread out costs. Also, don't forget to ask about any other hidden fees. So when they give you an estimate, ask them, does that include all fees that are associated with the visit? For example, many vets nowadays are charging a biohazard fee. So if they use a syringe, they have to actually pay to get rid of that syringe. It doesn't just go in the trash for free.

And so they are oftentimes passing those fees along. And so an extra buck 50, 250 here, there, and everywhere can, you know, easily add up to more money when you check out at the vet. So try as best you can to get the full picture when you are asking about fees. Another big one that I learned the hard way. So I was cleaning out my dog room at one point and found at least seven or eight little

collection sample tubes with my pet's names on them. And I had no idea that when your vet sends you home with a tube to collect some pee or collect some poop or whatever it might be, 90 plus percent of the time, whatever lab tests they were gonna do, if they were gonna send that urine out to a lab and it costs $230 to check for this, that and the other thing, you pay for that when you get the tube, not after the fact. And so I had several hundred dollars.

worth of tubes that had never been used and by the way, they did not honor those because it had been so long. So if your vet is going to run labs on a sample that you are going to go home and get, ask them if you're being charged for it now or if you're charged when you bring it back. And if it's now, ask if you can change that and do it when you come back. So there's no reason to pay for something that you might not end up using because sometimes we can't get that sample. The other thing I would say is when you are

Amy Castro (10:07.08)
at the vet or you can ask these questions in advance, ask some smarter questions. You your vet is going to recommend the gold standard or what is the recommended vaccines, tests, et cetera, for a pet of your age, period, end of story kind of thing. And maybe your pet's history. And so it's okay to go down that list of services and ask which of these things are absolutely essential for my pet.

And then of those, which ones do I really need to do now? Like ask some questions about these things, because it might be that something could be put off longer. It's not a crisis that you have to get it done right now. Maybe it's you come back in six months for another visit and you're going to pay for another visit. But in the long run, if you're trying to space out the pain of the fees, that might be the way to go. Um, you also, when you're making your appointments, if you have two pets,

Sometimes you can save bringing both of them in on the same appointment than if you make two separate appointments on two separate days. So ask them if there's any price saving for bringing in two pets at the same time. If nothing else, even if there's no price saving or cost saving, it could save you time and gas in getting to the vet. You also could ask about payment plans available for routine services.

So that could be something that the vet does on their own. I will say that many vets are not doing this anymore because quite frankly, people don't pay. And they get the services upfront and then they pay for a month and they don't pay at all. But there are options like care credit and other commercial payment options that you can do. And obviously, pet insurance, that's a whole nother subject. And we have done at least two episodes talking about pet insurance. So you definitely want to check those out.

And then the third thing I would say is, you know, don't be afraid to shop around. I am not a believer in jumping around to veterinarians here, there, and everywhere, because here's what's going to happen. If you jump around and you get one thing done here, and then the next time you go to this vet and the next time you go to the vet vet, when you've got an emergency or when you have a question where you just want to call and ask, if you're not a quote unquote, regular client,

Amy Castro (12:26.669)
You may not be able to get in to be seen when you need to. You may not get those answers over the phone or that calling in a prescription while you're out of town because you're this veterinarian doesn't have the history with you or your pet that makes them comfortable to do that. So I think that that's something you need to think about when you're shopping around for price. The same goes for getting vaccines at clinics that pop up in big box stores.

really check and see what their services are and you know, yeah, you might be able to get vaccines from them, but what happens if your pet gets sick? You don't have a vet. So definitely shop around and look for where you can save money. But at the same time, think big picture and think long-term, not just how can I save money on this one thing, this one set of vaccines. You can also shop around when it comes to medications and prescriptions.

whether it is, you you have the option to get medications directly from your vet. Most vets now have an online pharmacy associated with their business, which is generally gonna be a little bit cheaper. Sometimes you can go to the same pharmacy that you go to for yourself and get a prescription filled and it might be cheaper for your pet or an online pharmacy. So the time to ask about these things is when you're not out of your pet's seizure medication.

And they need the medication tomorrow. That's, know, it's, it's kind of tricky to shop around at that point, but before you need a refill is a good opportunity to kind of check around and see if there are places where you can get a better price on those medications. And you can also, wherever you go, ask if they price match with other pharmacies, but keep in mind too, and you, this is a question you would ask for your veterinarian and people get mad about this. I, kind of aggravates me because I don't see what they don't get.

But many veterinarians will charge you to give you that prescription to take to Chewy or whatever the case may be. And oftentimes clients get angry at that. But think about this. Every time you put in a request for a prescription through, let's say, Chewy, Chewy sends a request to the veterinarian. They have to do some investigation. So a human being that your veterinarian is paying a decent salary has to sit there at a computer, look up your pet,

Amy Castro (14:49.489)
Look up your pets medications that have, you know, that the doctor prescribed. Make sure that the request was for the right amount, the right dosage, the right strength, et cetera, et for your pet's safety. This is all for your pet's safety. So if your vet charges you five bucks for that privilege, number one, don't be angry about it. And number two, at least be prepared for that because sometimes whatever they charge could offset whatever you're saving by going with the online pharmacy.

And I mentioned pet insurance, but definitely if you've not looked into it, do so before a major problem arises. and research it carefully, because many pet insurance policies do not cover certain things, and they oftentimes don't cover pre-existing conditions. So that's all the more argument for getting pet insurance when you get your pet, or at least look into it and decide if it is right for you. And then finally,

If all else fails and you've done everything that you can to save on your vet visits and you are still feeling the pinch when you check out at the checkout counter, look for opportunities to cut your pet costs elsewhere. So a couple of things that we can do would be to scale back on impulse buys of toys or high-end treats or cute accessories. It's amazing to me that people won't microchip their pets.

and pay that fee, but they will buy, you know, a $30 address for their dog. And I get it. You want your dog to look cute, but at the same time, isn't it more important that your dog has a microchip and will be returned to you should they get lost? That dress is not going to identify you as their mama. So keep that in mind. again, other little things that can wait pet gadgets that can wait till next month, even looking at our own personal spending habits, you know, how many Starbucks add up to

a vet visit, would bet it's not too many depending upon what you get. So even saving or being able to put aside 20 bucks a month can make a huge difference the next time that annual appointment rolls around. So if you want to go deeper on this topic, I've got two episodes that you're going to want to queue up next. First, listen to our episode on pet insurance called Can't Afford the Vet? Why Pet Insurance Could Save Your Pet.

Amy Castro (17:13.792)
and get some tips there about what pet insurance does or does not do for your pet. And it gives you a really great starting point for shopping around for pet insurance. And then definitely check out my interview with Jonathan Weinberg, the Senior VP of Synchrony Financial Services Pet Businesses, otherwise known as Care Credit, which is...

probably the most popular payment option in many veterinary offices. And that episode is called How to Afford Vet Care Without Breaking the Bank. And I'll put links to those episodes in our show notes. So if today's episode helped you breathe a little easier about your next vet visit, make sure to download my annual pet wellness visit budgeting guide that I wrote just for you. It's a one-page tool to help you start planning now without the overwhelm.

Go to PetParentHotline.com forward slash vet savings to get your free guide. And you're gonna find the link to that in the show notes as well. And hey, if you got value from today's episode, share it with a friend who panics every time a vet appointment rolls around or tag me and tell me your very best vet bill survival story. I'd love to hear it. And in our next episode, we're gonna be tackling the question I hear all the time. How can I feed my pet well without spending a fortune?

So we're in money saving mode here at the Pet Parent Hotline. So if you've ever felt stuck between quality and cost when it comes to your pet's food, that episode is gonna help you find a better balance without the guilt, guesswork, or the price tag shot.

Thanks for listening to the Pet Parent Hotline. If you enjoyed the show, don't keep it to yourself. Text a friend right now with a link and tell them I've got a show that you need to hear. And ask them to let you know what they think. And remember, your pet's best life starts with you living yours. So be sure to take good care of yourself this week and your pet.