Image SourceYour animal’s healthcare is important – but it isn’t cheap. Even the most routine of operations can be extortionate. You shouldn’t have to forgo your pet’s wellbeing just because of high veterinary bills. Equally you shouldn’t have to work like a dog just to afford costs. If you’re smart with your animal’s healthcare, you can avoid having to fork out loans and keep a healthy bank balance, as well as a healthy pet.
Keep your pet active and control their diet
Probably the most obvious method of cutting costs is to maintain a healthy lifestyle for your pet. If they are a dog, make a note of their breed and the recommended walking distance. Regularly play with them to ensure they’re not a lazy animal. For hamsters and small rodents give them wheels and play toys that will not only improve their fitness but prevent boredom. Control your animal’s diet – don’t overfeed them or treat them too often. Of course, you should never underfeed your animals to save costs either. Research your animal’s recommended daily intake of food.
Take out pet insurance
The average annual pet insurance premium for a dog owner is just over £30 a month (and £13 for a cat). For a dog, this adds up to roughly £366 a year. To some this may seem expensive, but when you consider it’s the equivalent of most people’s phone contracts and that a routine operation or broken leg can cost over a thousand pounds (having to deal with arthritis and bone disease can have owners paying over £4000) it could save you dramatic amounts of money.
Go for annual checkups
Paying to go to the vets every year for a checkup might seem counter-intuitive, but it may save you money in the long run. The vets might be able to catch an ailment and nip it early in the bud before it gets serious and requires expensive treatment. Animals are great at hiding pain, so if you wait until the pain is noticeable, it’s probably too late.
Try natural medicines
There are many effective natural medicines for pets on the market that may be cheaper than that prescribed by your vet. When choosing such products, it is always best to read the conditions and side-effects and choose well-reviewed treatments such as this natural medicine for heart failure in dogs. Note that most animal medicine must meet legal requirements and comes from a trusted source.
Try a veterinary college
We’re letting the cat out of the bag with this treatment tip – why not avoid the vets altogether and see if your local veterinary college would be willing to treat your animal for free. Such institutions are always looking for volunteer animal patients. This option is best for routine treatments and repairing any complications that arise as a result won’t be covered by pet insurance. It is worth noting however that although your animal will be dealt with by trainees, someone will be there to supervise, and so the likeliness of anything going wrong is extremely minimal.
