If you've made a resolution to save extra money this year for building up an emergency fund, reducing debt, or investing, one good place to look is pet expenses. MSN contributes to this cause with 13 tips for keeping pet costs in check. This post will contain the first six, and the second one will discuss the last seven. (The bold wording is from the article; the rest is paraphrased or added by me.)
- Take care of some pet needs yourself. Meaning grooming, teeth-brushing, and cutting claws. Doing it yourself costs less than having the vet or a pet groomer do it. My wife cuts our dogs' claws. Once in a while she'll cut one a little too short and the dog won't want to speak to her for a while, but they get over it.
- Ask your vet whether that annual vaccination is necessary. Kind of like getting your oil changed every 5,000 miles instead of every 3,000 miles: every 5,000 is probably fine. Some vaccinations can be done every three years instead of every year.
- Shop medications. Cheaper is better everything else being equal. The cost of our dogs' medications from our vet and online were comparable, but one or the other may be substantially cheaper for you.
- Shop for a veterinarian by comparing fees. One thing I would add to this one is to check whether or not the vet does “clinics.” Our vet, after seeing the dogs at the going rate, offers free check-ups at certain times during the week. The $40 vet's fee is waived and we pay for medications only. There can be a little waiting involved — “high bid wins, or stand in line” — but sometimes it's pretty fast.
- Shop around for pet supplies. No one store has the best price all the time, or on everything.
- Do you really need it? Probably not. Besides, the dog does not like getting dressed up.
Part 2 is coming soon!
Ineresting – my fiancee is big on getting the annual vaccinations for our dog and seems like there is at least one every couple of months. Any insight into which ones can be done every 3yrs vs every yr?
2million: We get the ones that are required to license our dogs, and the big ones like distemper and bordetella. We do not do a Lyme vaccination because we do tick treatments regularly. We give our dogs Frontline and HeartGard.
My family has always had cats, because they're so adorable! We went to the same veteranarian for years, but one day I figured we should check around at a couple of other places and the operation to declaw and spade our kitties were literally half price! It's definitely worth while to look around!