Cutting down pet expenses

[Rebecca]

A major suckage of my income is my 3 year old Yorkie. This little bugger costs a fortune - between vet visits (and medication costs) and food...he's currently on medication for anxiety (yeah, my dogs on puppy prozac). I don't think that it's working so I'm not going to continue him on it. I'm having a hard time buying cheaper food, since I lost my cat last year due to the tainted pet food.

I got rid of his mid-day dogwalker (saves me $80 a month). I try to shop around for medication costs to get the best price. I don't have vet insurance and I'm very hesitant to buy it.

Any thoughts?

[Joanne]

What symptoms does your dog have that led the vet to think he has anxiety and prescribe medication? How old is he?

I have three pets (2 dogs and an iguana) and I have found the best way to keep costs down is preventive care. By keeping them healthy, they rarely see the vet except for their shots.

Shop around for food and look for coupons. Stock up with you see a sale.

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat.

[Rebecca]

I adopted Dash when he was 2. He has severe separation anxiety. Severe to the point where he hurts himself. He also has confinement anxiety, so the crate didn't work. I got him from a woman who used to show him and when he finished she didn't want him anymore. I've been working with a trainer and the vet for the last year on the anxiety. it's gotten better, but it's still pretty bad.

[purplefdu]

My two don't normally go to the vet except for checkups ocassionally and shots/emergencies. We normally go to rabies clinics instead of the vet which costs $10 for the shot and tag instead of the $30+ at the vet.

I buy food in a 20lb bag at Petco to qualify for the buy 10 get one free. Purina Pro Plan which is a super premium food and did not come up in the recalls at all. Dry only, no canned to help with teeth health. I bake treats, although we do buy training treats and chews from the store when they are on sale or I have coupons. I also check for samples or free food and such from major suppliers to use when the eldest isn't feeling well and doesn't want to eat. The one splurge is Missing Link suplement which is the only thing that has kept my oldest from needing a joint supplement and cleared up his skin allergies.

I've never heard much good about the puppy prozac. I might look into the mroe natural remedies instead. They make some nice ones, even oil diffusers that might help.

[Joanne]

Originally Posted by Rebecca

I adopted Dash when he was 2. He has severe separation anxiety. Severe to the point where he hurts himself.

That's so sad,

He's very lucky to have you though.

[Rebecca]

Originally Posted by purplefdu

My two don't normally go to the vet except for checkups ocassionally and shots/emergencies. We normally go to rabies clinics instead of the vet which costs $10 for the shot and tag instead of the $30+ at the vet.

I buy food in a 20lb bag at Petco to qualify for the buy 10 get one free. Purina Pro Plan which is a super premium food and did not come up in the recalls at all. Dry only, no canned to help with teeth health. I bake treats, although we do buy training treats and chews from the store when they are on sale or I have coupons. I also check for samples or free food and such from major suppliers to use when the eldest isn't feeling well and doesn't want to eat. The one splurge is Missing Link suplement which is the only thing that has kept my oldest from needing a joint supplement and cleared up his skin allergies.

I've never heard much good about the puppy prozac. I might look into the mroe natural remedies instead. They make some nice ones, even oil diffusers that might help.

Yeah, I had tried the natural remedies first, which didn't help. The prozac did seem to take an edge off at first, but now I think it's pointless.

You might want to check out this site Tracie Hotchner - Dog Talk the Radio Show. This woman has written a few books and helped me with my dog training. Anyway, there is a lot of interesting information on there about dog food and why dry kibble is actually harmful if fed as the main dish...

[lucille]

I would look into some websites or books on ideas for separation anxiety tactics. Would doggie day care be a possibility and would that be cheaper than the extra vet visits, medications and trainer? If it would solve the issue and be cheaper than the combined costs of the other things it could save money.

If you have a pet on an ongoing medication always check to see if this is a human medication. As in do they make it in that dose for human? The reason being is that many medications given to pets are the same ones given to humans. It may be cheaper to get it from your regular pharmacy for your pet, they will do this. Rather than paying for it directly from the vet. Some pet clinics charge quite a bit more for the same thing. IIRC there are some pharmacies that were doing free antibiotics on the common ones like amoxicillin. That is usually one of the first ones given to pets. Their medication might also be on the $4 drug list at one of the pharmacies. It doesn't hurt to ask.

Unless you need an annual checkup going to vaccination clinics will save money. If you or someone you know, knows how to give animal vaccinations properly. Certain ones are available for you to administer. You can get and give the Distemper 5 way vaccination yourself. Feed stores frequently sell them but only buy the ones that are refrigerated and come in a two vial pack with one dry and one wet ingredient. I don't suggest this unless you know what your doing, otherwise it is just better to go to a vaccination clinic. We do all of our dogs vaccinations except his rabies that must be done by a vet to be recognized by law enforcement and the health department.

[Caitlin]

Another way to reduce pet expenses is to get them fixed.

The cost of spaying/neutering your pet is more than offset by the expensive medical problems (and the cute but expensive babies!) that you can prevent by doing it.

You can often find Humane Society or ASPCA sponsored spay/neuter clinics that will do it for a fraction of the cost at a regular vet.

[Miss Rosie]

I don't know that you can do anything other than what you are at this point. However, meds and therapy can help humans with anxiety, so if you stick with it, it might be what your dog needs. There's no quick answer for psychological problems, not in humans or animals.

[lucille]

Originally Posted by Caitlin

Another way to reduce pet expenses is to get them fixed.

The cost of spaying/neutering your pet is more than offset by the expensive medical problems (and the cute but expensive babies!) that you can prevent by doing it.

You can often find Humane Society or ASPCA sponsored spay/neuter clinics that will do it for a fraction of the cost at a regular vet.

Oh yes!
Our dog is registered and when we bought her as a puppy the hubby had thoughts about possibly breeding her. At some point we decided that wasn't happening and I suggested getting her spayed. He absolutely refused for some odd reason, claiming but she's registered. I tried to convince him otherwise with no luck.

She got one uterine infection at about 3 yrs. old and that cost about $100 in vet bills.
Two years ago at about 8 yrs she developed a life threatening uterine infection that ended up requiring surgery. That cost about $700 plus a week of playing nurse to a rather sick dog at home. She also has mammary tumors that are most likely beneign but need to be investigated and probably removed, more cash for the vet.

Seriously, get them spayed or neutered you will save money in the long run. BTW, my experience is pretty typical of non spayed pets as they get older so odds are you will end up running up the same vet bills if you don't get them spayed.