6 Ways to Pay for Your Pet’s Vet Costs before Turning to Loans for Vet Bills

Pet ownership involves a great deal of emotional commitment. Whether you purchase a pet from a breeder, adopt one from the shelter, or rescue a stray, a pet can become an integral part of your family life. Which makes it all the harder when your pet is sick or hurt.

The average cost of routine vet visits can range between $50 and $400, while preventive medicines and vitamins can cost you another $200 to $400 per year. This doesn’t even take into account any specific ailment or injury your pet might suffer. In the event of emergency treatment, the overall vet bill can run into the thousands of dollars.

Some people are not financially equipped to take on large vet bills, especially if they are sudden, and they will oftentimes turn to finance options and alternatives treatments to offset the costs.

Read on to learn about some of the ways you can make sure your pet’s vet bills get paid and don’t break the bank.

6 Ways to Pay a Vet Bill You Can’t Afford

Many pet owners find it difficult to support mounting vet bills during some part of their time as a pet owner. If you find yourself in this situation, then here are 6 helpful tips to provide you with some much-needed financial breathing space.

1. Look for a Cheaper Alternative

All of us would ideally like to provide our pets with the best available medical care. Quite obviously, the best care also cost the most. If you go to the best vet clinic in your town, then it’s highly likely the costs can quickly add up to be a significant amount. Good for you if you can afford it, but in case it’s exceeding your budget, you can always look for a cheaper alternative. So do a little research, consult with other pet owners, and see if you could find decent quality vet care that’s within your financial reach.

2. Ask About a Payment Plan

Many veterinary clinics offer affordable long-term pet care plans. this allows you to do the necessary treatment and pay the bill in regular installments. While there might be some additional charges in the form of interest, such an arrangement can come in handy if you are facing a mounting vet care bill.

3. Reach Out to Friends and Family for Help

You can always count on your loved ones during times of a crisis. If you have friends or family members to rely on, there is no shame in asking for financial help. You can always repay them when your financial condition improves.

4. Contact a Veterinary College

The cost of treatment is significantly cheaper in veterinary colleges compared to private vet clinics. Some vet colleges even offer a completely free consultation service, which means you would only need to arrange money for the medical bills. The low cost of treatment is mainly due to the fact that vet colleges have lots of students who need to gain hands-on experience. But don’t worry, while a student will do the initial examination, they will always be supervised by an experienced veterinarian.

5. Research Animal Welfare Organizations

There are quite a few non-profit animal welfare initiatives that support vet bills through grant programs. For example, the American Animal Hospital Association maintains something known as the Helping Pets Fund. You need to apply for the grant through the proper channels and the costs associated with the treatment will be taken care of by them.

6. Pay With a Credit Card

Last but not least, you always have the option to fall back to your credit card. This can help you pay the bill right away, but make sure you are being reasonable with your other expenses and have the resources to your monthly credit card bill. Failure to repay on time can bring you problems in the form of worsening credit score and mounting debt.

Obtaining a personal loan is another option worth considering. Interest rates associated with personal loans are typically lower than those of credit cards, and you can negotiate a favorable repayment schedule that suits your needs.

READ MORE: 5 Cost-Effective Ways to Keep Your Pet Healthy

Personal Loans for Vet Bills

Personal loans can be a viable option to cater to a wide variety of financial requirements. It may not have crossed your mind just yet, but if you have a good credit score, you can instantly secure a personal loan with a relatively low interest rate to cover the costs of vet bills.

Nowadays, securing a personal loan is a rather simple affair. Typically, the only prerequisites are having a decent credit history and a dependable source of income.

Most of the lenders offer you the convenience of an online loan application. You just need to fill out an application form with the required personal/financial details. The lender will run a quick check on your financial history and come to the decision either to approve or reject your loan request. The entire process hardly takes 2-3 days and the disbursed amount gets credited to your bank account within another couple of days.

5 Ways to Keep Vet Costs Down for Your Pet:

Want to keep vet costs firmly in check, but don’t want to take a chance with the quality of treatment? Consider these 5 effective ways to save some cash on your vet bills.

1. Ask for Written Prescriptions

Instead of buying the prescribed medicine directly from the vet clinic, you can ask for a hard copy of the prescription and shop around for a discount deal. There are lots of online vet pharmacies that offer lucrative deals — which can help you save a significant amount of money.

2. Utilize Pop-up Clinics

Many non-profit pet welfare societies organize periodic pet care camps. You can get free or discounted pet care services if you decide to attend such an event. So make sure to check with some of the local organizations in your community about their upcoming schedule.

3. Shop Around for Services

There is no hard and fast rule that you need to stick with a particular vet. All you need is quality treatment for your pet and the cheaper it is, the better. So check with several vet care service providers and compare their charges. If you can get the same quality service at a lesser price, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t go for it.

4. Research Pet Insurance

You almost certainly have health insurance for yourself and your family members. But does your pet have coverage? If not, it can be a good idea to research this area. An affordable pet insurance policy can help minimize your vet bills. So do give it a serious thought and see if it can be of any help in keeping the vet care costs in check.

5. Budget for Expenses

It’s important to have a set budget for pet care right from day one. If you have a dedicated fund for pet care, it could help you immensely in a time of need. That way you can avoid the pitfalls of credit cards and loans to fund your vet care expenses.

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• 7 Best Adoption Loans to Help Complete Your Family

Conclusion:

Before deciding to obtain a pet, you should give the potential financial commitment of this decision some serious thought. While there are some effective ways to keep vet bills in check, you may invariably come across situations where external financial help is a necessity. If you find yourself in such a predicament, then obtaining a personal loan can be a viable alternative.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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