the cost of vet bills

[Grace]

The University of Arizona, in Tucson, has a school of Veterinary Medicine.

We use Michigan State - costs about half what a regular Vet does - at least for emergencies. The reason being, we pay taxes that support the school.

We had a cat with a badly fractured leg. He had hardware inserted up at MSU - spent about 48 hours there, and the bill was exactly half what it would have cost at the fancy conglomerate near Detroit. The fracture was too bad to be fixed by a 'regular' Vet.

Vet schools do routine care also, so check it out.

[Sowa]

The vet college here costs more then the clinics.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I know all to well about the high prices of vets. I currently have 6 cats and I usually bring them in 2 at a time for their annual exams. This way I usually get a price break on the exam. I love my vet and she's given me many discounts in the past and she always comments on how well I care for my cats. She does work in a brand new vet hospital with all of the bells and whistles so it is pricey but it's also an emergency hosptial so it's open all of the time. I've been to other smaller clinics and they charged almost as much but I just didn't get good customer service from them so I changed to this hospital.

I do brush my cats teeth once a week. They don't like it but it's for their own good. I also feed 4 of them grain free diets and this helps to control their weight and has improved their overall health. I feed them Wellness Core dry and Wellness grain free canned food. My oldest cat Storm had urinary crystals and became blocked 2 times and had to have the PU surgery. He also used to get UTI's sometimes. Now since he's been on a grain free diet he hasn't had any more urinary problems. He does need plenty of canned food though.

If a vet bill is too expensive I have no choice but to use a credit card and pay it off later. Lately I've been able to use my debit card for most vet visits though. I also will not put an animal through a lot of expensive treatments that I know that I can't afford. I also lost a my RB Sunny to cancer.Good luck.

[Charlie08]

going to look around and check out websites etc. and vet websites for deals.I have gone from using a 24 hr vet to a regular clinic, and back and forth for a few years. when I first got the cats, the first cat, and then more..I went to the same clinic for years till I got mad at that vet for not doing something and treating me like she couldn't be bothered. then i switched around every once in a while, now I have found one I like but like I posted before, going to have to re-think that.

my Charlie was only 8 years old when he was diagnosed with cancer. I feel guilty because I was not home alot around that time. but did see them daily. one day I came home, and petted him, oh my god whats wrong? he was just skin and bones! how did I not see it earlier? it's like it just popped up so sudden! lymphoma. too advanced. nothing they could do, and I had a friend who had cancer at the time (has passed away) and she told me it would be wrong to put him thru the chemo treatments. I didn't have alot of money for it but I was going to try anyway, maybe. I wasn't sure. I did not want him to suffer. turned out they said it was too advanced to do any good. how did I not see it sooner?? anyway now I have the 4 and will look up vet schools to take them for check ups .

[BitsyNaceyDog]

We have a "pet budget" we add to each week. For the most part it covers our pet expenses. Emergencies often come out of our savings account or put on a credit card.

One evening, back in March, my dog Nova ripped her stomach open. A loose nail on our back porch had popped up and we hadn't noticed it. Nova's belly got caught on the nail and really did some damage. She spent the night in the emergency clinic and was transferred to our regular vet the next morning. It was a full 2 months, and more than $4000 before she was better. That really drained us. She's doing great now though!