First, the price for a dental was $400. Then, the price for a dental was $800. Only a year later, the price for a dental was $1,200. Now, the postcards and emails and texts and phone calls my vet peppers me with every time dentals are due are starting, but I’m not calling in to get them signed up.
Who can afford to give three mortgage payments worth of money away every single year? No doubt with an extra mortgage payment thrown in for this year’s jaw-dropping price increase. What will the final bill be this time? $1,600 per dog perhaps, based on the previous increases?
High Vet Prices Are Everywhere
I’m not the only one reeling from these shocking price increases—and it’s not a local phenomenon. In the UK, a formal market investigation is being launched into the veterinary industry after a spike in prices there outpaced inflation.
When they received a jaw dropping 56,000 comments about the state of the industry, the investigation is slowly leading to action, including possible price caps on prescription medication for pets.
In the USA, there has been an 11% increase in veterinary prices in just one year, on top of the already swollen prices from years gone by. If you compare prices from now to a decade ago, it’s more like a 60% increase.
Paw-sing for Care, a mini-documentary on inflated prices in the veterinary industry, blames a severe veterinarian shortage. There are 40,000 fewer veterinarians than there needs to be, and that number isn’t really increasing.
There are a lot of other reasons for rising prices which we’ll get to in a future article, but in the mean time, dogs are paying the price for these sky high prices.
Increased Quality of Care
Some of the price increase doesn’t come from the price of an exam going up, but that more is being done for a particular procedure. The actual tooth cleaning part of that dental for example, might still be $400—but now x-rays and bloodwork are also mandatory, inflating the price.
According to the AVMA, although the veterinary industry overall saw 5.7% financial boost, the number of clients fell by 2.7%. Most likely, that 2.7% marks the number of people priced out of veterinary care for their animals.
What Pet Owners Can Do
Pets have become more like family than ever before, but let’s face it, money doesn’t grow on trees. Many owners face deciding between euthanizing their beloved pet or maxing out credit cards to get even close to a princely vet bill.
If you’re struggling with a big vet bill, here are some concrete things you can do right now.
Financial Aid
Believe it or not, there actually is help out there for people struggling with their vet bills. These are usually offered by human societies, because it is cheaper to help you with your medical bills and keep the pet with you, than to treat the dog anyway and then rehome it.
In my local area for example, an elderly gentleman was able to get surgery to remove a cancerous lump on his pug for free, through the local humane society.
Go Fund Me
Another method of gaining funds for veterinary care is through crowdfunding. Go Fund Me is a crowdfunding website that allows you to ask for help with a specific situation. You may be able to pool $5 here, $10 there from your friends and family to reach the goal you need for your dog’s vet bill.
Care Credit
Care Credit is a compassionate credit card that allows you to pay your vet bill, and then pay care credit back in installments. There’s no or very low interest if it’s paid off within the agreed upon period—but keep in mind hefty interest can be assigned if it isn’t.
Negotiation
This is at the bottom because it is rarely an option, but sometimes a vet will agree to receive pay in installments. Let your veterinarian know in advance that you are struggling financially so they can take that into account when working with you.
This may not be available if the vet is part of a chain. It may not be obvious if they’re part of a chain either, as most of the big chains don’t promote their own branding.
Our dogs are big parts of our family. It can be difficult to have a sick or injured dog that needs help and have no way to pay for that help. Before being forced to make a difficult decision, do check financial aid in your area. Help is often there, but it may take quite a bit of ground work to find it.
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Insurance. The essential every pet owner needs (even if I had to go without lunch I would have pet insurance). Or as our friend TailWagWisdom has suggested, a small pet health fund setting aside a few dollars each week. I know of at least one organisation that offers financial help for pet owners and I know they have saved lives.
Without insurance I would have almost $10,000NZ worth of vet bills for two very suddenly, very sick, cats so yes, insurance is an essential. But, I believe veterinary care is never cheap and the cost in the US takes my breath away. AND, a bug bear of mine against some US veterinarians, they declaw cats (an unbelievable and brutal procedure for self centred humans who love their sofas) done purely for profit and horrific in the extreme.
I have yet to find an insurance policy that covers dentals. What do you have?
Oh my goodness, I don’t own cats but my mom did growing up. The cat had to have a couple of his front claws removed for medical reasons. I don’t recall what the reason was because I was too young, but it wasn’t even all of the claws, just a couple of specific ones. They gave him a morphine patch before, but the procedure was still so painful he walked on his hind legs for months rather than put his front feet down.
Honestly, having seen that, I could never dream of a situation where removing toes for a non medical purpose could be justified–I even think euthanasia may have been a better choice for our cat because of the degree of pain he went through for so long. He did recover eventually and was a happy normal cat, but that time frame for him was awful and he truly suffered. No pain medication touched it. I felt so bad for him.
Boy do I feel you especially when it comes to dental…thanks for the tips. I do have Carecredit and have used it a lot over the years.
Care Credit is a solid choice!
Yes, vet care can certainly be expensive. Yet, as you said, they are family and we must take care of our furry family members. As Marjorie said, a pet savings account can also help with any shortcomings. Those organizations and foundations that help a certain income level, breed, or disease are also very helpful, as you mentioned. Care Credit is a great source and some vet’s offices offer their own version. Surprisingly, people don’t understand that what they receive through a GoFundMe account is considered taxable income. It is not just free money that helps pay for vet bills or whatever they state. I also love doing creative things like negotiating or selling items to help pay for a vet bill. Pet parents can be creative. This is a very helpful article, Andrea! Thank you! I’m sharing with all my pet parents.
Great and timely post. The amount costs have gone up is nuts! 60%…staggering! It makes it so difficult for pet lovers to have pets. And that’s sad.
For me, I did not have luck with insurance for my five Huskies for dental, or much else. Besides the price of the policies for five, one of mine was diagnosed with epilepsy when he turned 3 and back then, they did not cover any of that as they considered it a pre-existing condition. (Was it? He didn’t have it for the first 3 years, but that was what they claimed). So I skipped insurance. I hope it has changed over the past few years and is better now. I do hear of some folks who have much covered, but that wasn’t the case at the time for me.
I so agree to your “Negotiate!” Yes! It’s so worth it. I was fortunate that my vet, when I asked, offered me a “multi-dog discount.” It was 10% off, and while it doesn’t sound like much, it sure adds up in the savings! I agree it’s important to ask.
Yes to CareCredit! Many vets and clinics do offer CareCredit and I’ve heard good things about how it helps. Always a good suggestion!
I’m not a fan of GoFundMes. Personally, if someone wants to welcome a pet to their family, they need to know ahead of time that they can afford it, in sickness and in health, and plan for it. I understand creating a GoFundMe if there is a true dire emergency, but the world is so bogged down with economic drains and poor finances, that I just am not a fan of asking others to pay for a pet I wanted. But, I am a fan of GoFundMes for registered rescues/sanctuaries.
Another suggestion is creating a “Dog Fund” (I did one and it was really a Christmas/Vacation Fund, but I marked it for my dogs!) A little bit was automatically taken out from each paycheck. Every little bit helps!
Thanks for great post. Lots of great possibilities. Sharing for sure!
I know in the U.S. Elizabeth Warren was looking into the increased vet care but I’m not sure if that’s going to go anywhere for a while with the current events happening now. Between big corporations buying up most practices and people taking their frustration out on members of a profession that is at high risk of self-harm, I don’t see this getting better unless the government steps in. 🙁
This is so true! Vet costs are astronomical now. These options to help sound promising. Thanks for sharing!