I work in a veterinary clinic, it’s no secret that veterinary staff are not rich. Every day I have conversations with people surrounding finances, and I know how it feels to be faced with large bills for veterinary care and wonder how you’re going to pay for them. Personally, I’ve always kept a savings account that I would dip into for the boys in the past if needed. I also have credit cards with plenty of room for charging vet bills. Some people are anti credit card, but this is a personal choice and I’d rather rack up a credit card bill saving my dog than buying new shoes.
Sometimes, people wonder how much is this going to cost? Why is this so expensive? What happens if I can’t afford it? Most people in the USA have health insurance and, in my area, Tricare (military provided health insurance) so they never see a bill or look at their explanation of benefits for health care they are provided for themselves. Advances in veterinary medicine mean a lot of the same standards and medications are used, and ultimately the cost of veterinary care is only going to continue to rise. This is a good thing! Sure, it means you’re going to spend more money, but it also means the standards of care are higher and the medicine practiced is more advanced and hopefully, if all goes to plan, more successful!
Usually there are a few standard options when it comes to accepting a treatment plan for your pet, and you should always ask for a printed treatment plan, so everyone is on the same page regarding cost of care. This also gives your veterinary team a chance to work within your allotted budget, and we love when you give us budgets! It makes everything easier if we know what we’re working with.
First, you go with what is sometimes referred to as Gold Standard; diagnostics (bloodwork, x-rays etc.) and treatment or referral as the veterinary team recommends. Second, you are up front about financial limitations and choose plan B; being selective about diagnostics and treatment and try one or two things before moving to the next, hopefully this will spread things out for your wallet too. Prioritizing the most important things based on your pets condition and taking a monitor or “wait and see” approach to more minor things. These two options are most appropriate for mild illnesses or minor injuries, obviously if your dog has bones sticking out or is bleeding, or your cat is in labor and has a kitten stuck this won’t work. Which leads us to the next option.
Euthanasia. This may not be an option you want to talk about but sometimes, it’s the only choice. If your pet is very sick and requires hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars in veterinary care, that may not be an option for you. I promise this is not a judgement, it’s just a realistic assessment of a sh*tty situation. Dachshunds with back injuries are probably one of the most common situations I see this conversation come up. Emergency consult with MRI is around $3500 at the place we most commonly refer to. Add surgery on to that if your pet is a candidate, and you’re approaching about $8000. This is assuming recovery is normal and your pet doesn’t need any advanced care. Otherwise you wait and see and hope your dog is not permanently paralyzed or the spinal compression caused by the injury doesn’t spread upwards and cause progressing paralysis to the front limbs. A CNBC article from January 2019 (link below) stated that only 40% of Americans could afford a $1000 emergency from their savings or checking account (CNBC 2019), now you’re talking about 8 times that amount; how many of you reading this could readily access $8000 in cash?
Enter Pet Insurance! I’m not a pet insurance salesperson, though after being licensed to sell/service insurance in almost every state maybe I should be, because the peace of mind this gives me is amazing!
Here’s how pet insurance could have helped my wallet had I known more about it when I first got Loki and Kato.
Last year, Loki had surgery to remove his thyroid cancer, he swelled up like he’d been bitten by a snake afterwards, and each night that week, we were at the emergency clinic or visiting the cardiologist during the day due to post-surgical complications. I probably spent $1000 that week alone not including costs for surgery or normal expenses for them. He was also anemic post-surgery until January of the following year, having blood work every 1/2/3 weeks from September to February. The average cost of a CBC (complete blood count to check his red and white blood cells and platelets) is probably around $45 based on the clinics I have been to or worked in. Even if it was every 2 weeks this would have been an extra $90 a month. If you live on a strict budget, $90 a month is a big increase. If you read my other blog posts, you’ll know that when Kato was first diagnosed with ARVC, I had to race him to the emergency room where he stayed for about 24 hours as they corrected his arrhythmia. Big dogs = big bills and he cost about $1800 that day. Speaking of big dogs, my parents’ 100lb German Shepherd just had a splenectomy and 10lb tumor removal at a referral clinic in the UK. Had he been insured they’d be $7000 richer right now too. Check out part of his bill shown below!
Now money is just money, you can’t take it with you when you die. I’d spend every penny I had to, to save my dog, but imagine if you didn’t have to?! I decided to get pet insurance for my new puppy, and I can literally breathe easier knowing if something crazy happens, I pay my deductible and 10% of the bill, and Boom! The insurance company covers the rest! Broken leg, ACL Tear, physical therapy, chiropractic, laser therapy; all covered!
A lot of this is because he is a healthy puppy with no preexisting conditions (which no pet insurance company covers) but if your pet is pretty healthy and just a few years old or younger; you should look at least consider pet insurance. Pure bred pets generally cost more, because statistically they have more issues. If like your car insurance you can afford a higher deductible, your premium will be less each month, but as long as I pay his insurance each month, I don’t have to worry about if I can afford his vet bill if a life threatening emergency happens!
I really feel for people who are forced to make tough decisions to euthanize their pets due to finances. I would never want to be in that situation. For less than the cost of 2 Starbucks drinks a month, I don’t have to be. I don’t have to choose between paying the mortgage and saving my puppy, or not being able to visit my new nephew in England when he’s born, because I must keep so much in my savings ‘just in case’. So next time you’re at the vet, talk to someone about pet insurance. Yes you’re going to pay a little each month but parting with that could save you thousands in the long run, and it could be life saving for your pet!
If you’re interested, we decided to go with Trupanion. If you’d like to check it out and get a quote click here: http://r.trupanion.com/BLG3w Full disclosure – if you sign up and give my code I do get a small credit towards my policy but I’d be sharing this info anyway I feel that happy recommending Pet Insurance! I also urge you to research companies, get recommendations from your vet and I can’t stress this enough – Read Everything before you commit to purchasing and ask questions of the company!
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/23/most-americans-dont-have-the-savings-to-cover-a-1000-emergency.html