Vet Shares Cost-Saving Pet Health Care Tips

Top 5 Cost-saving Tips for Pet Health Care:

1. When planning your family vacation this year, why pay for kennels or a house sitter? If you have pets that are tolerant of car or even air travel, plan a vacation that includes pet-friendly hotels: many major hotel chains and lots of independent hotels feature pet friendly accommodations (). Another option is cooperative pet-sitting. It's just like babysitting sharing set-ups that friends and neighbors often use--and usually quieter.

2. It may seem counter-intuitive to spend money to save it but DON'T skip your annual vet visits or preventive care. Routine things like dental cleaning and heartworm prevention are incredibly important and can avoid a huge bill (not to mention suffering for your pet). In addition, your annual visit is the best chance for your vet to catch disease early and hopefully avoid expensive "critical" situations. For the unexpected veterinary expenses, pet insurance is a great idea too.

3. Get smart with their food. Feeding according to the back of the packet is usually giving far too much. Talk to your vet about appropriate food intake (especially if Fido is a little overweight!) then measure food carefully; you'll be surprised how much further a bag of food goes. If you have friends with similar type pets, why not buy pet food in bulk and split the cost?

4. Instead of taking the family to the movies, take them with Fluffy down to the park or on a walk with a picnic? Increasing the number of activities you and your family do with your pet is not only free but is also good for everyone's health. In fact, if you can incorporate your dog into your workout (especially jogging) maybe you can cancel that gym membership?

5. Try and cut those extra pet expenses like grooming and bathing by learning how to do it at home. Take notice of the type of "cut" your pet gets and buy a decent set of clippers (something not to skimp on; poor quality clippers are frustrating to use and often a waste of money) to do it at home. The same applies to routine things like trimming nails and cleaning ears. In fact, keeping on top of these things and making them a "rewarding" activity for your pet will help keep them happy and healthy too!