I took my 2 dogs to the vet for regular maintenance yesterday. $378 I know they needed everything and I normally don't do it all at once. We got 2 rabies shots, 2 distempers, 2 heartworm tests, 12 month x 2 supply of heatworm meds.


So now I am thinking of ways to save on my dogs' care. Share your frugal pet tips here!!!

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~Happiness is a large family~

Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. James 1:19

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24

Gosh! If you find any tips, let me know!

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My dog needs to go to the vet for the annual also, and I'm not looking forward to it that bill. I have no advice on how to save money on the vet and shots.

Other ways I save is I get the Walmart brand of the crystal kitty litter. It's costs 1/3 as much as Tidy Cat. I get their food at Petco where you buy 10 you get 1 free.

I get my flea medicine off ebay found great deals and it was ok. I also heard you can layer clay cat litter with baking soda for good smelly litter. I used the special kitty litter from walmart and was pleased. i had forgotten abotu petco thanks is is a card or do they know?

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I Hear you!

I Can't think Of any way to Save with animals , Other than Don't Get them!

Seriously I Love My 3 cats and One Dog , But My Dog Just has an Eye infection , a Torn Ligament and He Needed shots, Blood work and a Checkup. Well after the Follow Up Visits and Meds , We Paid Close to 700.00 !! and who Knows What will Happen Next , Knock On Wood.
Luckily the cats are pretty Healthy... We do Shots for them at the humane society. Saves a Few Dollars there. Not too Big of Savings - Their Prices Just went up , They can see our vet If they get sick.

I Am the type that thinks animals are Part of the family and If I Take them in , I Have to care for them till the end....

Our Dog is Now 12 so We know He only has a Few Yrs. Left. .

We are NOT getting another do Till the Kids are grown! Too expensive.

Everyone tells me to go to Petco for their shots instead of the vet, that the vet is way more expensive...we'll see, I'm going to try it this month. Also, I know for a fact the medicine is cheaper online, I think I bought our heartworm medicine last fall for way less at absolutelypets.com. The medicine at the vet is outrageous. I am planning on only going for a checkup, for everything else, I'll ask for a perscription and shop online.

When we had a dog, we used a feed store. The food was cheaper and so was the flea medicine. The shots at Petco may have been cheaper but they added a bunch of tiny fees that added up. It costs the same as the vet.

We are a family that has 2 dogs as well.

Thankfully the shots here don't run too terribly bad. I think the last time we had them done they had to get a shot each and they were $19.98 each shot per dog.

However when we got our flea treatment, toenails trimmed, spayed & nuetered and rabies shot I got that all done for $10 each dog at our Animal Shelter, only because my income guidelines fell into the category. Thankfully we got it done because 3 weeks after we had it done our income increased.

I don't purchase chew toys, as I think this just promotes chewing, I don't buy junk snacks and I don't buy Science Diet anymore. We have our dogs on Beneful and I give them 3 slices a bacon once a month..it's the fatty bacon my family won't eat that comes in the large packages..and I also give them the cooked skin fat off my chicken thighs that I boil. So thats' their special snacks.

As far as flea treatments and bathing, I do homemade solutions. Also you can get a mobile pet vet that will do shots for WAY cheaper than vets.

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Happily married to my geek
Proud homeschooling, cloth diaperin, attached parenting, slinging, simplier, breastfeedin, sewing mama mades, christian and funky mama to my precious daughters and a little BOY

I dont know if you use flea meds, but where I live there a must in the warm months. They cost 17 a month and only k-9 advantix seems to work. To save money I stoped giving him the flea drops in the late fall and all of winter, and start up again about April 1.

Compare prices for heartworm meds and flea/tick on line at places like Dr. Fosters&Smith and 1800petmeds. If your vet is one of the many that have a huge markup (like ours does) it is usually cheaper buying it yourself. Also, do your research on the vaccinations - if youre getting them every year you are overvaccinating. Only exception to that is rabies, which varies based on state mandates. Or if you choose to vaccinate - I too heard that petco does them incredibly cheaper than a vet - if you have a store near you.