How Patience Saves Me Money on Pet Care

Photo taken by Kendal Perez

I’m the proud parent of two Labrador-Australian Shepherd mixes who, thankfully, are each in good health at age eight. My husband and I maintain their good health by feeding them quality food and keeping them up-to-date on vaccines and disease prevention.

I’m one of those annoying people who compares her dogs to children. Our DINK status means our smartphones aren’t filled with images of toothless, slobbering babies, but wide-greening, slobbering dogs. I’m in love with these animals and would do anything to help them maintain their health. That being said, I’m a firm believer in comparing costs and avoiding excessive fees whenever possible. Sometimes, that comes at the price of my time.

Recently, we took our dogs in for their annual vaccinations. While we had been taking them to Banfield, I opted this year to take them to Vetco to avoid office visit fees. With our two dogs, those fees typically added up to $60, so waiting in line to avoid that expense seemed worth it. And wait in line I did — we arrived a few minutes after 10:00am when the clinic opened (rookie mistake) and I stood behind two very-behaved huskies for over an hour. Since my dogs aren’t as well behaved in stressful situations with other animals, my husband kept them company under a shade tree in the back of our truck.

When it was finally our turn, I let the vet tech know that we didn’t need Bordatella vaccines for our dogs, to which she responded with a cheaper package than the one I’d been planning to purchase. Another $20 saved there.

The procedure itself took about five minutes and about a pound of dog hair nervously shed by the boys. I was offered brand-name heartworm treatment for $53 for six tablets or $100 for 12 tablets, but again I decided to spend more time comparing prices and finding the best deal.

After receiving results from the lab tests, I looked at prices from several different pet med providers but it was ultimately my husband who found the best offer. The generic heartworm meds we’d been using for our dogs cost $29 for six tablets or $55 for 12 tablets. I grabbed a coupon code from CouponSherpa.com to save an additional $5 and ultimately paid less than $50 for 12 pills.

Taking the time to research your options and make informed decisions is hardly groundbreaking, but in our fast-paced, want-it-now society, the strategy is often overlooked. If you want to make the best decision for your pet – you might start investing in an affordable pet insurance. There are many new companies that offer amazing prices for their services – like Bivvy pet insurance, which will save you a lot of cash in the future! It can be (and should be) applied to a number of situations, whether it’s waiting until sale time to pick up a new appliance, holding off on a car purchase until you can pay for it with cash, or simply trading your Sunday morning plans to save a few bucks on pet care.

Has patience ever saved you money?

Kendal Perez is a spokesperson for Coupon Sherpa, the premier source of online, in-store and mobile coupons. She also blogs about her money-saving successes and failures over at Hassle-Free Savings and enjoys yoga, decluttering, IPA and obsessing over her dogs.