Tip #4: Spay or neuter your dog

Research has proven time and time again that spayed and neutered dogs have fewer medical problems as they get older. Females dogs that have not been spayed are at an increased risk for mammary cancer and infected uteruses. Intact males are more likely to develop prostate and testicular cancers. All are expensive to treat!

Would you rather pay for a routine or a complicated surgery if it meant saving the life of your dog? Trust me on this one—it’s a total no brainier. You’ll thank yourself later.

Taking care of a litter of puppies is also NOT CHEAP.

Tip #5: Don’t have pet insurance? Apply for CareCredit or the Citibank Health Card.

There may come a time when your pet requires a medical procedure that you can’t afford. Hopefully you’ll never have to face this situation, but chances are you will. And it’s never at a time when you have lots of extra cash in your bank account just waiting to be spent!

Many veterinary hospitals do not offer payment programs. This is simply because many pet owners never follow-up on their payments. Don’t take it personally. If they did accept payments they would have to charge even more to cover the costs associated with the deadbeats. But that doesn’t help you out does it?

Well, luckily there is a solution to this problem. Veterinary hospitals have begun working with two companies that take care of setting up payment programs for them. This is a great solution because the credit service pays the hospital and you can take as long as you want (almost) to pay off the bill. Just be sure to pay off the balance before the interest kicks in. It all varies depending on the plan you choose and what you are approved for.

The two payment services are Care Credit ( http://www.carecredit.com ) and the Citibank Health Card (http://www.citibank.com/us/cards/cardserv/healthcrd/). You can apply online for credit. Your veterinary hospital will probably have an account set up with one or the other. Do a search to see if your veterinary hospital is listed on their list of providers.

Other medical providers such as dentists and eye doctors also accept this form of credit, so it can be used for things other than your veterinary bills.
If your veterinary hospital does not have an account set up with either company, you many want to consider taking your pet to another hospital in your area that does.

Here’s some testimonials from the CareCredit website:

My dog was very sick and needed emergency surgery or she would have died. I had the money for the surgery in savings, but when the vet offered to enroll me in CareCredit, I thought that it would be an opportunity to spread the payments over a six month period, without interest, and not have to dip into savings. It was great. It made a very traumatic experience less traumatic because I didn't have to worry about the financial aspects. - Maryann M.

I am single and live on my own with very little income. My cat is my baby and he became sick. I was so upset because I did not think I would be able to afford his healthcare. My veterinarian told me about CareCredit and I was so pleased that I was able to apply and have an account that I could use for my cat's healthcare. If it was not for CareCredit, I would not be able to afford healthcare for my best furry friend in the entire world. - Rebecca F.

CareCredit seems to be more popular with veterinary hospitals because it’s endorsed by the American Animal Hospital Assocation but both companies offer pretty much the same features and benefits.

The advantage to using these accounts as opposed to a credit card is that you don’t have to pay any interest as long as you pay off the balance before your deadline. If you don’t you’ll be paying some hefty interest charges though!

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