Pet Owners: Stop Being Ripped Off NOW …

Like raising kids, buying a new sports car or getting a kidney operation, owning pets can cost a serious amount of money if you’re not careful — experts estimate that cost to be around $1,700 per year for a cat and almost twice that amount for a dog (pretty expensive, right?)!

Now that I have the bad news out of the way, here comes the good news for all pet owners: in an effort to lobby on our best friends’ behalf, I’ve assembled a list of valuable tips on how to save a bunch of money while caring for your buddies. Even better news: follow this advice to a “t”, and you’ll more than likely shave at least half of what you are currently being charged (read: robbed) off your annual ownership costs:

Prevention is paramount. Maintain your pet’s continued good health by both using flea and heartworm medicine and immunizing them on schedule. Also, have a discussion with your vet about which immunizations are absolutely essential versus which ones prevent diseases that are very rare and unlikely to affect your pet (then get a second or third opinion). Bonus: always buy your pet’s non-emergency medicines and preventives online (your vet won’t like this advice, but you’ll save big time).

Choose your vet carefully. While quality of care is the most important concern, you’ll also want to take a look at their fees and services, too (believe me: they vary greatly from vet to vet). I personally know that pet owners often feel pressured to agree to high-priced treatments and preventive measures for their pets at the time of any vet visit (I’m a pet owner myself, that’s how I know this). What to do when the pressure is on: begin by practicing the words, “I’ll have to think about that,” and then research all the options before your animal’s next visit.

Get a fence. Fences keep pets safe — period (they also keep nosey neighbors at bay, but that’s a different story). Keeping Sparky and Tabby inside can actually help keep them healthier by minimizing exposure to wild animals, parasites, injury, and other mishaps they would eventually get themselves into had there been no fence to hold them back! This also helps reduce the number of non-core immunizations your pet will receive.

Make your home “pet-proof”. Many foods (raisins, chocolate, and salt are just a few) which are harmless to you or I can make your pet seriously ill or even cause death. Common household products, plants, and medicines can also be harmful to the little guy. Familiarize yourself with the household hazards, and then keep them out of reach — it will protect both your pet and your wallet.

Groom at home. Skip the expensive services at the mall: bathing, brushing, and clipping nails are just a few of the hygiene routines you can do at home. At first, clipping anything on your pet will be tricky, so be sure to ask your groomer or pet store for recommendations on nail trimmers the first (or second) time around! If you want to skip this step, at least “Ask Jeeves” about it!

Using these very helpful tips, which I had to learn myself over the years, will in fact save you tons of money from this point forward (They worked wonders for me, my pets and everyone else who I’ve either told about or heard them from). You see, that’s how real information is passed on: from one person to the other, without trying to make any money from it. Not only can new friends be the source of great and valuable information, but they can also pet-sit for you when you need it, and vise-versa.

The most important piece of advice I can give you, in regards to pet ownership: If you can’t afford to give a pet good, loving care, and you don’t have the time, energy or real estate to do anything but chain them in the backyard, don’t get one (for your sake, their sake, and my sake)!