Ash UK/US

We had to put my husbands dog down 3 years ago so it has been a little while but the last time I took it in for its check up I felt like I was sitting in a sales pitch for some very expensive dog food.

Michael

I live in expensive Silicon Valley and each time I take my cat to the vet for his annual checkup including one of three shots (rabies, feline leukemia, or distemper), the bill has been about $100.

I use online web sites for Frontline.

Squirrel

Pet Plan is the insurance recommended by the Humane Society. It's always worth having insurance in case of expensive emergencies.

$350 is a lot for removal of a tumour on a rat. We pay about £80 for that here (London/North Kent).

Bob

HOA situation perhaps? We're not allowed to dry laundry outside where I live

Bob

It was a lot, lot cheaper when we were up in Maine, visiting a middle of no where country vet...all a bit crazy ain't it.

NSBlake

Nope - we checked that - its just the old "dryers were seen as someway to show that you were doing well in the 1960's/70's and if you dried your clothes outside you obviously couldn't afford a dryer and therefore poor......."

Funny thing is - no one is really "poor" in Darien so the stereotype is just silly

1chumly

I pay $45 for an office visit. My dog had all his shots in the UK so we haven't been faced with that yet. I have always had a good experience with vets here, we lived in Houston before, left 17 years ago. When we lived in North Carolina it was cheaper and I wanted to take our vet with us when we went back to the UK! He was great. We don't have insurance as my dog has pre-existing conditions and my cat is an indoor cat so we didn't bother and are hoping he remains healthy.

joto

Our last dog who was 11 when we got him put down, must have totalled up about 3000 in his lifetime for visits, shots etc. 1500 of that was in his last 3 months for xrays, echocardiogram, tests. Most of that was at a vet specialty center. That was a small price to pay for a lifetime of love and companionship. Our regular vet charges about $45-50 per checkup visit and they are very thorough but kind, and don't suggest treatments etc that wouldn't help the animal. I used to work in a vets, so I know if I'm getting the BS treatment.
If there is more than one vet in your area, go to each of them and pick up an info sheet if they have one, and look at their website if any. If they don't, take notes on cost of visit, vacs, spay/neuter and who the vets they use are and research their education, how long have they worked there, etc.

Go to the library and research what type of dog you would want, large, small, short coat, long coat, temperament, etc. Don't just fall for the first cute furry face you see. If you want a particular breed, try the breed rescues. They usually do a great job, mostly with just volunteers. That's the way we got our latest Boxer.

mandpete

I just paid $191.00 for my dog to get fecal test, heartworm test and bordatella shot, this included $80.00 office visit. Several of my friends take their dogs to different vets in the area and we all pay very similar fees.

Bob

Saying that, there's some McMansion homes around where I live that obviously cost a fortune, yet folks can't afford anything else, so drive real beaters and you can look straight through their homes and not see anything blocking the view

Gingerert

We take our cat, Bob, to the vet about once a year for a check-up. He's an outside cat with a penchant for killing stuff and dragging back in as "presents" for us, so we make a point of making sure he's healthy and not catching anything gross from all his gifts.

I think the last annual visit included some vaccines, but it usually costs around $100 for just the basic check-up. They're very very keen to sell me the expensive pet food and flea/tick medication, but Bob doesn't have a problem with weight gain/loss or fleas so we just get stuff at the supermarket and he's doing fine.

We got Bob a microchip when he was about a year old because he had never been outside before and we were worried he'd get lost (we adopted him at nine months old from a shelter, neutured and all). It cost $16 for the chip, an ID tag, and a lifetime's enrollment in the microchip database, which I was thought was incredibly reasonable. We've had reason to use it, too! When Bob was first released we had about three phone calls a day to say people in our neighbourhood had found him. He stopped straying quite that far after a while and tends to stay in our back yard now.

The only big expense we had was when Bob got an eye infection from a scratch. I think the visit and antibiotics (and follow-up visit) cost around $150, about a year ago.

Cats are cheap. Love it!

(Apologies to BE member Bob, whom I now associate with our cat... )

NSBlake

That's a very good point!

Bob

I was about to wonder, when I saw my name pop up

Havnfun

I would get quotes from different vets. The first time we took our cat for it's annual checkup it was $300. I told them it would have been cheaper to fly back to Canada and have our vet there do his checkup

I recently saw that there is an organization that travels to different pet stores around Orange County and does low cost checkups and vaccinations. I haven't tried it yet but will for our cats next checkup.

Jerseygirl

A vet in Toronto has just given my little dog a heart ultra sound, ex-rays and blood tests. $1K. Meds were extra.