How to Pay for Your Pet’s Treatment
Covering the cost of treating your pet – whether it’s a routine check-up or a more complex procedure – can be costly.
Should you take out a pet insurance plan with deductibles and surcharges, or create a dedicated savings account to help cover the cost of caring for your fur baby? What about medical credit cards like CareCredit ? How are they different from regular credit cards – and are they worth it?
In The Motley Fool, Christie Bieber lists options for paying for health care for pets, from pet insurance to personal loans. For example, in the section on CareCredit, she clearly describes the pros and cons:
Although CareCredit’s standard annual interest rate is 26.99%, it has certain financing options that are much more affordable. For example, you may be eligible for a deferred interest program if you pay $ 200 or more to care for your pet. With a deferred interest plan, interest starts to accrue from day one, but you do not earn interest if you pay the balance over the promotional period, which is usually six, 12, 18, or 24 months.
The various methods of paying for medical bills for pets boil down to the following:
- Cash payment
- Use of money withdrawn from a savings account (special or regular account for pet care)
- Using pet health insurance to cut costs (although you will have to calculate if the premiums you pay are worth the coverage you get)
- Pay by credit card and pay off the balance over time (try using a credit card with an initial 0% annual return to avoid interest)
- Getting a personal loan to pay for extremely expensive procedures
Of course, these are not the only options – you can always raise funds for a procedure for your pet, look for options with a sliding scale, treat your pet with veterinarian students instead of a full-time veterinarian, check out the Humane Society’s resources on applying for pet health care, financial assistance, and much more. Think outside the box when looking at an expensive veterinary bill.
How did you cover your pet’s medical costs? What is your biggest veterinary bill as a pet owner and how did you deal with it? If you are thinking of bringing a furry friend into the house, have you started planning expenses?
After all, pets are like us – they need love, they need food, exercise and entertainment, and someday they may need an expensive medical procedure.