A old neighbor of mine, that used to live on a farm, showed me how to vaccinate my dog myself. I had never heard of this before, but the vaccinations were much cheaper than a vet visit.
I have a dog that I have had for 11 years. She has a problem with her bladder. She needs to pee all the time and sometimes has blood in it. I am looking for a vet that is in my area that works with low income families. My husband has recently been laid off and I work as a bartender. We are having a problem even making rent. Please help me!
By Cindy G.
I've been in your situation. I found help for my elderly dog by ringing around to the vets and baldly asking for help. I prepared before starting the phone calls by writing down a simple paragraph that I could just read as an introduction to why I was calling and what I needed.
The paragraph read along the lines of "May I speak with the practice manager to see if I can arrange low cost help caring for my 11 year old neutered Boxer? I'm willing to help clean the kennels or whatever in trade for vet care for my dog. I'm having financial troubles right now and can't afford extra pet care costs but my dog needs vet care for ..."
It took me about five phone calls to find a vet clinic willing to help me and my furbaby. I cleaned out pens, did landscaping work, and walked recovering or kenneled dogs in exchange for vet care for my baby the last two years of his life.
Good luck and don't give up, there are a lot of good vet staffs out there who will work with you, and will also have information on low-cost clinics they can refer you to.
I have often heard that the ASPCA is available for low cost pet health care. However, I have never tried it. I did see on an episode of Animal Cops on Animal Planet, that a woman received low-cost care for her dog from the ASPCA.
The following two links will give you some good information!
Good luck!
www.rescuinganimalsinneed.org/
www.humanesociety.org/
You have gotten some good feedback. Please post again for everyone to see if you have found no help, list your state and county the next time too. Cindy, I hope everything is looking a little sunnier each day for you and your dog.
I wish you lots of luck on this. I have been through the same thing, in fact am now I have an 11 year old Yorkie and am on disability. We grow to love our furbabies just like children.
My kitten may have a broken leg. I don't have hardly any money due to taking care of family member. I need some humane advice on how I can get help for my kitten.
By Kim
Contact your local humane society and ASPCA, maybe even local shelters-if there is low cost care available they will be able to tell you where. Years ago I was adopted by a kitten, and was pretty low-income. Couldn't turn my back on my kitty so I called around and at the time there was a local clinic that charged fees on a sliding scale (income based).
I have always struggled to come up with the money for my dogs' annual visit to the vet. I decided that I would pre-pay every month and create a credit balance with the vet. This seems to be working out. I have now paid off last year's services and have a credit balance towards this year's visit.
When you do have to take your pet to the vet, don't get the price from the front desk. When you see the vet, question him about the price and agree on what you are willing to pay and what he will do for that amount.
Low income pet owners are often faced with the dilemma of the high cost of vet bills versus their pet's health. This is a page about getting help to pay vet bills.
This is a page about finding financial assistance for pet medical costs. The cost of keeping your pets healthy can be expensive, especially when they need extensive medical or surgical care.
Many veterinarians will give a discount if you bring in more than one pet at a time, if you've adopted your pet from a shelter, and some even give senior citizen discounts! It doesn't hurt to inquire about these kinds of discounts.