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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Help me cut my dog care bill

34 replies

MistyBay · 02/10/2023 08:14

Hi everyone, I currently pay a small insurance premium for my six year old dog and then on top a Vets at Home subscription for worming tablets and a free health check once per year plus I think a vet visit if we need it.

The animal healthcare comes to £18 per mont and the insurance £10.94.

I'd like to reduce this if I can. I would pay more for the insurance and then just buy the worm tablets off the interet if cheaper.

Can anyone recommend an alternative?

Or, does this sound like quite a good 'covering all bases' cover?

Can someone also recommend me where to get the worm tablets online?

OP posts:
Honeyroar · 03/10/2023 14:39

Georgepaws · 02/10/2023 13:59

why give a healthy dog flea and worm treatment, every month, when they don't have fleas or worms?
Why do people do this? You are flooding your dogs system with unnecessary chemicals.
Give them 'treatment' if or when they get fleas or worms.

I completely agree. Worming a dog monthly is ridiculous and just means that worms become resistant to wormers. Same for flea treatments.

People do it because vets and pharmacy companies suggest it. And they suggest it because they make money from it. I’m always a bit flabbergasted that vets do it.

OP be careful when changing insurance. Some policies will rise a lot when your dog is a veteran.

margotrose · 03/10/2023 14:40

MistyBay · 03/10/2023 14:34

There is a HUGE ethical question here about how this is right - that you have a £4k ongoing bill for a pet.

If your dog is that ill that it warrents that much money to keep it well then it sounds very sick. Does it need the treatment at all - what will happen if it is left alone with no treatment? Or, are you being fleeced by the vet?

This is exactly the problem with the pet industry. It's turned into big business and people are getting rich on perceived pet illnesses.

I don't know what the answer is, of course no animal should suffer. But also, vets and insurance companies are blackmailing us with this type of attitude. How can treating a dog with epilepsy cost £4k?

Show quote history

I'm not the poster you're replying to, but I genuinely think you have no idea how much it costs to treat a sick animal. 4k is nothing. One round of surgery for snapped cruciate ligament can easily come to that, if not more.

Treating a dog with epilepsy can very, very easily come to 4k. Multiple vet visits - probably emergency ones if your dog fits in the night or at the weekend, scans, medication (trial and error as to what will work for your dog), blood tests and check-ups to make sure the dog is still okay.

Lonecatwithkitten · 03/10/2023 15:10

@MistyBay I am I bring fleeced by the vet - no as I am the vet. I have a young dog with seizures and I live I. A rural area so he had bloods to rule out metabolic causes and most infectious causes and he had an MRI to rule out structural abnormalities and he got a diagnosis of idiopathic epilepsy.
He has ongoing medications and will have regular blood tests to monitor the medication and to check the effects on his body,
Untreated his dry urges would get worse and every seizure causes a tiny bit of brain damage. He is a 2.5 year dog of a breed whose average life expectancy is 15years why would I not treat him.

IngGenius · 03/10/2023 15:18

Wormers only treat worms they do not prevent worms.

Worm count is a way of checking your dogs to see if they have worms and they you can treat accordingly. It is not cheaper than regular wormers but does stop all the unnecessary treatment on uninfected dogs.

Loads of companies do it I use Wormcount

My experience with cost of vet treatment is that the diagnosis can cost a lot of money. The treatment may not be so expensive. Eg scans, mris etc can cost loads of money. I do not see it as an ethical issue just to find out what is wrong with my dogs.

Bum scooting may be an issue with anal glands, Perianal fistula loads of things apart from worms. Best discussed with your vet......

Wormcount tests for dogs and all other animals | Wormcount.com

Wormcount.com are a leading UK based laboratory undertaking worm count tests and lungworm tests for dogs and all other animals.

https://www.wormcount.com/

gotomomo · 03/10/2023 15:20

That's cheap - I pay £160 a month, older dog

Floralnomad · 03/10/2023 19:34

MistyBay · 03/10/2023 14:34

There is a HUGE ethical question here about how this is right - that you have a £4k ongoing bill for a pet.

If your dog is that ill that it warrents that much money to keep it well then it sounds very sick. Does it need the treatment at all - what will happen if it is left alone with no treatment? Or, are you being fleeced by the vet?

This is exactly the problem with the pet industry. It's turned into big business and people are getting rich on perceived pet illnesses.

I don't know what the answer is, of course no animal should suffer. But also, vets and insurance companies are blackmailing us with this type of attitude. How can treating a dog with epilepsy cost £4k?

Show quote history

I’ve spent over 4k ( mainly reimbursed by insurance ) for my 13 yo dog this year because he has been diagnosed with high blood pressure . He’s not particularly sick now it’s under control but it still costs quite a bit per month for all his medications .

2teenboys · 05/10/2023 05:42

my vet told me we only need to worm 3x a year as the risks in England aren't huge.
flea & tick treatment lasts 3 months so 4x a year for constant coverage for those.

JustWhatWeDontNeed · 05/10/2023 06:12

I have a plan with vets4pets. I think it's £15 a month per animal and includes their yearly vaccinations, fleas and worms, nail trims and a discount if they need dentals. The flea and worm treatments they're given last 3 months.

When they lived in the Middle East I didn't flea them for years - they didn't seem to exist. I'm not entirely convinced they need the flea treatment in the UK, but having known multiple people with flea infested cats (and subsequent painful dermatitis) and also those who have struggled to deflea the home, I'll continue to administer for now.

Our insurance is about £60 for two cats, with some sort of old age excess. I keep it mainly in case they have an accident or develop a disease - they're a bit old.

I think humans are too used to the NHS, which makes veterinary treatment look astronomical. But medication, equipment and the time of multiple people is expensive.

Original poster
MistyBay · 05/10/2023 18:07

Thanks for the advice. Didn't mean to come across as criticising anyone's vet plan choices! We have to do what we have to do :)

In the end I have upped my insurance to some Scratch and Patch Gold Package thing, which is £15.98 per month and 20% voluntary Excess / £120 compulsory Excess and Accident and Illness up to £4,000. That should help if she gets a tumour or breaks something - which is my biggest fear.

Plus I have kept hold of the health plan. When I looked into the cost of annual vaccines and worm tablets it seemed reasonable at £18 per month and I get two visits to the vet included in that for peace of mind.

I think I am now overpaying, but it's a minefield! Perhaps I could look into dropping the healthcare in future after her next round of vax's. , but I can think about that at a later date.

Re the worm tablets, I'm thinking of maintaining the status quo. The little devil is doing well and I don't want to do anything to change that. So will continue.

OP posts:
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