Introduction to choosing veterinary care

Adopting a healthcare plan for your pet, including veterinary care, can have ramifications throughout your pet’s life, both in your pet’s everyday well-being and longevity.

Choosing the right veterinary care is crucial not only to your pet’s health, but also can greatly impact costs over time. Pet healthcare options and veterinary care delivery, like healthcare for humans, has been changing rapidly. The discussion below will focus on adopting a healthcare plan for your pet and choosing the best vet care for your pet at the most economical cost.

Veterinarian services and a healthcare plan for your pet

In advance of choosing veterinarian services, some consideration should be given to an overall healthcare plan for your pet. A well thought out healthcare plan will enhance the life of your pet both in well-being and longevity. A plan should include trimming claws, choice of food and supplements, regular grooming, oral care, and exercise.

Primary care veterinarian

A primary care veterinarian can further provide some insight into any questions you may have on monitoring your pet’s health and offer advice on implmenting your healthcare plan. While the primary focus of most veterinarians is likely to encourage regular scheduled visits for routine examinations and updating shots or vaccinations, a proactive approach at home can have a major impact on your pet’s health.

Just as important as a healthcare plan for your pet, regular screening by a primary care veterinarian is crucial to preventing health issues that can occur undetected without an examination. Pets are unable to communicate what they are feeling, absent physical signs of impaired activity.

Choosing a primary care veterinarian

Veterinary care average cost

The average cost to see a vet, as would be expected, depends on the nature of the visit, and the location, as well as the veterinarian chosen. Since the cost of veterinarian care can cost a great deal over time, cost comparisons can be useful in evaluating care in advance of scheduling a visit.

A comprehensive overview of costs is provided by CareCredit.com (a provider of healthcare credit services) in an article that covers multiple care options. As covered in the article, veterinary services vary widely by procedures and by location across the 50 states in the U.S.

The simple average cost of a vet visit within the 50 states is $69.30 with a high of $93.44 in Connecticut and low of $55.00 in Nebraska. Of course, it is difficult to arrive at average cost based on arbitrary comparisons. However, an average cost provides a frame of reference for comparison and evaluation of services in your location.

The national average in the U.S. for a routine vet visit without a procedure, that includes a physical examination, ranges between $25 and $186. Beyond simple, routine visits, the article linked above provides a detailed summary of costs for procedures and treatments.

If care is not required immediately, a phone call to a prospective veterinarian should provide helpful information in advance of making an appointment. A starting point could be a cost comparison for an initial checkup and/or cost of routine vaccinations.

In any event, the article cited above provides valuable information for comparison of a range of procedures and services.

Assessing veterinary care before and after an appointment

Before and after a first visit to a veterinarian with your pet, it pays to do an assessment of the veterinarian practice considering some key points, which include the following.

Qualifications and expertise

Licensing and Credentials: Verify the veterinarians are licensed and hold a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM or VMD) degree. Do not be shy in requesting credentials which shouId be routine. If your pet has unique needs (exotic animals, orthopedic issues), seek a veterinarian with relevant expertise.

Services offered

Comprehensive Care: Look for a clinic that offers routine check-ups, vaccinations, surgery, dental care, grooming, and emergency services.

Facilities and equipment

The vet clinic should clean, well-maintained and organized with advanced diagnostics tools like Xray and ultra-sound are essential for proper diagnosis and treatment. The clinic does not have to be fancy, but should have equipment to perform advanced services. Also, look for a pet-friendly atmosphere, with features that minimize stress for pets, such as separate waiting areas for dogs and cats.

Location and accessibility

Choose a clinic close to your home for easy access, which will be convenient for regular visits and cruial for emergencies that may occur.

Transparency in pricing

Does the practice provide a schedule of costs for routine procedures, emergency visits, and available payment options (insurance, payment plans).

Reputation & reviews

Positive Feedback: Read online reviews and seek recommendations from friends, family, or other pet owners. Objective reviews for veterinarian services may be more difficult to access than product reviews that may be readily available.

Sources for reviews may include Google, Yelp, Better Business Bureau, and Facebook To access Google reviews, do a Google search using the exact spelling of the veterinary practice business name. If Google reviews are available for the business, a link should appear in the search results.

Emergency care availabiliy

24/7 Support: Understand how emergencies are handled after-hours. Does the clinic have an emergency hotline or a network of partner clinics equipped for critical situations?

Communication, education and support

A veterinarian should explain procedures clearly and demonstrate empathy towards your pet, which builds trust. A primay care veterinarian can further provide some insight into any questions you may have on monitoring your pet’s health and offer advice on implementing your health care plan.

While the primary focus of most veterinarians is likely to encourage regular scheduled visits for routine examinations and updating shots or vaccinations, a proactive approach at home will likely have a huge impact on your pet’s health.

Specialization and referrals

Specialized Care: Some clinics specialize in specific animal types or conditions. They should have a network of specialists for referrals if needed.

Ethical practices

Transparency and trust: Ensure the clinic prioritizes ethical treatment, responsible euthanasia policies, and transparent communication about medical recommendations.

Utilizing the above checklist, you should be able to choose a veterinary practice that is a good fit for you and your pet, in service and cost.

Vet services online

Pay vet services online

In recent years there has been a great deal of progress in how vet services are delivered, which includes online contacts for limited services. There are several vet services online on a pay basis, which include Ask a Veterinarian Online and Just Answer Veterinary. Before signing up for pay services, it is advisable to have a full understanding of the terms and conditions of the service in advance, which are always available.

Free vet services online

Chewy customers have access to Connect with a Vet, which provides free online chat for instant answers, which can be accessed by simply signing up for a Chewy account. In addition, Chewy offers a 20-minute video call for $19.99.

Pet healthcare insurance

Consideration should be given to pet healthcare insurance in adopting a healthcare plan for your pet. Like for humans, varying factors including costs and potential benefits should be weighed against preferences for services and your budget.

There are multiple pet health insurance carriers. Some of the better-rated carriers include AKC Pet Insurance, CarePlus Pet Insurance, Embrace Pet Insurance, Fetch Pet Insurance, Figo Pet Insurance, Lemonade Pet Insurance, Met Life Pet Insurance, Nationwide Pet Insurance, Pets Best Insurance, Pumpkin Pet Insurance, Spot Pet Insurance, and Trupanion Pet Insurance, all of which have ratings of 4-stars out-of-5 on Trustpilot. Due to high ratings, the foregoing insurance providers are all worth consideration.

Careplus Pet Insurance and Wellness

Care Plus Pet Insurance and Wellness by Chewy stands out as a comprehensive plan from a company that is in business to serve pets, which will be covered below. Instead of underwriting insurance itself, Chewy has selected Truepanion and Lemonade as underwriters to offer the best facets of each plan. CarePlus handles all of the details and is the contact for everything pertaining to the plans.

Along with Chewy’s Connect with a Vet service and vast array of healthcare products for pets, the comprehensive program offers professional help and convenience not offered by other insurance plans.

A complete article on CarePlus by Chewy is also provided on this site. CarePlus can be accessed in the link below.

Final thoughts

Your thoughtful choice of a veterinarian should help provide the best vet care for you and your pet. Choosing a veterinarian is a long-term proposition that should be considered carefully to ensure the best long term care results. Utilizing the above checklist and some research, you should be able to choose veterinary services that are a good fit for you and your pet, in service and cost.

In recent years, there has been a great deal of progress in how vet services are delivered, including online contacts for limited services. Using some of the free and low-cost options available online offers convenience and help with timely decision-making.

While pet healthcare insurance may not be the right option for everyone, it can be highly beneficial and remove some of the uncertainties in your pet healthcare plan. It is worth consideration.

About the author

Arthur Frentzel is a generalist researcher and writer, researching and authoring hundreds of articles covering diverse categories such as automotive, genealogy, investing, economics, and pets.  In recent years, he has published 56 articles on the Seeking Alpha international investment portal and remains as a contributor.  For his love of pets, he has dedicated his research and writing to the pet category.

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