I've Saved a Fortune on Vet Bills by Doing One Simple Thing

Could this potentially help you save on your pet's care?

My dog Molly is a beloved family member, and she's also a huge budget-buster. I did not sign up for pet insurance on her when she was young, and she is now 16 with a number of pre-existing conditions, including a repaired mitral valve problem in her heart.

Since I don't have pet insurance, I have to pay out of pocket for all of her care. And as she's getting up there in age, in recent years, this was costing quite a bit because she would have neck and joint issues and I was regularly at the vet getting her checked out and buying medications when her issues would flare up.

With the big costs I was incurring, I decided to try an alternative approach -- and it's saved me a ton of money.

This move helped to slash my vet bills

For Molly, it is easy to tell when her neck or joints start bothering her. With her neck, she stops being able to shake off and when her joints bother her, she walks gingerly on her front paws.

These symptoms showed up a few times and we went to the vet, had a full exam, and were sent home with a handful of meds. She'd end up having to be on the medications for a while, and I wasn't sure how much they were really doing since they weren't addressing the underlying issues causing her to be uncomfortable.

Fortunately, my husband is a chiropractor and he recognized that maybe she could be treated in a different way -- with chiropractic care. We ended up finding a veterinary chiropractor in our town who could see her. He was able to adjust her and she could shake off right away afterwards, instead of being on medication for weeks at a time.

The cost of this chiropractic visit was a fraction of the amount I would spend to take her to the vet, pay for the exam, and pay for the medications they were putting her on. She also didn't get scared of the chiropractor like she did the regular vet. She'd run to him, instead of hiding under the chair.

Not only did we start taking her to the chiropractor whenever her issues would creep up, but we decided we'd take her in periodically to get adjusted to try to stop the problems from happening in the first place. And fortunately, this has worked out well. She goes in periodically and hasn't had any kind of joint flare-up in more than six months.

Consider all your options for veterinary care

As my situation shows, it's a good idea to research all of your options if your pet is having issues, as there may be multiple treatment paths you could take -- some of which may be less expensive and more effective than others.

If you do want to consider alternative treatments and you have pet insurance, though, you'll need to find out if your insurance covers them. Many plans do, but just be sure to read the fine print or plan for out-of-pocket costs if needed so your animal companion doesn't send you into debt.