These days, folks are increasingly looking for ways to save a bit of money, or spend the money they have more wisely.
I recently came across an article about the most common reasons for veterinary visits. It seems like if people could keep their pets healthy and thus avoid veterinary visits that would be a good way to save money.
It turns out the number one reason for a veterinary visit is canine ear infections. The second and third most common reasons were skin allergies and skin infections (including hot spots). The next two reasons were digestive upset issues involving vomiting and diarrhea.
The thing that really strikes me about these statistics is that the top three reasons for going to the vet are all skin-related issues. The vast majority of skin issues can be prevented.
The average cost of a trip to the vet for an ear infection was $100. Just think, with simple prevention, that’s $100 saved, not to mention the time and hassle of having to take your dog in for an appointment.
It’s nothing personal against vets, I’m sure we all really like the veterinarian we have chosen to take care of our precious pets. It’s just that we are all busy and vet visits take time from our life.
The next two reasons for vet visits are digestive disorders, which can be caused by a variety of issues, but again many can be prevented.
What is this great prevention method that could potentially save you hundreds of dollars over your pet’s lifetime? It has to do with nutrition.
Feeding dogs a diet based on quality, meat ingredients is much more biologically appropriate for their species. Dogs fed the proper nutrition for their species are much less likely to have health complications that come from “misnutrition” — feeding an animal a diet that is inappropriate for them.
Just like we would expect cows to show signs of illness if we fed them a diet of mostly hot dogs, it is not surprising that we see illness in dogs fed a diet of mostly grains.
The good news is that putting your pup on a healthful diet doesn’t have to break the bank. In fact, I did a little number crunching for you and found that switching your dog from a grocery store quality food to a holistic, natural dog food can be a worthy investment. Consider that dog foods like Purina ONE and Beneful cost about $20 for a bag of 17-18 pounds.
Because of the high quantity of filler in these foods, the feeding guidelines recommend you feed about 1.5 times as much as you would for a holistic, natural food. That means you could spend $30 on a natural food and end up spending the same amount per month.
If you take your dog to the vet just once in a year for a skin condition at $100 per visit, that is an additional $8.33 per month that you could spend on food instead of vet bills. That means you could spend $38 on a 17 pound. bag of food each month and still break even. That’s actually more than you need to spend to get a great, holistic, natural food for your pet.
By switching your dog from grocery store foods to the meat-based foods found in natural food stores, you can actually prevent the five most common reasons for taking your pup to the vet and save money all at the same time.
Stephanie Stebbing is owner of the Country Pet Shoppe in Kingston.
