The annual cost of your cat or dog’s healthcare services will depend on your pet’s age, size, breed, and overall health. Your costs may increase if you don’t commit to providing your pet with regular veterinary visits, preventive care, vaccinations, proper nutrition, and daily exercise. The best ways to prepare for routine and unexpected pet healthcare costs are to educate yourself on average annual costs, start saving now, invest in preventive care, and sign up for pet health insurance. Here is a look at some common pet healthcare services and their cost so that you can start budgeting.
Routine and Preventive Pet Care
Annual Veterinary Visits: $50–$250 – Much like a yearly checkup at your own doctor’s office, annual veterinary visits help monitor your pet’s overall health. These typically include a physical exam, wellness assessment, and preventive care such as vaccines. Please note that this cost generally does not include diagnostic testing (such as lab work or imaging), which may be recommended based on your pet’s condition.
Vaccinations: $20–$80 per vaccine – Pets need routine vaccinations to stay protected against diseases like rabies, parvo, and bordetella. Additional vaccines may be recommended based on your pet’s lifestyle or location, such as DHPP, leptospirosis, and Lyme disease.
Injury, Illness, and Disease Treatment
If your pet is showing signs of an illness or disease, or if they have a minor injury, your regular veterinarian can provide treatment. The most common health issues treated are flea and tick problems, worms, allergies, diabetes, cough and cold, minor cuts and scrapes, insect bites or stings, and broken bones. The cost of treatment can range from $80-$1,500 and may include diagnostic testing and lab work, x-rays, ultrasound, allergy testing, and more.
Pet Emergency Care
If your pet has a serious illness, disease, or injury that cannot be treated by your veterinarian or that requires after-hours treatment, you will need to go to an animal urgent or emergency care facility. Their services may include exams and laboratory testing, diagnostics, IV fluids, breathing treatments, x-rays and ultrasounds, wound treatment, surgical services, and more. The costs can range from $200-$5,000, depending on the services needed.
Call Your Veterinarian to Learn More About Pet Healthcare Costs
Your veterinarian and your local pet urgent care facility can provide you with estimates for the cost of services. They may even be able to give you a price list so that you can begin budgeting. Because costs vary so much based on your location and the facility you use, getting pricing information directly from the source may be more helpful than relying on other sources.
At Tucson Veterinary Urgent Care, we offer pet urgent care services in Tucson, AZ, including diagnostics, in-house laboratory services, radiography, and surgery. We are dedicated to protecting the safety, health, and comfort of the animals we treat by providing the highest level of care possible. We also understand that the cost of pet emergency services can be overwhelming and stressful, and so we do what we can to ease stress and mitigate costs. We accept Scratchpay and CareCredit so that you can finance your veterinary costs, and we also work with some pet insurance companies. We have also partnered with Pawlicy Advisor to help you compare pet insurance plans and find the right one for you.
Please call us if you have questions about our costs or to let us know that you are on your way. We offer online check-in services, and accept walk-in patients.
