Need Help With Vet Bills?
As a pet parent, you want to provide the best life for your furry friends. So when your beloved animal receives a sudden diagnosis or is in an unexpected accident, you want to make sure they get the best pet care. From allergic reactions to accidental toxin ingestion and fractured bones, it is scary when your pet requires medical care. Once your pet is recovering you can breathe a sigh of relief, but only until the bill arrives. It is not uncommon for pet parents to find themselves needing help with vet bills.
Asking for help with vet bills isn’t always a pet owner’s first instinct when their best friend gets sick. If your pet recently faced a life-threatening situation that left you in a pool of bills, you may be feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where to turn for help.
Where to Get Help with Vet Bills
First, talk to your veterinarian about options for reducing your veterinary bill. Some veterinary offices can help by creating a payment plan to spread out your expenses.
Organizations That Help with Vet Bills
This cause helps cats and dogs regardless of breed, age, or diagnosis. For pet parents with a limited ability to pay for their pet’s care, you may qualify for assistance with vet bills from illness or injury across the United States.
If your pet receives a heart disease diagnosis, this organization wants to help. They offer help with vet bills, resources on what to feed your pet, and options for veterinary cardiology.
Consider turning to crowdfunding when you need help paying vet bills. YouCaring is the leader in free online fundraising because they believe no one should face hardship alone, including your pets. You can raise money to pay for your pet’s medical expenses without having to worry about a fee. Launch your free fundraiser now.
For pet parents interested in setting up a payment plan for vet bills, CareCap offers assistance. Once you and your vet sign up it will create a custom payment plan based on your budget. Take notice that there is a one percent management fee each month.
This nonprofit organization aims to help pet owners pay for non-basic, non-urgent care like chronic conditions, heart disease, and cancer. If your furry friend qualifies they can offer vet bill assistance.
If you have a pet that was diagnosed with an illness and is likely to respond well to treatment, but do not have the funds available to cover the vet bill, look no further. Brown Dog Foundation was created to help pets when their families aren’t able to do so themselves.
This organization wants people to treat all animals with kindness. Thus, they provide financial help with vet bills nationally.
United States Department of Veteran Affairs
If you are a veteran with a service dog, the United States Department of Veteran Affairs will cover the associated expenses. This includes veterinary care and equipment. However, it does not cover over-the-counter medications, such as flea treatment.
Joshua Louis Animal Cancer Foundation
This nonprofit organization focuses on raising money and awareness for animals with cancer. Their funds go towards paying for treatments when the pet owner is unable to fund it themselves.
For those who are not financially prepared to pay for your dog’s cancer treatment, this nonprofit aims to close that gap. Magic Bullet Fund will foot between $600 to $6,000 of the cost to loving dog owners in need of assistance with vet bills.
Since 2003, this organization has been working to help neglected, sick, and abused dogs. Dog owners can apply to have procedures and treatments covered. However, they cannot help pay for vet bills you have already incurred.
Their mission is simple: to provide disabled, injured, and elderly pets with wheelchairs. Giving the gift of mobility helps these pets stay active.
This nonprofit organization was born out of the memory of two beloved dogs, Onyx & Breezy. Their memory lives on to help other dogs live a happy life by providing funding for spay and neuter programs, rescue animals from kill shelters, cancer research, and much more.
In the event of an emergency, this organization offers immediate financial assistance for veterinary care. Their grants are usually between $150 to $200 and they usually respond to applications within two business days.
A small nonprofit made up of pet lovers who believe all pets should have equal access to vet care, even if their owner is financially challenged. Decisions on pet care should be made based on what the pet needs and not what the owner can afford. Angels4Animals has two programs: Program Guardian Angel works with the vet clinic to provide money for medical care needed for a sick or injured pet. The Lost & Found Program provides money to low income pet owners so a microchip can be inserted in the pet. This helps cut down on pets in shelters by identifying and reuniting a lost pet with their owner.
(UAN) helps animal shelters, strapped pet owners and good Samaritans who rescued an animal in need. They also provide funds for help after an unexpected disaster whether it’s a house fire, domestic violence or natural disaster. Help in the form of grants will pay to transport a pet to a safe location, take care of injuries or illnesses, and provide temporary housing for the pet.
A personal credit line that can be used to pay your pet’s vet bills and medical or dental bills for you and your family. It’s like a credit card, but can only be used to pay healthcare costs for you or your pet. The loan is interest free as long as you make regular payments on time and repay the loan in the time frame you agreed on. Most people have no problem getting a loan and you can apply for it before you need it. That way the money is available when it’s needed.
Provides financial aid for owners who can’t pay for their pet’s medical care. A single person with an income below $20,000 and a family under $40,000 a year can apply for financial help. Pet owners are asked to chip in as much as they can afford. This organization helps mainly disabled people, senior citizens and children of the working poor. Every penny donated to Help-A-Pet is used to aid a pet in need of medical care. They have no overhead or administrative costs because it’s an all volunteer operation.
Disease-specific resources for dogs
Cancer
- The Magic Bullet Fund provides financial assistance for tumor removal and certain types of chemotherapy for lymphoma.
- The Animal Cancer Therapy Subsidization Society is dedicated to bringing affordable modern veterinary cancer treatment to veterinary cancer patients in Alberta, Canada. They provide subsidies to dedicated pet owners as well as educate animal owners and veterinarians on the availability, uses and benefits of advanced cancer therapies in the treatment of veterinary cancers.
Lymphoma
- Frankie's Friends provides free or heavily discounted care for dogs enrolled in clinical programs of promising new treatments, and assists with the cost for dogs whose families cannot afford treatment.
Resources for those with assistance dogs
- The International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP) has established an emergency veterinary fund to provide financial aid to U.S. IAADP partner members whose assistance dogs require high-cost veterinary intervention beyond their ability to pay.
- The California Department of Social Services Assistance Dog Special Allowance (ADSA) Program provides a monthly payment of $50 to eligible individuals who use a guide, signal or service dog to help them with needs related to their physical disabilities. The allowance is to help pay the costs of food, grooming and health care for the dogs. This program, available only to residents of California, will provide these funds monthly toward the care of registered service dogs. Call 916-657-2628.
- The Assistance Dog United Campaign, operated in association with the Assistance Dog Institute, helps people with disabilities find funding to purchase service dogs. Call 800-284-DOGS (3647).
Resources for animals of senior citizens, people with disabilities,
people who are seriously ill
California
| Florida
| Georgia
| Illinois
| Michigan
| New
Jersey | New
York | Virginia
| Washington
| Washington,
D.C.
If your pet needs medical care that you cannot afford, here are
listings of state-specific programs that may be able to help you.
Alaska
| Arizona
| Arkansas
| California:
Los Angeles area | California:
Other areas | Colorado
| Connecticut
| Georgia
| Idaho
| Illinois
| Iowa
| Massachusetts
| Michigan
| New
Jersey | New
York | Oregon
| Pennsylvania
| Rhode
Island | Tennessee
| Texas
| Utah
| Virginia
| Washington
| Washington,
D.C. | Wisconsin
Other possible sources of financial assistance
- Most veterinary schools treat pets at a reduced cost. Click here to locate vet schools accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
- Decorate a few donation coin cans with an appealing photo of your pet and a brief explanation that money is needed for medical care. Ask your veterinarian if you can put one in the office. Put one out on your desk at work, and ask a friend or two to do the same. This sounds old-fashioned, but it really works!
- A small fundraiser such as a yard sale or bake sale can raise significant funds if it is well planned. Ask friends and neighbors to help; it usually takes just a couple of people to pull it off. Some tips:
Neighborhood yard sale: Ask neighbors, family, co-workers and friends to contribute items. The event can be publicized in the local newspapers and by posting flyers around town. You'll need a place to store the items, and there is some time involved in planning, publicizing and organizing, but a single neighborhood yard sale can raise several hundred dollars.
Bake sale: Another simple, low-risk way to raise money is to organize a bake sale. Ask neighbors, family, co-workers and friends to contribute baked items. To be successful, the bake sale must be in a high-traffic area, where many people will pass by.
- Create a Facebook page to get the word out online about your pet's needs. Click here to learn the basics of Facebook, how to create an appealing personal profile page and how to find friends and attract others to your page.
- Post messages to community forums for veterinary care fundraising purposes, such as In Memory of Magic's community.
- Post messages to e-groups that allow the posting of fundraising requests, such as Yahoo! Groups.
- Consider purchasing pet insurance for your pets. For information about pet insurance, healthcare-insurance
- The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) does not provide direct financial assistance to pet owners for veterinary or other expenses, but they do have a page on their website where they offer additional suggestions for what you can do if you are having trouble affording veterinary care.