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By Rick, July 30, 2010 3:20 am

Pet health care has experienced tremendous growth in the past 5 years. New advancements in disease treatment and prevention have improved the quality of life for our pets, but the average cost of care per animal has risen substantially. This has lead to pet owners seeking any opportunity to save money on medical costs. One of the more popular ways to save is to buy discount pet meds online. But before you jump into the online marketplace, here are some important things to watch for.

Total Cost
Unlike books or computers that have a relatively straightforward pricing structure, pet meds are packaged in a number of different ways. Frontline Plus for example (a popular flea control product), is packaged according to dog size as well as the number of treatments. This is important to note since it is easy for advertisers to draw you in with an attractive price. However, this may not be the best value for your situation if you own a large dog, or perhaps even multiple dogs. The point is to compare prices across a consistent grade in order to find the best discounts.

Shipping
As with any online purchase, shipping can make or break the deal. Pet meds are no exception to this rule, and they can in fact be more susceptible to bait-and-switch techniques. For example, a number of pet medicines require refrigerated delivery which adds to the cost of delivery. Since the consumer typically absorbs this cost through additional fees, the listed price of refrigerated meds rarely represents the total cost to you. Thus, it is important to read the shipping terms and options between merchants before making a final decision.

Support
Customer service is an important part of any sales transaction, but it becomes invaluable when you buying something you cannot inspect until it arrives at your door. Some of the so-called discount pet med suppliers on the internet are merely third-party distributors or warehouses. They are not specialized in the pet care industry, and most of their customer service reps have very little exposure to the products they sell. This not only creates a gap in communication, but it can also lead to a higher percentage of wrong orders. Make sure your online pet med supplier deals solely with pet related products. Ideally they would also feature a staff of veterinarians available to answer any questions you have about their products.

Utilizing the online marketplace is a great way to find cheap pet meds, as long as you know exactly what you are looking for. Consumers can expect to save about 20 percent off of retail prices because the internet retailer has fewer costs than the average retail store. The key to being successful in this market is to do your research before buying. Compare prices of identical products, analyze shipping costs, and look for coupon codes sites like http://1800PetMedsCoupon.com Soon you will be an expert online shopper who enjoys the convenience and savings that can only be found online.

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By Rick, July 20, 2010 3:23 am

In Europe over twenty-five percent of all pet owners carry a pet health insurance policy on their pets. Approximately half of Sweden’s pet owners carry insurance. A recent poll of pet owners in the United States predicted that only three percent had purchased a pet health care plan. Many veterinarians feel that three percent is a very generous estimate. One of the big reasons veterinarians believe so many Europeans carry pet health insurance is because of a bill passed in 1971 that stated if a dog was considered at fault for an accident, like a car wreck, then the pet’s owner would be held responsible. This prompted many dog owners to purchase something called Third Party Liability Insurance which would pay for any damages caused by the policy holder’s pet dog. Chances are good that if you were to ask ten of your neighbors how they felt about pet health insurance you would probably get ten very different answers.      

Some pet owners are fanatical about their pets. They will except nothing but the best for their family pet, the best food, the best water, the best doggie bed, and of course the best medical treatments available. Every time it even looks like their cat or dog is about to cough or sneeze they rush the pet to the veterinarians clinic and start a fresh round of antibiotics. Because maintaining the absolute best health care available is quite expensive this type of owner is quick to purchase animal health insurance that promotes good pet medicine. At the slightest hint you are even considering purchasing pet health insurance for your pet and this over the top pet owner is shoving all sorts of flyers and brochures and applications in your hand, sometimes they even offer to call their pet health insurance rep. for you. This is fine and dandy but generally (not always) their monthly pet insurance bills are higher then you can afford. Another owner might love their family pet just as much as the over the top owner. They might wish they could provide their pet with the very best but it simply isn’t economically possible. This pet owner’s advice about pet health insurance would be your own pet health insurance. Put the money you might have spent on a monthly insurance premium aside and use that to cover your pets medical needs. After all if you put aside thirty dollars a month then you’ll have enough money to cover the routine visits to the vet’s office plus have a little extra set aside if an emergency happens down the road. This type of insurance is called self insurance. While it sounds like a good idea there are a couple of problems. One if a medical emergency happens right away you might not have enough money on hand to cover the treatment and be forced to accept economic euthanasia for your pet. A second problem with self insurance is that its money that’s just laying around, its way to easy to see it as spare cash and use it on the family vacation or as a down payment on that laptop you’ve always wanted.       

If as a pet owner you decide that pet health insurance simply isn’t for you or your pet you will want to check and see if your homeowners insurance covers any potential accidents caused by your pet. If a dog or cat bites somebody the bitten person can sue you and in some cases demand that the pet be euthanized. If your homeowners insurance does not cover pet mishaps you should probably give a lot of thought to purchasing pet liability insurance.

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By Rick, July 15, 2010 3:20 am

In Europe over twenty-five percent of all pet owners carry a pet health insurance policy on their pets. Approximately half of Sweden’s pet owners carry insurance. A recent poll of pet owners in the United States predicted that only three percent had purchased a pet health care plan. Many veterinarians feel that three percent is a very generous estimate. One of the big reasons veterinarians believe so many Europeans carry pet health insurance is because of a bill passed in 1971 that stated if a dog was considered at fault for an accident, like a car wreck, then the pet’s owner would be held responsible. This prompted many dog owners to purchase something called Third Party Liability Insurance which would pay for any damages caused by the policy holder’s pet dog.

Chances are good that if you were to ask ten of your neighbors how they felt about pet health insurance you would probably get ten very different answers.      

Some pet owners are fanatical about their pets. They will except nothing but the best for their family pet, the best food, the best water, the best doggie bed, and of course the best medical treatments available. Every time it even looks like their cat or dog is about to cough or sneeze they rush the pet to the veterinarians clinic and start a fresh round of antibiotics. Because maintaining the absolute best health care available is quite expensive this type of owner is quick to purchase animal health insurance that promotes good pet medicine. At the slightest hint you are even considering purchasing pet health insurance for your pet and this over the top pet owner is shoving all sorts of flyers and brochures and applications in your hand, sometimes they even offer to call their pet health insurance rep. for you. This is fine and dandy but generally (not always) their monthly pet insurance bills are higher then you can afford.

Another owner might love their family pet just as much as the over the top owner. They might wish they could provide their pet with the very best but it simply isn’t economically possible. This pet owner’s advice about pet health insurance would be your own pet health insurance. Put the money you might have spent on a monthly insurance premium aside and use that to cover your pets medical needs. After all if you put aside thirty dollars a month then you’ll have enough money to cover the routine visits to the vet’s office plus have a little extra set aside if an emergency happens down the road. This type of insurance is called self insurance. While it sounds like a good idea there are a couple of problems. One if a medical emergency happens right away you might not have enough money on hand to cover the treatment and be forced to accept economic euthanasia for your pet. A second problem with self insurance is that its money that’s just laying around, its way to easy to see it as spare cash and use it on the family vacation or as a down payment on that laptop you’ve always wanted.       

If as a pet owner you decide that pet health insurance simply isn’t for you or your pet you will want to check and see if your homeowners insurance covers any potential accidents caused by your pet. If a dog or cat bites somebody the bitten person can sue you and in some cases demand that the pet be euthanized. If your homeowners insurance does not cover pet mishaps you should probably give a lot of thought to purchasing pet liability insurance.