Planning for Pet Emergencies: Vet Budgeting Tips to Avoid Financial Stress

NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast

NerdWallet Personal Finance

Business, Education, Investing, How To

4.2 • 665 Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2024

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Learn how to financially prepare for the costs of pet emergencies with firsthand experiences from pet owners and experts. How much does emergency pet care cost? How much should you budget for unexpected pet expenses? Hosts Sean Pyles and Ronita Choudhuri-Wade discuss the unpredictable nature of pet emergencies and the importance of financial readiness to help you understand how to effectively manage unexpected veterinary costs. They begin by sharing their personal experiences and discussing the emotional toll of pet emergencies, with tips and tricks on setting up a savings account for pet expenses, considering pet insurance, and understanding the wide range of potential costs involved in emergency care. Vivien, a pet owner from Jersey City, New Jersey, also shares her story of dealing with an unexpected pet emergency. Then, Dr. Angela Beal, a veterinarian based in Columbus, Ohio, joins Ronita to discuss strategies for financially preparing for pet emergencies. They discuss tactics for setting up a dedicated pet emergency fund, the benefits of pet insurance, and practical steps for emotionally and financially managing unexpected veterinary expenses. Check our NerdWallet roundup of the best pet insurance companies for 2024: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/best-pet-insurance-companies In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: pet emergency costs, pet insurance, emergency vet bills, pet emergency fund, veterinary expenses, unexpected pet expenses, pet care costs, saving for pet emergencies, pet health care, pet emergency planning, emergency pet care, financial preparation for pet emergencies, pet savings accounts, budgeting for pets, cost of pet care, pet insurance policies, veterinary emergencies, pet health insurance, affordable pet care, emergency vet visits, pet financial planning, veterinary care costs, pet expense management, planning for pet emergencies, pet healthcare credit cards, financial tips for pet owners, pet care budgeting, veterinary costs, pet emergency savings, pet expense planning, veterinary hospital costs, pet medical bills, emergency pet insurance, pet financial assistance, pet healthcare expenses, and veterinary treatment costs. To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Pets are wonderful. Pets are lovely. Pets are simply the best. But pets can also chew on furniture. They don't know not to wander into traffic. They eat things that they shouldn't. And all that can land them somewhere nobody wants to be, the emergency room.
0:20.1	Pet owner could expect to pay minimum $2,000, probably more, for an emergency situation.
0:27.2	I think setting aside maybe $50 to $100 per month in a savings account and letting that
0:32.9	account grow would be a good idea.
0:36.5	Welcome to NerdWallets Smart Money Podcast. I'm Sean Piles. And I'm Ronita Chothery Wade.
0:42.0	And this is episode three of our nerdy deep dive into the cost of pets. And today, Renita,
0:47.3	we are not all sunshine and rainbows and puppies and kittens. It's time to talk about what to do
0:52.9	when the worst happens to our furry family
0:55.2	members. This is the thing nobody wants to imagine will happen. The accident, the poisoning,
1:01.3	or like the sudden turn of health, all the things that land you at the veterinary hospital
1:06.0	where you're at risk of making not only health care decisions, but financial ones too.
1:10.7	I feel fortunate
1:11.4	that in all of my years of pet ownership, I haven't had to deal with a trip to the emergency
1:15.6	vet, at least not yet. And I'm knocking on wood as I'm talking. Yeah, I can't say I'm so lucky.
1:22.0	We had to take Mo to one of those 24-7 emergency vets after he ate something. What, we still have no idea what it was.
1:31.0	But he got violently ill, like he kept puking and there was blood and it was like, you know,
1:36.8	eight o'clock at night. It was all really scary. But we took him there and the vet gave him
1:42.1	something for dehydration that he was experiencing
1:44.6	and then meds to solve the stomach issue.
1:47.5	The visit was about 30 minutes and the total cost was $66.869.
1:54.3	We had a deductible and then pet insurance covered the rest.
1:58.2	It's one of those things that felt so random within a very normal week,
	...

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