When you own a pet you are no stranger to pet care costs. From the time you get your first puppy you will be bombarded with one cost after another. You will have to get rabies vaccines, flea and tick medication, shot for Lyme disease, teeth cleanings, grooming, and a host of other costs. These are all necessary costs for your pet. We try to factor these costs into the overall cost of ownerships for our pets. But the problem most people have is coming up with the money for those random, unexpected costs that always seem to happen. By not having a backup plan in place for your pet's health costs you will likely be stuck making bad decisions concerning your pet's vet care.

I recently got two new puppies, and while I was at the breeders a swift reminder came up of how rapidly pet care cost can skyrocket out of hand. One of the puppies in the litter she was raising had a throat blockage and required surgery. Here was an 6-week old puppy that had nearly died do to this obstruction.

An unexpected trip to the vet cost this breeder $2500 dollars to have the puppy operated on. I commend that breeder for caring enough to spend the money on a puppy that she only sells for a potion of that. This was after all a pure breed German Shepherd puppy, and she was the cutest thing in the world.

However, most of us would not have been able to come up with that money on the spot. All too often people cannot afford vet bills because they just keep adding up. Heck bringing two puppies to the vet in their first week was several hundred dollars just for checkups and shots.

In the past I have had dogs that required a lot of long-term medications. Dogs are capable of having seizures, fluid buildup, tumors, and a host of other issues that can cost thousands to fix, if they can be fixed at all. In the event you need medical facilities outside of a standard vet, such as Tuft's University, then expect the bill to go up considerably higher.

What can you do to have your back up plan? Luckily it is the same stuff you do to keep yourself "backed up" You get insurance. Some insurance companies will offer pet medical insurance for those who wish to purchase it. Sure you might consider it a waste of money, if so, and then you might as well cancel your own insurance too because you think nothing bad can ever happen.

But if you realize that bad things can happen to your pets, then consider looking into pet insurance through your local insurance companies. You just simply never know when something bad will happen to your pets. Having a little peace of mind, even if it costs you some money each month, is much better then making decisions about your pet simply because you cannot afford it.

On a side note, the puppy that was operated on is doing fine. She has lots of spunk, vitality and life. Last I knew she was heading for Florida to train as a rescue service dog. My best wishes go out to that puppy and I hope she saves many lives.