Cattitude - Episode 303 Purrfectly Smart Spending: Saving Money at the Vet

<v Speaker 1>This is pet Life Radio. Let's Talk Pets.
<v Speaker 2>Blow cat levers. Welcome to cut and tune.
<v Speaker 3>I'm your show host, Michelle burn. I have a topic
<v Speaker 3>that I think every pet parent wants to know more about,
<v Speaker 3>how to save money at the vet and some tips
<v Speaker 3>on just saving money with your pet in general, but
<v Speaker 3>mostly VET focused. So stay tuned my guest todays and
<v Speaker 3>I tell us all about it.
<v Speaker 2>We'll be waight back.
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<v Speaker 3>Welcome back, everyone. I'd like to welcome Amy Castro. She
<v Speaker 3>runs the parent outline. And has some great tips for
<v Speaker 3>us on you know what it's like to be a
<v Speaker 3>pet owner and more importantly, how to save money at
<v Speaker 3>the vat.
<v Speaker 6>Welcome Amy, thank you for having me. I'm glad to
<v Speaker 6>be here, glad to have you.
<v Speaker 3>Can you tell our audience a little bit about yourself
<v Speaker 3>and the Pet Parent Hotline?
<v Speaker 6>Yes, so I am a longtime animal rescuer. I founded
<v Speaker 6>and run a pet rescue that really focuses heavily on cats.
<v Speaker 6>And after being the person that takes all the phone
<v Speaker 6>calls when people want to call and surrender their pet,
<v Speaker 6>my question is always why, what's going on?
<v Speaker 7>How can I help?
<v Speaker 6>And I realized I could make those phone calls a
<v Speaker 6>focus and I do. But I started thinking, well, I
<v Speaker 6>could probably reach a lot more people who are probably
<v Speaker 6>having these same problems by starting a podcast, and so
<v Speaker 6>I did. So that's how the Pet Parent Hotline got
<v Speaker 6>started about two years or so three years ago.
<v Speaker 3>Now, well, I'm happy to have you on and to
<v Speaker 3>all my listeners, see I'd like having other podcasts on.
<v Speaker 2>But you know what, the.
<v Speaker 3>Key is knowledge to the pet community, that hat loving
<v Speaker 3>community is important, and that's where I have you know,
<v Speaker 3>guests on the show to educate our audience. And I
<v Speaker 3>love what you're talking about. You know, one of the
<v Speaker 3>big deterrens for people deciding to become a pet parent
<v Speaker 3>is cost. Yes, and the cost goes way beyond you know,
<v Speaker 3>the fun stuff, the toys, the food, the treats, you know,
<v Speaker 3>and even other fun stuff like not that's not so
<v Speaker 3>much fun for you, scratching posts, litter boxes, litter, water
<v Speaker 3>fountain maybe or water dish. But it goes way beyond
<v Speaker 3>that because there's you have to consider, you know, care,
<v Speaker 3>and that with that care comes you know, vet. So
<v Speaker 3>so many pet parents feel that when they go to
<v Speaker 3>the vet it's like a big mystery. The cost is
<v Speaker 3>out of their hands. They never know what they're gonna get,
<v Speaker 3>is it? You know, they go in to get you know,
<v Speaker 3>a few shots, and before you know, it's four hundred dollars.
<v Speaker 2>So what true is that?
<v Speaker 7>I think it is definitely true.
<v Speaker 6>I think that we make a lot of assumptions about
<v Speaker 6>what it's going to cost to go to the vet,
<v Speaker 6>and especially you know, in the past couple of years,
<v Speaker 6>things have doubled and tripled and have you risen astronomically,
<v Speaker 6>And I see the complaints of people online like I
<v Speaker 6>can't believe I walked out of my VET and it
<v Speaker 6>was seven hundred dollars find another VET. And that's probably
<v Speaker 6>not the solution. It's knowing what you're walking into before
<v Speaker 6>you walk in.
<v Speaker 3>Very true, and I think a lot of people when
<v Speaker 3>they come in front of a doctor, whether it's a
<v Speaker 3>veterinarian or a dentist or a dentists, are pretty good
<v Speaker 3>about price or even a medical doctor for themselves.
<v Speaker 2>Denists usually lay it out.
<v Speaker 3>My experience in the dental world, whether it's more for
<v Speaker 3>people dentists, but I've had my pets, have dad plenty
<v Speaker 3>of dental Most dentists will give you these are the costs,
<v Speaker 3>this is what needs to be done, and that field
<v Speaker 3>has been consistent with these are what the costs are.
<v Speaker 3>We need to do this now, we don't need to
<v Speaker 3>do this later. A lot of people, though, when faced
<v Speaker 3>with a doctor, think, how can I ask the price?
<v Speaker 3>And you know what you can? I once, and these
<v Speaker 3>are true stories, but these are people situations. I once
<v Speaker 3>was at an NT and he needed to have a
<v Speaker 3>procedure done. I said, what does a cost?
<v Speaker 2>He goes?
<v Speaker 3>I don't know, I go, We'll find out. I need
<v Speaker 3>to know what it costs. I was going to get
<v Speaker 3>it done, but I wanted to know the cost. He
<v Speaker 3>literally went to the front desk as the person and
<v Speaker 3>found out what the cost was. I'm not going to
<v Speaker 3>sacrifice my health, but you know, what else do you
<v Speaker 3>buy where you don't even know the cost? It's just
<v Speaker 3>a gray area and right, And I realize you can't
<v Speaker 3>do this all the time because in some cases you
<v Speaker 3>have an emergency situation. You know, whether it's for you know,
<v Speaker 3>human or or for your for a babe. But there
<v Speaker 3>was another situation where I had gone to you know,
<v Speaker 3>years ago, to a dermatologist, and the price was always
<v Speaker 3>the same, and all of a sudden, the next time
<v Speaker 3>it was like, you know, seventy percent higher. And I said,
<v Speaker 3>why is it more? Oh, I don't I know, I
<v Speaker 3>know the perceptionist, I don't know. You have to ask
<v Speaker 3>the doctor. I said, okay, let me ask the doctor. Well,
<v Speaker 3>he's busy now, and I said, I'll tell you what.
<v Speaker 3>I waited about a half hour, twenty minutes. It's still
<v Speaker 3>too busy. And this is years ago. So I said,
<v Speaker 3>you know what, I'm pay your bill. I don't not
<v Speaker 3>pay my bills. But when the doctor can talk to me,
<v Speaker 3>then I will come back and I won't give you
<v Speaker 3>my card and I will pay the bill.
<v Speaker 2>So I left.
<v Speaker 3>The doctor called back later that afternoon. I'm sorry there
<v Speaker 3>was a mistake and corrected it. So that's just two
<v Speaker 3>of my little examples. I have veterinary examples too. But
<v Speaker 3>don't be afraid to ask questions. I think we do.
<v Speaker 3>We get intimidated by a doctor's whether it's people doctors
<v Speaker 3>or veterinarians, and or just intimidated to ask what is
<v Speaker 3>the cost and is that necessary a good to have
<v Speaker 3>or is it Well, I can do it, but it
<v Speaker 3>doesn't really matter that much that I get this done,
<v Speaker 3>and I could maybe do it myself. There could be
<v Speaker 3>situations like that. What do you think, Amy, I.
<v Speaker 6>Mean, I think you're absolutely right. You've got to use
<v Speaker 6>your voice. You know, I've stressed that so many times
<v Speaker 6>to people. You know, use your voice, ask your questions,
<v Speaker 6>remember that you're the customer, and you know that that
<v Speaker 6>phenomenon of being afraid to speak up. I think they
<v Speaker 6>call it like white coat syndrome, even though hardly anybody
<v Speaker 6>wears white coats anymore. But you know, a lot of
<v Speaker 6>times people feel intimidated by somebody who's you know, they're
<v Speaker 6>the authority, they're the veterinarian, they're the ones that went
<v Speaker 6>to all that school, they're the one that this is
<v Speaker 6>their office kind of thing. And so either you're afraid
<v Speaker 6>to ask, or you know, sometimes I think we can
<v Speaker 6>do a better job preparing ourselves when we go in.
<v Speaker 6>You know, you mentioned emergency situations right, There might not
<v Speaker 6>be a whole lot of preparation, but knowing when you
<v Speaker 6>go in, before you get to the parking lot, you
<v Speaker 6>know what is it you're there for, Getting estimates of
<v Speaker 6>what it might cost you in advance, and having your
<v Speaker 6>questions written down that you want to ask and being
<v Speaker 6>prepared to ask those questions can definitely help us get
<v Speaker 6>better information and make more more informed decisions so we
<v Speaker 6>know what we're agreeing to instead of just nodding and
<v Speaker 6>smiling and like you said, walking out with a huge
<v Speaker 6>bill that you didn't have any idea you were going
<v Speaker 6>to get, and have no idea how you're going to
<v Speaker 6>pay and.
<v Speaker 3>What is your thought on asking prior to the visit.
<v Speaker 3>So if someone is going and checking out, say they're
<v Speaker 3>looking at different veterinarians, they don't have one that's they're
<v Speaker 3>consistent with what kind of questions can I ask to
<v Speaker 3>find out pricing beforehand and what services they'll get for
<v Speaker 3>that price?
<v Speaker 6>Yeah, I mean I think it's just being straightforward and
<v Speaker 6>asking the question. Say, you know, if it's a new facility,
<v Speaker 6>just say, hey, I'm looking for a new facility. Wanted
<v Speaker 6>to get to know a little bit more about your clinic.
<v Speaker 6>Can you give me an idea of how much these
<v Speaker 6>basic things might cost? And obviously I just actually got
<v Speaker 6>finished with a veterinary client helping them implement software, and
<v Speaker 6>when there's thousands of price codes in there for various things,
<v Speaker 6>so you're not going to ask about everything, but you know,
<v Speaker 6>you want to know what's the walk in the door
<v Speaker 6>price for a wellness exam, for example, so you know
<v Speaker 6>there's going to be the exam, you know there's going
<v Speaker 6>to be vaccines. You know, if you have an idea
<v Speaker 6>of what the basic vaccines would be at a wellness
<v Speaker 6>exam based on your pet's age.
<v Speaker 7>You know, sometimes even just.
<v Speaker 6>Asking are there any other fees that I haven't asked
<v Speaker 6>about that are fairly common?
<v Speaker 7>I know I do that in rescue.
<v Speaker 6>I mean, I have my primary vets, but I'm always
<v Speaker 6>going to call and say Hey, we got this dog
<v Speaker 6>in he's limping on a leg.
<v Speaker 7>What is it going to.
<v Speaker 6>Cost me to get an exam? And you know, a
<v Speaker 6>standard usually two X rays for a broken leg. You know,
<v Speaker 6>I mean you may not know that as a as
<v Speaker 6>a layperson, but you know, just say, here's my situation.
<v Speaker 6>Can give me a ballpark idea of A what they
<v Speaker 6>would do likely as a starting point, and B how
<v Speaker 6>much that would cost. And especially if you're shopping around,
<v Speaker 6>you know, if you don't have a regular vet or
<v Speaker 6>you're looking for a new one, those prices can be
<v Speaker 6>pretty different, even within the same town. So it's always
<v Speaker 6>good to know.
<v Speaker 3>And here's a tip and listeners, this is kind of
<v Speaker 3>a life lesson when it comes to asking questions. Keep
<v Speaker 3>a log right down the time, the place you're talking to,
<v Speaker 3>the person's name, and what they said, because many times
<v Speaker 3>you'll get someone that is maybe not as knowledgeable as
<v Speaker 3>they should be, and they'll tell you something and then
<v Speaker 3>when someone comes back to you, look, they say.
<v Speaker 2>Oh, who'd you talk to?
<v Speaker 7>Exactly your receptionist?
<v Speaker 2>Who do you think I talked to you?
<v Speaker 1>Right?
<v Speaker 3>And they'll say, but who was it? So I've learned
<v Speaker 3>a long time ago. Keep a log, not only for
<v Speaker 3>your veterinarian, but any time you're talking and people keep
<v Speaker 3>a log of that information, it will save you. Okay,
<v Speaker 3>what is the difference between a tech visit and a
<v Speaker 3>doctor visit and when is each of those visits appropriate?
<v Speaker 6>Well, tech visits, I will tell you, are becoming more
<v Speaker 6>and more popular for a variety of reasons. You know,
<v Speaker 6>one of the main differences is that a tech visit
<v Speaker 6>you're seeing a veterinary technician, not a doctor of veterinary medicine,
<v Speaker 6>and the cost to see that person is generally going
<v Speaker 6>to be I should say, generally it's going to be lower.
<v Speaker 6>And so my philosophy is always you know, if I'm
<v Speaker 6>going in for something, can I ask if a tech
<v Speaker 6>visit is an option? You know, if I'm going in
<v Speaker 6>for a nail trim, I'm probably not going to see
<v Speaker 6>a veterinarian anyway.
<v Speaker 7>It's going to be done by a technician.
<v Speaker 6>But there might be other things like a follow up
<v Speaker 6>or maybe even some routine vaccines that you know, if
<v Speaker 6>you're going to pay an exam fee, and for the vaccines,
<v Speaker 6>the exam fee for the technician is going to be
<v Speaker 6>less than for the veterinarian. You may not have a
<v Speaker 6>ton of control over that, but you know, it certainly
<v Speaker 6>would be worth asking a clinic. Hey, you know, do
<v Speaker 6>you do technician only appointments and what kinds of things
<v Speaker 6>do they see, so that you know in advance, that's
<v Speaker 6>what you might want to call and have done as
<v Speaker 6>a money saving option for yourself.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, thanks, What would be a scenario we're going to
<v Speaker 3>the er would actually save money in the long term.
<v Speaker 6>That's a really interesting question because a lot of times,
<v Speaker 6>you know, my initial gut instinct as somebody who's taking
<v Speaker 6>lots of animals to the er is it's not but.
<v Speaker 2>It's right, it's not.
<v Speaker 3>But if it could cause further damage.
<v Speaker 6>Yeah, but yeah, then that's what I was going to say,
<v Speaker 6>is that you know, it's generally is going to be
<v Speaker 6>very expensive, but you have to look at the long term.
<v Speaker 6>So just as an example, if you dropped a pill
<v Speaker 6>on the floor and you can't find it, and you
<v Speaker 6>really think that your cat ate it, and it's Friday,
<v Speaker 6>an emergency visit could you know, could be a situation
<v Speaker 6>where you might spend a couple hundred dollars to check
<v Speaker 6>if they have swallowed it, versus waiting until Monday. And
<v Speaker 6>now my cat is having symptoms or seizures or something
<v Speaker 6>like that. Now it's also an emergency, but it's going
<v Speaker 6>to be a hospitalization and monitoring and you know, or
<v Speaker 6>maybe even a situation where your cat ate something and
<v Speaker 6>you know it's causing some type of intestinal upset and
<v Speaker 6>now they're going to need surgery because you waited. So
<v Speaker 6>there are a situations where if it is a true
<v Speaker 6>emergency or something that you can head off a problem
<v Speaker 6>at the pass, it's going to be a lesser fee
<v Speaker 6>than allowing something to become more serious and beyond the
<v Speaker 6>cost the financial cost, you know, what is the cost
<v Speaker 6>of your pet to their long term health or to
<v Speaker 6>their life if you.
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<v Speaker 3>and we'll be right back.
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<v Speaker 3>Welcome back everyone. We're talking to Amy Castro. She runs
<v Speaker 3>the Pet Parent Hotline, and we're talking about money saving tips.
<v Speaker 2>Before you visit the VAT.
<v Speaker 3>So let's talk about what you're bringing to when you're
<v Speaker 3>at the veterinarian. So a lot of times they'll recommend
<v Speaker 3>tests and treatments and and just a whole slew of things.
<v Speaker 3>You know, they look at your cat that I brought
<v Speaker 3>in and say okay, and come back with this sheet
<v Speaker 3>and there's a bill you know, your bottom. It's like,
<v Speaker 3>you know, oh, why is that four figures? Okay, So
<v Speaker 3>what is a good way to start the conversation. I
<v Speaker 3>look at it this way. Tell me if this is
<v Speaker 3>what you would do. I look at it as must
<v Speaker 3>be done, nice to be done, not really maybe okay,
<v Speaker 3>if I really want to spend the money, but it's
<v Speaker 3>not that necessary. That's what I see it as, you know,
<v Speaker 3>as far as that, that's how I categorize things, because
<v Speaker 3>they do tend to add on, Especially at places that
<v Speaker 3>are and I'm not going to say the names, but
<v Speaker 3>more chain oriented, they tend to pad it up a
<v Speaker 3>little bit. In my experience. Although the veterinarian, and I've
<v Speaker 3>had veterinarians at these kind of chain places, they're very
<v Speaker 3>nice to say, well, you know, we're giving you everything,
<v Speaker 3>but you really don't have to do these other things.
<v Speaker 3>A good vet, in my opinion, will do that. What
<v Speaker 3>are your thoughts, Amy.
<v Speaker 6>I think there are two different ways that that can happen.
<v Speaker 6>One could be, you know, a padding situation or a
<v Speaker 6>these are there's a difference between these are all the
<v Speaker 6>things we could do, and these are the things that
<v Speaker 6>we must do or we would want to do in
<v Speaker 6>a certain order. And so my question as the consumer
<v Speaker 6>would be, you know, looking at it and saying, okay,
<v Speaker 6>you know, these are a lot of tests and this
<v Speaker 6>is a lot of money.
<v Speaker 7>What would you suggest we start with? What is the
<v Speaker 7>first step, or.
<v Speaker 6>You know, if you could only do one today, which
<v Speaker 6>one do you think is the most important on this
<v Speaker 6>list of things. I don't think that anybody's very likely
<v Speaker 6>to admit, Oh yeah, that's completely unnecessary. We just put
<v Speaker 6>it on there kind of thing, or it's padding, right.
<v Speaker 6>But so you've got to be careful how you ask
<v Speaker 6>that question. But I think it's a matter of finding
<v Speaker 6>out of those ten things, what are the things we
<v Speaker 6>truly need to start with? What do they do? You know,
<v Speaker 6>what are those tests? And what is going to be
<v Speaker 6>the impact on my pet? So like just something as
<v Speaker 6>simple as bringing an animal in and they're going to
<v Speaker 6>do x rays and it's like, okay, you know, is
<v Speaker 6>the x ray going to tell you something that you
<v Speaker 6>can fix or is the x ray just so that
<v Speaker 6>you know.
<v Speaker 7>That it's broken?
<v Speaker 6>But I'm still going to have to go to a specialist,
<v Speaker 6>And why would I do that now versus wait, you know,
<v Speaker 6>something like that, Just just making sure you fully understand
<v Speaker 6>what it is and what it's going to accomplish if
<v Speaker 6>you do it, and then you know, getting a prioritization
<v Speaker 6>of all of those things.
<v Speaker 7>If there is a budget limit.
<v Speaker 3>I absolutely agree, and I would also say, when you're
<v Speaker 3>getting you know, a lot of work done, even if
<v Speaker 3>it's just the vaccines, you know, generally you pay for
<v Speaker 3>as we mentioned the first half of that visit. Then
<v Speaker 3>you have at the vaccines on top of it, and gosh,
<v Speaker 3>just that could set you back like three hundred dollars
<v Speaker 3>or something.
<v Speaker 2>Don't be afraid to ask.
<v Speaker 3>And sorry that people that are going to hate me
<v Speaker 3>for this, But don't be afraid to ask. You know,
<v Speaker 3>I'm getting a lot of work done. Do you think
<v Speaker 3>you could trim you know, my cat's nails while you're
<v Speaker 3>back there? Timming nails is usually like ten or fifteen bucks,
<v Speaker 3>so it's not that much of a cost for most
<v Speaker 3>cat parents, me included. I can only do Dennis's nails.
<v Speaker 3>The others forget about. But it's not an easy thing
<v Speaker 3>to do. And in most cases the vat tech they're
<v Speaker 3>already holding the cat down and burritoing him and doing
<v Speaker 3>their special thing that they do. It's not that big
<v Speaker 3>of a deal to do it, and they're happy to
<v Speaker 3>do it if it makes you know, you're happy, and
<v Speaker 3>it's a little feebe for you.
<v Speaker 2>So don't be afraid to ask either.
<v Speaker 6>Well, and I think don't be afraid to ask. Along
<v Speaker 6>those lines of vaccines that you had mentioned too, is
<v Speaker 6>that every cat situation is different. You know, my fifteen
<v Speaker 6>year old indoor cat only Pickles is going to have
<v Speaker 6>different needs than somebody else's in an outdoor cat that's
<v Speaker 6>three years old or younger.
<v Speaker 7>And I don't want to debate the in and out thing.
<v Speaker 6>But you know, so it's okay to talk to your
<v Speaker 6>vet and to basically look for some tailoring of those needs,
<v Speaker 6>because yeah, I mean, your annual wellness is going to come.
<v Speaker 6>I mean, they're automatically going to want to give vaccines
<v Speaker 6>because that's what we do. But we don't have to
<v Speaker 6>do that for our specific pet. So you know, if
<v Speaker 6>my cat's had vaccines for pumpty years and now she's
<v Speaker 6>fifteen years old and she's indoors only, I will tell
<v Speaker 6>you I don't vaccinate her anymore. You know, she doesn't
<v Speaker 6>have contact with other cats. The cats she has contact
<v Speaker 6>with are vaccinated, and so you know, I don't think
<v Speaker 6>at fifteen she still needs some of those vaccines, so
<v Speaker 6>we just don't do them. So it's you know, you
<v Speaker 6>really need to talk to your vet about the lifestyle
<v Speaker 6>of your pet and ask for customized recommendations, not the
<v Speaker 6>this is what we do on a wellness exam standard recommendations,
<v Speaker 6>and have that conversation. It's really goes back to what
<v Speaker 6>we said in the very beginning. It's having that conversation
<v Speaker 6>and asking those questions. Otherwise they're just going to go
<v Speaker 6>forward with their checklist for the most part.
<v Speaker 3>Right, And I actually agree with you, And there's several
<v Speaker 3>venarians I've talked to over the years that agree that
<v Speaker 3>if you have indoor cats, do they really need to
<v Speaker 3>be vaccinated if you're not going to be introducing new
<v Speaker 3>pets to the home, especially other cats, because I believe
<v Speaker 3>from what I've learned, diseases are transmitted more cat to
<v Speaker 3>cat than But I might be wrong. I'm not a
<v Speaker 3>bad person, but there are some places where you must
<v Speaker 3>get rabies every year, you must do certain vaccines every year,
<v Speaker 3>and I have an issue, but not going to go there.
<v Speaker 3>I live in one of those places. I don't agree.
<v Speaker 2>But you know, because if the cat is so old, you.
<v Speaker 3>Really need to bring that, you know, trauma into their
<v Speaker 3>body when it's not necessary.
<v Speaker 6>Right, right, Yeah, I mean we could do a whole
<v Speaker 6>episode on on the vaccines. How much is uh you
<v Speaker 6>know already still in their body from the vaccines they
<v Speaker 6>had umpty ump years ago too.
<v Speaker 3>So right, let's talk about saying no, because this, I
<v Speaker 3>think is up there with whitecoat syndrome. And it's funny
<v Speaker 3>because when people say the words and I'm apologizing events,
<v Speaker 3>when people say the words well, not today, it always
<v Speaker 3>reminds me of the church lady in SNL.
<v Speaker 2>So it's just a mindset. But there is a way.
<v Speaker 3>When you place in time when you doubly should say
<v Speaker 3>not today, or I'm not going to do that vaccine
<v Speaker 3>today or this service now, but thank you for recommending it.
<v Speaker 3>How can people I think it's okay to say not
<v Speaker 3>today or not not going to do this, but how
<v Speaker 3>can people feel comfortable saying that at the vet?
<v Speaker 2>And is it okay?
<v Speaker 3>I mean, how can they feel comfortable with this?
<v Speaker 6>First of all, there's just the basic human fear of
<v Speaker 6>saying no, because people don't want to hear no, you know,
<v Speaker 6>in most of our most of our lives, and so
<v Speaker 6>usually we get a negative reaction if we tell somebody no,
<v Speaker 6>and so a lot of people have a hard time
<v Speaker 6>saying that simple two letter word. So part of it
<v Speaker 6>is getting over that. Part of it is realizing that,
<v Speaker 6>you know, probably the other person on the other side
<v Speaker 6>of the conversation at the vet's office is not super vested.
<v Speaker 6>This is what we have to offer. If you don't
<v Speaker 6>want it, eh, you know, it's like saying I don't
<v Speaker 6>want salad dressing on my salad. You know, it's it's
<v Speaker 6>probably not a big deal to them, and they're not
<v Speaker 6>going to have a big reaction. The other thing you
<v Speaker 6>can do, too, is if you're not really sure, just
<v Speaker 6>being able to buy yourself some time and say I
<v Speaker 6>need some time to think about this or I need
<v Speaker 6>more information. Can you provide it to me so I
<v Speaker 6>can go home and make a decision. And you can
<v Speaker 6>even ask something like, you know, when would I need
<v Speaker 6>to decide? Like when it depends on what it is
<v Speaker 6>that you're saying no to. You know, maybe if it's
<v Speaker 6>let's say it's a surgical procedure or a dental procedure,
<v Speaker 6>and you're, you know, like, I don't know if I
<v Speaker 6>want to do this or not. I want to think
<v Speaker 6>about it, I want to think about how I'm going
<v Speaker 6>to pay for it. When do I need to decide?
<v Speaker 6>You know, And having that giving yourself a little bit
<v Speaker 6>of a deadline I think is helpful.
<v Speaker 4>You know.
<v Speaker 6>The other thing I think to say is that I
<v Speaker 6>think it's important to just kind of get comfortable with
<v Speaker 6>the fact that you are the one that's making the
<v Speaker 6>decisions for your pet, and it's your right as the
<v Speaker 6>customer and as the pet parent to make the decision
<v Speaker 6>of what you want to do with your pet. At
<v Speaker 6>the same time, depending upon what you're saying no to,
<v Speaker 6>you know, you also are now taking the responsibility for
<v Speaker 6>the outcome, and so I usually if I'm going to say,
<v Speaker 6>you know, I don't really feel comfortable doing that. Here's
<v Speaker 6>a quick example. I have a cat right now, not
<v Speaker 6>my personal cat. It's a cat in the rescue who
<v Speaker 6>was returned for inappropriate urination and the VET wanted to
<v Speaker 6>put her on prozac because she was having a lot
<v Speaker 6>of bladder symptoms, you know, in addition to just not
<v Speaker 6>using her litter box. And it's like, you know, I
<v Speaker 6>needed time to think about that because what is the
<v Speaker 6>long term implication of trying to adopt out a cat
<v Speaker 6>that's on prozac and what does that look like to
<v Speaker 6>the consumer and does the cat really need it or
<v Speaker 6>just getting her out of the home where she's getting
<v Speaker 6>beaten up by the other cat.
<v Speaker 7>Maybe that will calm things down.
<v Speaker 6>So it's okay to say, you know what, I will
<v Speaker 6>definitely think about that. Where can I find out more
<v Speaker 6>about that? And when would I need to get back
<v Speaker 6>to you on a decision, and just using that as
<v Speaker 6>your no.
<v Speaker 3>Wag points great points. So we have a few more minutes,
<v Speaker 3>let's talk a little about home care and prevention. Now,
<v Speaker 3>we talked about this a lot uncatitude. We all know
<v Speaker 3>cats are stoic creatures. How much does early detection really
<v Speaker 3>matter in cats?
<v Speaker 6>I think it's huge, and I think it's because they
<v Speaker 6>do hide it so much. We have to be super
<v Speaker 6>aware and on top of their behavior because it'll come
<v Speaker 6>out in subtle signs, and the sooner that we can
<v Speaker 6>get those things taken care of, obviously, you know, usually
<v Speaker 6>the less intervention is going to take i e. The
<v Speaker 6>less cost. So yeah, it's definitely important. I just had
<v Speaker 6>a situation recently with that same cat, Pickles, where she
<v Speaker 6>just wasn't her normal love me, love me, let me
<v Speaker 6>head butt you all the time self. And at first
<v Speaker 6>I thought, well, maybe it's just because it's been so cold,
<v Speaker 6>and she was kind of like loafed up you know,
<v Speaker 6>in a little lump. And after about a day or so,
<v Speaker 6>I thought, now something's going on here, And sure enough
<v Speaker 6>she was having kidney issues and she was dehydrated and
<v Speaker 6>da da da da da dah. All these little things
<v Speaker 6>not little things, they were big things. But it probably
<v Speaker 6>had been going on for a while and she hid
<v Speaker 6>it well until I noticed it. So really trying to
<v Speaker 6>watch for those things is definitely important so you can
<v Speaker 6>get in and get intervention before it turns into a
<v Speaker 6>bigger issue that's going to cost more.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, thanks any What is the one question that every
<v Speaker 3>cat pet parent, especially those listening or if you don't
<v Speaker 3>share this question, or even if it's for you, share
<v Speaker 3>it anyways, But what is the one question every cat
<v Speaker 3>parent should feel empowered to ask.
<v Speaker 6>The one that comes to mind is what's the long
<v Speaker 6>term impact?
<v Speaker 7>If I say yes?
<v Speaker 6>And what I mean by that is you know they
<v Speaker 6>want to do something and you're going to agree to it.
<v Speaker 6>What's the long term outcome? Because I think as a
<v Speaker 6>pet parent, depending upon your pet's age, you know there
<v Speaker 6>are people who no matter what it takes, I'll spend
<v Speaker 6>what it takes and do what it takes to keep
<v Speaker 6>my pet alive, for example, and then other people where
<v Speaker 6>it's like okay, if it buys six months, but they're
<v Speaker 6>not the best quality, you know, maybe that's not how
<v Speaker 6>I want to spend the time with my pet. So
<v Speaker 6>I always want to know, Okay, fine, if I do
<v Speaker 6>all of this, what is it going to buy my cat?
<v Speaker 6>You know, more time, quality, whatever it might be. Is
<v Speaker 6>it going to fix anything or is it just palliative?
<v Speaker 6>And I think that helps me get right in my
<v Speaker 6>head to make a decision on things.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, thank you. Okay, last question, If you could give
<v Speaker 3>cat parents one financial confidence tip before every vet visit,
<v Speaker 3>what would that be?
<v Speaker 6>I think it's knowing your priorities going in, you know,
<v Speaker 6>what are you trying to accomplish with this visit, especially
<v Speaker 6>if it's an ill pet visit? And then what can
<v Speaker 6>you afford? Because I think we don't spend enough time
<v Speaker 6>talking to our vets about budget that we are on
<v Speaker 6>a budget. They know we are, they're human, and so
<v Speaker 6>you know, knowing those two things, the priorities and then
<v Speaker 6>this is what I've this is what I've got to
<v Speaker 6>spend or this is what I can afford at this
<v Speaker 6>time will help your vet guide you as to what
<v Speaker 6>steps you can take for your pet.
<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much.
<v Speaker 3>Can you tell us more about the Pet Parent Hotline
<v Speaker 3>and also share because you have a lot of financial
<v Speaker 3>tips as well, and also share where people can find them.
<v Speaker 6>Sure so, yeah, The Pet Parent Hotline basically tries to
<v Speaker 6>address questions like this that we've been talking about today
<v Speaker 6>and beyond the things that keep pet parents up at
<v Speaker 6>night googling for answers and not finding good ones or
<v Speaker 6>finding conflicting information. So we're trying to solve problems for
<v Speaker 6>pet parents before they get to the point of calling
<v Speaker 6>me to surrender their pets. I mean, that's my number
<v Speaker 6>one goal is to keep pets out of rescues and
<v Speaker 6>shelters and in their homes by providing them the information
<v Speaker 6>to their biggest problems. And you're right, we do have
<v Speaker 6>a lot of resources on the website in addition to
<v Speaker 6>the podcast, the blog, et cetera. But the website is
<v Speaker 6>petparenthotline dot com and I actually put together, just for
<v Speaker 6>your listeners, a free handout with financial tips because like
<v Speaker 6>you know, we can't talk about everything under the sun.
<v Speaker 6>And if you want that, you can get that at
<v Speaker 6>petparenthotline dot com. Forward slash cat Savings.
<v Speaker 3>Amy, I wanna thank you so much for coming on
<v Speaker 3>Catitude and sharing all the wonderful information you told us
<v Speaker 3>all about and also thank you for the information that
<v Speaker 3>you have for our listeners at the Petparent Hotline dot
<v Speaker 3>com forward slash cat Savings.
<v Speaker 7>Yes, thank you. Thank you so much for having me
<v Speaker 7>here again.
<v Speaker 3>I hope you all enjoyed this show and I want
<v Speaker 3>to thank Amy Castro a pet Parent Hotline for coming
<v Speaker 3>on Catitude. So thanks so much, Amy. Thanks to everyone
<v Speaker 3>listening to Catitude. I appreciate it so much for over
<v Speaker 3>three hundred episodes. Wow, be sure to go to petparenthotline
<v Speaker 3>dot com slash cat savings. Well there'll be information on
<v Speaker 3>a lot of phoebes.
<v Speaker 2>And special pricing.
<v Speaker 3>Thanks to Amy at Petparent Hotline and of course thanks
<v Speaker 3>to my cat crew Dennis Charlotte Molly. I appreciate you guys,
<v Speaker 3>and the show would not be the same without the
<v Speaker 3>magic of my producer.
<v Speaker 2>Thank you Mark Winter for all.
<v Speaker 3>You do and remember, lose the attitude, have attitude.
<v Speaker 5>Let's talk pets every week on demand only on Petlifradio
<v Speaker 5>dot com.