Updated: 03/05/24

Life is tough for everyone at the moment. Rising interest rates have placed significant pressure on family budgets and we know that unexpected veterinary bills can be stressful at the best of times, but are especially so now. Veterinarians and their clients have a common goal in optimising the health and well-being of pet animals, yet when the costs of veterinary care needed by a pet exceed the financial capacity of their guardian it can lead to highly emotional conversations as owners grapple with their pet's illness and medical needs and vets feel restricted in their diagnostic and treatment plans.

We take our responsibility as employers very seriously. Our small team are highly skilled, compassionate and overall beautiful human beings. Education brings with it significant debt, and financial stress is something that none of us are strangers to. Each and every one of our team members are valued for their skills and knowledge, and we support them in their purpose and passion both inside and outside the workplace. As a business, we are committed to ensuring we remain viable so that our team members have guaranteed income to pay their rent, fuel their cars, feed themselves and their family, and cover their debts and other expenses. This means that we are not able to absorb the costs of these price increases and need to pass them on to our clients. This is not something that we are doing lightly, knowing that many families are doing it tough at the moment.

We have been brainstorming ways in which we can help our clients to afford the increasing costs associated with pet ownership in the current economy. We know how strong the human animal bond can be, and our role as veterinary professionals is to ensure that we are advocates for the best interests of our patients at all times.

Online retailers of pet food and over-the-counter products are able to offer significantly lower prices than we can, owing to bulk purchasing of the large companies who own them. Often they sell these products for less than our wholesale costs, and we cannot compete on price as a result.

One way that we have sought to assist with the costs of these products for our clients is to partner with an online pet shop and pharmacy called Pet PA. They stock all our favourite brands, so you can get the products we recommend at lower prices. They offer free shipping on all retail orders up to 13 kg. Sign up to join them here.

Medication (especially chronic medication) is another pain-point for many clients. Again, we cannot compete with online pharmacies, but do our best to work with clients to identify the most cost-effective solution for an individual patient. Sometimes this may mean we write a prescription with repeats, sometimes we may use a human or compounded alternative. Veterinary medications are often significantly more expensive than their human equivalents due to lower demand, high costs in registering new veterinary products (especially across multiple species) in Australia, and the lack of a PBS for pets. Pet PA is also an online pharmacy, and our partnership means that we can send prescriptions directly to them so you can get your pet the medications it needs in the most efficient way.

We offer a $10 discount off prescription refills when you return your pill vials to us for reuse as a way of limiting our environmental footprint.

Another way you can minimise the impact of unexpected veterinary expenses is by taking out pet insurance. There are many different companies on the market, all with offerings to suit different needs.

Our partners at VetChat offer all Nelson Bay Veterinary Clinic clients 20% off their annual membership program, VetChat Plus. For $160 per year, this program entitles members to unlimited 24/7 access to a team of experienced vets for online or telephone consultations, whenever you need them most. As a bonus, VetChat Plus members also receive complimentary PawCare insurance for up to 5 listed pets for select emergencies (dogs/cats only). Use our code, NELSONBAY, when you sign up to get the discount.

We know that after-hours care is an essential service for our furry family members, and we are so grateful to have a full-service 24-hour emergency hospital within an hours' drive at Animal Referral & Emergency Centre. But we also know that sometimes an hour is just too long to wait.

As a small team, it is impossible for us to offer around-the-clock patient care for our own health and mental well-being. But we want to be available when we're needed the most. VetChat Plus members who are active Nelson Bay Vet clients will additionally have the option of an in-clinic consultation with Dr. Kathryn if deemed necessary following triage by the VetChat vets! Limitations will apply to hours of availability:

Weekdays: 5pm-9pm
Weekends + Public Holidays: 9am-6pm

To assist our clients with existing insurance policies in covering the upfront expenses, we offer GapOnly. This means that if your insurance company supports it, we can submit your claim directly to the insurer, who then pay us directly, leaving you to pay only the gap upfront. Our practice management software also enables us to submit eclaims directly on your behalf, which speeds the process of receiving a refund if you elect not to use GapOnly for your claim.

We also offer several payment options including VetPay, AfterPay, PayPal Pay in 4 and Humm if it is easer for you to spread the cost of veterinary care out. This incurs a small administration fee to account for the additional bookkeeping and administrative time involved.

Prevention is better than cure!

• Ensure your pet is adequately protected against the paralysis tick, heartworm, and infectious diseases
• Feed a wholesome, nutritious diet, preferably including some fresh foods
• Maintain daily dental care
• Refresh water sources daily and prevent rodent access to the yard to reduce the risk of leptospirosis.
• Give appropriate exercise and environmental enrichment/mental stimulation to optimise physical and emotional wellbeing
• Keep potentially toxic foods and household poisons locked up, and remove toxic plants from the pet’s local environment.
• Maintain safe and secure fencing to minimise the risk of inadvertent escape and injury

Please remember that our ultimate goal is to ensure our patients receive the best of care and that we are here to advise and guide on ways in which this can be achieved, even on a limited budget. Unfortunately, without government funding that exists for people through Medicare, pet owners are liable for the entirety of veterinary costs. Good medicine is expensive, and the true cost of our own healthcare is often hidden by Medicare subsidies.

We are grateful when clients are upfront about their financial constraints and will always do our best to find an appropriate solution if we can. Whatever you do, please be kind and engage in conversations regarding finances in a way that respects us as professionals who have significant overheads to cover and are seeking only to help. In the same way, we understand that many families are currently operating on a shoestring budget and will always approach these conversations with understanding and compassion.

Together we can work together to ensure our pets live long, happy and healthy lives.

Thank you for supporting our small family-owned veterinary practice.

Dr Kathryn Stalder and the team at Nelson Bay Veterinary Clinic