We have five cats, a dog and two fish that we love. We try to provide for them healthy food, clean water, plenty of exercise, a lot of love and a warm and comfy bed to sleep in at night. People who know us personally know how much we love and care about our pets.
Sadly… I’ve been a bad pet mother.
We took our do Espn (pronounced Es-pin) to Banfield Animal Hospital this morning. We have their Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan® . The plan provides pet owners with the following benefits;
- Unlimited free office visits
- Routinely recommended vaccines
- Comprehensive physical exams
- Early screening for serious illnesses
- Discounts on most Banfield products & services
- Predictable, reasonable monthly payments
- Convenient drop-offs, evening & weekend hours
- Online access to your pet’s health records
We took Espn in this morning for a check up, his routine vaccinations and to get ProHeart® 6 which is a heartworm preventative.
I wrote a post about heartworm disease several weeks ago. If you haven’t read it yet, and you have a dog or cat, I would recommend that you read it and learn more about this deadly and costly disease that all dogs and cats are susceptible to. You can find the post here – Protect your pets health with Banfield Pet Hospital and ProHeart® 6.
It was important to use to have Espn not only get the ProHeart® 6 injection, but also to be tested for heartworms too.
We arrived at our appointment on time and we were quickly whisked into an examining room. This is the first time I have ever gone into a waiting room upon checking in. Normally when I take our pets to other vets we have to sit in the waiting room for a while.
I was glad to go into the room right away. Our dog is very nervous about being at PetSmart because when he goes there he gets groomed and he must have thought he was getting groomed because he was very anxious.
Our dog was seen by the vet tech assistant right way who briefly examined Espn. Then he went to get the doctor.
The doctor went over all her recommendations for the various vaccinations she felt that Espn needed. Like a dork I neglected to bring in his records from his other vet. The Banfield Pet Hosptial vet told us up front which vaccinations she wanted to give our dog as well as what tests they wanted to do on him such as a fecal test and blood tests.
The vet was clear and concise on what vaccinations and blood tests she wanted to perform on our dog and she was happy to answer any questions and concerns we might have.
We were concerned about our dog’s weight. He was around 22 pounds at one point now he’s down to around 16 pounds. She said he was a healthy weight. I guess he was overweight before. I’m relieve to know his weight is OK.
What made me feel horrible is that our dog has a really bad issue with tarter on his teeth. It’s really bad.
We take him to get groomed every 2-3 months. When he gets groomed I have them brush his teeth too. I thought that was enough. The vet said to me “Would you only brush your teeth when you got a haircut?”. When she put it that way it made me feel bad that we haven’t been taking better care of his teeth.
The procedure they would need to do to fix his teeth costs $250+, however if we upgrade to a different Wellness plan it would be covered. Needless to say my husband and I are going to save up so we can upgrade our plan so we can save his teeth before it’s too late.
I feel like a bad “mom” now. 🙁 I always nag my kids about brushing and flossing twice a day, yet I don’t think about our dog and cat’s teeth.
There was a lot done with today’s visit and it’s all part of their Wellness Plan. Everything combined came to almost $550 but it didn’t cost a dime because we have the Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan® .
Banfield Pet Hospital offers different plans based on the type of pet (dog or cat) and their age. Other factors are taken into consideration too such as your location and if the pet is spayed or neutered. There are also different options depending on the types of services you want/need. Therefore the price varies too much so I can’t give you an exact quote. If you can visit Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan® to get a quote on how much it will cost. The plans are monthly. I played around with the different plans for our dog Espn (just for the fun of it) and they are much less expensive then a regular office visit. We are a family that lives on a tight budget and I feel like the plans are very “doable”, even for us.
I was surprised the vet checked on our dog’s dental health. None of the other vets we’ve ever used did that before. I’m glad they did. Now we know there is something we can do to help save our dog’s teeth. If we didn’t take him for regular visits his teeth could have got worse.
Seeing how much we had done in today’s visit and how much money we saved being a Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan® member it’s clear to me that this is the best option for almost all of our pets. One of our cats needs specialists, so she has to go to an animal hospital in New Jersey. I would have to see about a Wellness Plan for one of our other cats who is old and has a pre-existing condition (Diabetes).
If you have a dog or cat I would strongly recommend you check out all the benefits of being a Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan® owner. During the cost of year the plan more than pays for it’s self. In fact just today’s visit alone saved us almost $550!
Our dog has to go back in three weeks for a booster shot and again in six months for another check up and more vaccinations. They even gave us paperwork on all the tests that were performed and why so we knew exactly what was done with our dog today (another words we have complete records of everything that was done).
I’m glad he had his ProHeart® 6 heartworm injection too. After writing my other post about heartworm I am more determined than ever to make sure all our pets are protected. Heartworm is a horrible, painful, costly and even fatal disease.
If you would like to make an appointment at your local Banfield Pet Hospital you can make an appointment online at this link – Banfield Pet Hospital Online Appointment.
Banfield Pet Hospital can also be found on Twitter (@Banfield) and on Facebook.
Do you take your pet on regular vet visits?
Has your pet been tested and/or received preventative medication for Heartworm?
What do you think about Banfield Pet Hosptial and their Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan® ? Do you think it’s something you are going to look into for your pet?
Feel free to share your thoughts. I love to hear from readers.
Kimberly
*The Optimum Wellness Plan and information have been provided by Banfield Pet Hospital®. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Michelle Washburn says
Thanks for the article. I know a few people that even though they have the money they don’t think its necessary to take their animals to the vet. I would love to pass this blog post around.
Janet W. says
We have always taken our dogs to their regular vet visits since they were puppies. Our Jack Russell lived to be 17 years old, and her daughter is 15 years old and still kicking. 🙂
Cynthia R says
With 3 cats, our vet visits add up fast, but it’s what’s expected when you become a pet owner.
Brenda Haines says
I wish more people would take their pets in regularly.