Help With Pet Bills

Most pet owners love their pets and accept the responsibility of regular check-ups and maintenance to keep them happy and healthy. Sometimes, whether because of our pet's age, our own age, or an unexpected illness or accident, pet owners are faced with costly veterinary bills and are unable to pay them up front. The good news is that you can find numerous animal support foundations that can help with pet bills for almost any given situation.

Local Animal Shelter Clinics

• Most major cities and towns have local animal shelters where stray and injured animals are turned in, medically treated and put up for adoption. Most of these organizations have on-site veterinary clinics for resident animals, and follow-up visits for adopted pets. In many instances the veterinary services at local humane society facilities are open to the public and offer discounted -- or sometimes free -- veterinary services to low-income pet owners. Animal lovers adopting pets from such foundations commonly save a considerable amount of money in veterinary care, shots, spaying and neutering as these services are typically included in a flat adoption fee.

Illness- and Breed-Specific Foundations

• Depending on what is ailing your four-legged furry friend and where it comes from, you may be eligible to seek assistance from one of the many foundations that focus on specific breeds of animals and illnesses. Cats in Crisis Inc. is a nonprofit organization that helps individual pet owners and animal care groups treat and save cats with chronic and potentially fatal medical conditions. The organization sponsors funding for cats with serious injuries, kidney disease, and heart or neurological conditions. The nonprofit group Canine Cancer Awareness is dedicated to helping dogs that suffer from various forms of cancer. The organization helps families who could not otherwise afford the diagnostic treatment of their pets through grants and financial assistance.

Pet-Emergency Grant and Credit Agencies

• No matter what age or breed of pet you have -- or what age you are -- if your pet is faced with an unexpected life-threatening emergency that you are unprepared to pay for on the spot, you may be able to find immediate help from various nonprofit animal organizations or emergency veterinary care credit programs. Low-income families with pet emergencies can sometimes seek assistance from The Pet Fund for domestic animals. Lifeline Rescue Grants and United Animal Nations assist low-income families, senior citizens and good Samaritans who rescue injured and homeless strays with affordable veterinary assistance. You can also apply for an immediate line of credit for emergency veterinary care through lenders such as CareCredit. Like Visa or MasterCard, CareCredit offers monthly payments and no membership fees.

Veterinary Assistance for the Elderly and Disabled

• Whether you or your pet is elderly or disabled, you can find numerous associations that offer special veterinary benefits for senior people and pets. Organizations such as Help-A-Pet, Orthodogs' Silver Lining Foundation and The Assistance Dog United Campaign are among the many that offer reduced-price veterinary services to senior citizens on fixed incomes and active and retired service dogs for the blind, disabled or law enforcement agencies. The Assistance Dog Institute assists the elderly and disabled in purchasing service dogs.