Ways to Lower Your Dog’s Vet and Insurance Costs

If your dog takes tablets every day, there’s a good chance you collect them from the vet’s front desk each month, pay and go home. Most owners never ask whether there’s another way to buy them.

The Competition and Markets Authority found that more than 70% of pet owners buy long-term medication from their vet, even though many could save £200 a year or more by buying it online (CMA findings, March 2026).

That saving starts with one question at the vet’s, and several others work the same way.

The prescription question

If your dog takes medicine every day, ask your vet for a written prescription. You can take it to an online pharmacy or another supplier and compare prices. For a dog on long-term medication, the saving comes round again every year.

Prescription fees have been part of the problem, with many practices charging £30 or more each. The watchdog’s reforms cap that fee and require practices to tell you a written prescription is an option. The changes are being phased in, so ask whether your practice has made them yet.

If you buy online, check the seller is on the Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s Register of Online Retailers, and steer clear of sites selling prescription-only medicines without asking for a prescription. Your vet will still need to see your dog from time to time before renewing it, because medicine can only be prescribed for an animal under their care.

Prices in writing

For planned treatment, ask what it will cost before you agree to it. Under the same reforms, practices will have to give written estimates for bigger treatments and publish a standard price list. Emergencies are the exception.

Once price lists appear, comparing routine costs such as consultations and vaccinations between local practices becomes far easier than it has been.

Who owns your practice?

Many practices belong to large groups but keep their original local name. Vet businesses will have to show whether they’re part of a group or independent. That’s useful when you’re referred to a specialist, need out-of-hours care or are pointed to a pharmacy: you can ask whether it belongs to the same group, and you’re free to go elsewhere.

Small habits, smaller bills

Teeth are the obvious place to start. A few minutes of brushing on most days helps keep gum disease at bay.

Weight comes next. A dog carrying extra kilos puts more strain on its joints, and that tends to show up later as stiffness and more trips to the vet. The dull routines, flea, worm and vaccination, cost less than the illnesses they prevent.

Some practices offer health plans that spread routine care into monthly payments. Before signing up, add up what you’d use in a year and compare it with paying as you go.

Renewal gone up? Start with the excess

The excess is the fixed amount you pay towards a claim, and raising it lowers the premium. What that costs you later depends on how it’s charged. A per-claim excess is paid on every separate claim. A per-condition excess is paid once for each condition in a policy year, however many visits it takes.

The difference matters most for a dog with a recurring problem. If his ears flare up three or four times a year, a higher per-claim excess is paid each time, while a per-condition one is usually paid once a year. Check your dog’s policy summary to see which applies.

The limit is a riskier place to save. A lower limit or a narrower type of policy can leave you short in the very year you need the cover.

If your dog has a condition on record, think hard before switching insurers to save money. A new policy would usually exclude it, and a fresh 14-day wait for illness cover would begin.

Extras you may not need

Read your renewal documents for extras you don’t use. Some policies bundle in things like overseas travel cover, which you won’t need if your dog never leaves the country. Dropping them, or choosing a policy without them, can bring the price down.

Paying annually can help too. Some insurers charge more over the year if you pay monthly, so if you can manage a lump sum, compare the two totals.

When money is tight

Ask your practice whether it offers payment plans for larger bills. The PDSA provides free and low-cost vet care to owners who receive certain benefits and live in the catchment area of one of its Pet Hospitals or Pet Care Scheme practices, and its website sets out the criteria.

Asking about cost can feel awkward. Vets and nurses hear the question every day, and most would rather talk it through than have an owner put off treatment.