Ben Madilynn
As pet owners, we’d do anything for the health of our pets. That’s why it is so frustrating when our fur babies fall ill or get injured, and we find ourselves unable to pay the bills due to financial constraints. Thankfully, there are many organizations out there that have been created to help pet owners pay their costly veterinary bills. If you’re facing an astronomical vet bill and have no way to pay it, the following 15 organizations may be able to help. Read on to learn more.
How Are Organizations That Help With Vet Bills Classified?
There are several different types of organizations on our list below.
- Donor Funded. These organizations receive funding from generous donors, which they can then allocate to applicants requiring financial assistance.
- Temporary Credit. Some companies offer healthcare credit cards specifically designed to help pay for costly medical treatments. As with a traditional credit card, pet owners will need to repay the funds they “borrowed.”
- Crowdfunding. This is the practice of funding veterinary bills by raising small donations from a large number of people via the Internet.
The 15 Organizations That Help With Vet Bills
1. Paws 4 a Cure
| Eligible Areas: | United States |
| Types of Care: | Illness or injury treatments |
| Animals Covered: | Dogs, cats |
Paws for a Cure is a volunteer-run non-profit that provides financial assistance to pet owners who cannot afford illness or injury treatments for their beloved fur babies. This organization does not discriminate against age, breed, or diagnosis; its funding is not designated for routine care (e.g., spaying/neutering, vaccines, dental care). It can assist pet owners in the United States, including Guam and Puerto Rico.
The maximum assistance available from this organization is up to $500.
2. Shakespeare Animal Fund
| Eligible Areas: | Northern Nevada, Alachua County (Florida) |
| Types of Care: | Emergencies |
| Animals Covered: | Dogs, cats |
Shakespeare Animal Fund is an organization created to help pet owners pay for emergency veterinary bills that arise due to accidents, illnesses, or other emergencies. It is designed specifically for elderly folks, veterans, disabled individuals, and those whose total income falls below the current poverty guidelines.
3. Waggle
| Eligible Areas: | United States and Canada |
| Types of Care: | Anything |
| Animals Covered: | Domestic pets |
Waggle is a non-profit crowdfunding website similar to GoFundMe. Its model is designed to help financially strained pet owners, rescues, and shelters pay for costly medical care for their pets. Creating a Waggle campaign is simple, but raising the funds does require some work on your end. Waggle doesn’t do the fundraising for you, but they do provide tips and advice to help you meet your goal.
4. The Pet Fund
| Eligible Areas: | United States |
| Types of Care: | Basic, non-urgent |
| Animals Covered: | Dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, pocket pets, potbellied pigs |
The Pet Fund is another non-profit organization set up to provide financial assistance to American pet owners experiencing financial difficulties. This organization only works on non-basic and non-urgent care, so it will not be able to fund treatments such as diagnostic testing, emergency care, or basic treatments like dental work or vaccinations. The Pet Fund’s funding is meant for things like cancer treatments and heart disease.
5. Frankie’s Friends Fund
| Eligible Areas: | United States |
| Types of Care: | Lifesaving emergency or specialty veterinary care |
| Animals Covered: | Domestic pets |
Frankie’s Friends Fund is meant to provide grants to pet owners whose pets require lifesaving emergency or specialty veterinary care. Its program is designed to help in emergencies or with specialty medical conditions that would otherwise cause the pet in question to suffer or be euthanized.
This organization’s grants will not exceed $2,000 per pet per household.
6. Joshua Louis Animal Cancer Fund
| Eligible Areas: | United States |
| Types of Care: | Cancer |
| Animals Covered: | Domestic pets |
The Joshua Louis Animal Cancer Fund, managed by Frankie’s Friends, is designed to provide financial aid to families with pets diagnosed with cancer. One of the requirements of this program is that your pet must be currently under the care of a veterinary oncologist and have an excellent prognosis to be eligible for funding.
7. The Mosby Foundation
| Eligible Areas: | United States |
| Types of Care: | Not specified |
| Animals Covered: | Dogs |
The Mosby Foundation was created specifically to assist in caring for critically ill, injured, abused, and neglected dogs. It does not have funding available for diagnostics, routine veterinary care, or emergencies. Your dog must be spayed, neutered, or have the procedure performed prior to receiving financial assistance.
8. Petcard
| Eligible Areas: | Canada |
| Types of Care: | Surgery, dental work, radiography, laboratory testing, euthanasia, etc. |
| Animals Covered: | Not specified |
Petcard is a loan program available for Canadians seeking financing for their pet’s veterinary care. It has a fast response time and high approval rate, providing an open loan you can repay at any time without incurring any fees or penalties. The loan can be split into monthly payments over 12 to 72 months.
The loan can provide up to $40,000 in financing.
9. RedRover Relief
| Eligible Areas: | United States |
| Types of Care: | Life-threatening injury or illnesses |
| Animals Covered: | Dogs, cats, horses, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc. |
RedRover Relief has a grant program designed to provide financial resources and emotional support to pet owners whose animals are in life-threatening conditions. Those receiving the grant must be low-income, with an annual household income of $60,000 or lower.
The average grant available is approximately $250.
10. Friends & Vets Helping Pets
| Eligible Areas: | United States |
| Types of Care: | Curable diseases (e.g., tumors, broken bones, medication, etc.) |
| Animals Covered: | Cats, dogs |
Friends & Vets Helping Pets is an organization created to help pet owners with financial limitations pay for their pet’s veterinary expenses. Its goal is to prevent families from having to unnecessarily euthanize a family pet due to cost restraints. The funding is not designated for routine veterinary care, diagnostic testing, or preventative treatments.
11. The Farley Foundation
| Eligible Areas: | Ontario |
| Types of Care: | Non-elective veterinary care |
| Animals Covered: | Dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, pocket pets, reptiles, horses, etc. |
The Farley Foundation is a Canadian organization that can subsidize the cost of non-elective veterinary care, like surgery, diagnostics, and hospitalizations. Funding is available only to Ontario pet owners who fit a particular profile, such as seniors, disabled individuals, or those with an annual household income of less than $25,000.
12. CareCredit
| Eligible Areas: | United States |
| Types of Care: | Routine care, diagnostics, emergency care |
| Animals Covered: | Dogs, cats, horses, birds, reptiles, rabbits, pocket pets, etc. |
CareCredit is a healthcare credit card that pet parents can access to help cut the high costs of veterinary care. The card can be used for many different services, procedures, and emergencies, including dermatology, medications, diagnostic testing, annual exams, dental cleanings, accidents, injuries, cancer care, and more. Your veterinary office must accept CareCredit to be eligible.
13. Help-A-Pet
| Eligible Areas: | United States |
| Types of Care: | Veterinary services, medicine, medical supplies |
| Animals Covered: | Cats, dogs |
Help-A-Pet is a non-profit organization created to help low-income pet owners afford the high cost of veterinary services, medicine, and medical supplies. To be eligible for funding, owners must have an annual household income of less than $20,000 (for singles) or $40,000 (for family households).
14. Live Like Roo
| Eligible Areas: | United States |
| Types of Care: | Cancer |
| Animals Covered: | Dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, ferrets, etc. |
Live Like Roo is a charitable foundation that assists families with pets that have been diagnosed with cancer. It has several funding options depending on your needs. For example, the Booker Fund is designed to pay for hotel rooms, dog beds, and anything else a pup may need in their final days or weeks to make them comfortable and happy. The Cappy Fund is for helping animals in rescue or foster care heal their cancer, while Maggie’s Friends funding is allocated to cats with cancer.
15. PAWS
| Eligible Areas: | Southwestern Ontario |
| Types of Care: | Preventative care, essential medical care |
| Animals Covered: | Cats, dogs, etc. |
PAWS (Progressive Animal Welfare Services) is an Ontario organization dedicated to helping pet owners provide essential medical and preventative care for their pets. Low-income pet owners in the Ontario counties mentioned above can apply for a subsidy to help pay for medically necessary veterinary care.
The subsidy allowances range from up to $150 for cat preventative care to $400 per animal for diagnostics and urgent medical care.
Final Thoughts
It’s scary to face an expensive veterinary bill and have to choose between going into debt and saving your pet’s life. Thankfully, there are plenty of organizations dedicated to helping you make these costly veterinary payments so your pet has another chance at life. Don’t be afraid to reach out to any of these organizations if you need help with vet bills or talk to your veterinarian about other programs offered in your area.
Featured Image Credit: hedgehog94, Shutterstock
