Where should I take my dog to be vaccinated?

 We have a couple low cost vaccination clinics near me. Since getting 3 dogs I decided that it is ridiculous to spend the money on shots + an office visit. Especially since the shot prices are so inflated anyway. It costs vets about $4 a pop for a vaccination and they inflate that price to $25-$30 in some cases...plus the cost of an office visit. Forget that. So, for vaccinations I just go to the clinic and get them done for $10 a piece - no office visit charge. For regular medical stuff, they see our normal vet.

Hopefully this isn't a cheap attempt to advertise for the website you mentioned twice in your post :) 

 Ok, so these are just low cost clinics in your area? Like at an animal shelter?

And no, not advertising. It's just that they are the only full-on COMPANY i have heard of who does this nationally. i put the website in in case people wanted to check out and see or comment or whatever.

i guess my issue is can i really TRUST a low cost clinic. and you seem to be saying that it's ok and that the vets simply overcharge - they are not offering anything extra really. thanks! 

I live in a metro area that is surrounded by farmland. So these clinics don't advertise themselves as low cost vaccination clinics per say but they specialize in keeping their costs low in order to serve what is considered low income communities. 3 days per week they service household pets (dogs, cats, etc) and the other 3 days they are a large animal clinic (visiting vet and so on).

They do low cost spay and neuters and don't charge much for routine surgeries like removing dew claws and so forth. 

As far as trusting vaccinations go, yes I trust them. Vaccines are vaccines in the US so long as they have a trustworthy supplier and keep the vaccines refridgerated - which they do, there's a fridge in each exam room. Techs do all of the shots except for rabies, which is done by a vet because it's the law. So you go in, get a shot and you're out of there. You get what you pay for. If you want the vet to examine your pet then there is an office visit (but even that is cheaper than the normal vet office $15 vs. $35) 

All that said, I wouldn't take my dogs to these places for something really important. I only take them there for shots. 

We've used the low cost clinics too. Here in our area, they have a mobile vaccination clinic and it's usually in a parking lot at a strip mall. They're very reputable and have been around for years. The price is reasonable and you don't even need an appt. 

Btw, another thing to consider if you are low on funds (or even if you have money to burn) is that a lot of counties do free rabies shots a few times per year as well as super cheap micro chipping. Just go to your county animal control website and see when they are having an event. 

We go to the humane society where we got Sammy - we're members so he gets a free "exam" once a year (which is kind of a joke, but hey if we go in between his yearly vet appt its not so bad) and we get shots there depending on what i want him to have at the time. 

We get our vax done from Luv My Pet.  With 5 dogs it cost too much to add a vet visit on top of the vax costs.  (I took Mystic to our regular vet for her rabies b/c it was about to expire and I didn't know when the next clinic was, the total for the exam and shot was 45$, for that she could have gotten all her shots)  I have no problem having the dogs done w/ them, but I will say I liked the people who used to come in to Petsmart for a clinc once a month, a lot better, they really paid attention to the dogs (they don't come in anymore), where the Luv My Pet people are all about, get-em in get-em out.

One thing to keep in mind is that you're getting multiple vax done at one time.  If your dog has reactions to vaccinations then this could be a problem.  It seems like many people on here don't like doing multiple vax at once, they'd rather space them out.

As a sometimes-financially strapped student like yourself ;) I totally understand the need to have a good savings bundle "in case" something were to go wrong with the dog. I take my dog to the regular vet because around here prices aren't bad (40$ yearly physical, 10-15$ per vaccine and she only gets core ones, $40 per yearly HW test).

 I got my cat (when she was a kitten) spayed and her final vax set done at a low cost shelter, and they did a superb job! Don't be put off by the fact that it may be a little crowded, a little smellier, a little louder than a normal vet's office - the people who work there are SO dedicated. The rescue group I work with gets all of their dogs and cats fixed and vaxed there, and we have never had a problem.

I do agree with minimom, though, that vaccines are something to be careful with.  I want that vaccination to be administered by a Vet that I have a relationship with and who knows my dogs' health histories.  Yes, agreed. A low-cost shelter would probably do a cheap physical for you in addition to vaccines. I have never heard of LuvMyPets??  If it is anything like 1800PetMeds, run far, far away....the legal and ethical problems they have had over the years are just staggering

Frankly, I just feel that $200 for shots is outrageous and I cannot help but think the vets are building in a nice profit for themselves

 200$ for shots (alone? you sure that doesnt include physical and bloodwork? what was the price breakdown, if I may ask?) IS a lot more than usual. But....you have to remember that the reason pet care seems to expensive is because pets don't have insurance ;) You'd be amazed at how much your own yearly physical/bloodwork/wht have you really costs when you look beyond the co-pay.

And yes, vets have to make profit. Because if the clinic doesn't profit, we can't provide a proper standard of care - i.e. having updated X-ray and anesthetic machines, having enough money to  be able to hire enough licensed Techs and kennel keepers and associate vets, having all proper surgical equipment, having the right stock of medicines, etc  Sorry ;) just a little rant....

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