Expert Tips for Paying for Your Pet's Healthcare, with Jonathan Wainberg

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In this episode, we sit down with Jonathan Wainberg, Senior VP of Synchrony Financial Service’s Pet Business, to discuss the rising costs of pet care and how to manage them. With pet ownership at an all-time high, many of us will face unexpected pet health expenses we're likely not prepared for. Jonathan shares key insights on budgeting, the benefits of pet insurance and CareCredit, and finding financial support. He emphasizes the importance of planning ahead to keep our pets healthy without financial strain.

Key Takeaways:

• Unexpected Costs: Pet care can be pricier than many realize.
• Budget Wisely: Planning can prevent financial stress.
• Insurance & Credit Options: Tools like pet insurance and CareCredit can help manage costs.
• Do Your Research: Know what to expect based on your pet’s breed and consult your vet.
• Seek Support: Humane societies and charitable funds can provide financial assistance.

Tune in to learn how to prepare for pet care expenses and ensure your furry family members receive the care they need. Plus, explore the results of Synchrony's Pet Lifetime of Care study and discover more resources to manage pet healthcare costs.

 Big changes are coming soon to Starlight Pet Talk! 🚀 We’re excited to share that we're evolving to bring you even more engaging content and fresh perspectives. Stay tuned for new features and exciting updates that will enhance your listening experience. We can’t wait to reveal what’s next—keep an eye out for more details! 

Transcript

Amy Castro (00:27.566)
Welcome to Starlight Pet Talk. I'm your host, Amy Castro. And today I'm welcoming Jonathan Weinberg, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Synchronese Pet Business. Jonathan oversees Synchronese Care Credit Health and Wellness Credit Card Program, which is a flexible payment solution for pet parents that is accepted by more than 25 ,000 veterinary practices in the U .S. Jonathan's also a board member at Independent Pet Holdings, where he's part of a team that oversees strategic direction.

of multiple pet insurance brands, including Pets Best, ASPCA, pet health insurance, and Spot. But most importantly, Jonathan is a proud dad and husband and a pet parent to a mini poodle named Maddie. And he joins us today to talk about helping pet parents navigate the rising cost of pet care and understand their financial options when it comes to getting their pets the very best care possible. So Jonathan, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for having me, Amy.

full transparency, do have to introduce someone else in the room over here. So hold on. For those who are on video watching us on YouTube. my goodness. This is the beautiful Maddie Weinberg. She is a 14 year old miniature poodle. She is, you know, our first child and most days our favorite child. And she's lived in four different countries with us and has been to 13 countries. So she's a real part of the family and

We kind of joke that she's the chief pet officer of Synchrony. I work for her and she works for me, but I kind of feel like I work for her most of the time. There you go. Yeah, the pet's always at the top of the food chain. Absolutely. She's wise. She's been around the world. She's been around the block. And so...

You know, it's interesting you say you had her for 14 years and she is your first child. And I, my guess would be that back then the options for paying for pet care were not anywhere what they are today. As somebody who is the president of an animal rescue, the ability to pay for the care for that pet is a huge.

Amy Castro (02:28.844)
responsibility that hangs over my head every time I face an adoption situation, especially when you've got somebody that comes into the situation who is already concerned about how they're gonna pay their adoption fee, let alone the long -term lifetime care costs for that pet. So can you just kind of give us an idea of like, are some of the options that are available? We did an entire episode on pet insurance and definitely I'm a proponent of...

at least investigating those options to see what might fit for you, but what other things are available to people? Yeah. I think, Amy, it would make sense for us to start just to share some overall industry and macro trends to kind of level set. Pet ownership is at an all -time high in the US, right? About two -thirds of households enjoy the benefits of sharing their life with a pet. There's a disproportionate amount of first -time pet owners in the market.

due to general macro trends that have been happening, but also because of the boom that happened with the pandemic and people benefiting and seeing all the better outcomes of when people were locked down, having the ability to share their life and not be alone and also some of the physical benefits that people saw. And then the third thing I just kind of point out is there's been great advances in medical care, right? For pets over the past decades. And that's accelerating. We continue to see that.

So while costs are increasing, so too are positive outcomes, right? But with that comes some challenges. More than half of pet parents underestimate the cost of caring for their pets. Many pet parents, especially first timers, they don't know the life cycle of a pet. They don't know the costs and responsibilities that come with that. You kind of learn that over the course of maybe the first pet you have and living through that life cycle, right? And you know.

an unexpected expense of, you you were talking about the $50 adoption fee, but what one of the studies that we did said unexpected expenses, the little as $250 is enough to trigger anxiety in that pet parent. So, you know, here's what we also know. Pet parents should never have to choose between cost and the care for their pets. And having a variety of financial options, which is what we're going to talk about today is important and expecting

Amy Castro (04:43.842)
What I like to say, expecting what should not be unexpected, right? Because you know something is going to happen and that's critical. And that's where Care Credit and flexible payment options come in. Care Credit is a flexible and convenient payment option. It's available for pet parents and it covers just about everything you could do in a vet clinic. It also covers in certain boarding and pet hotels and some grooming locations as well. But the majority of what we do is with regards to the healthcare use of a card.

It's accepted in approximately 85 % of vets in the United States and it offers flexible financing options, both short and long -term. And it's a real -time application and approval. It should take you no more than 30 seconds to know if you pre -qualify without hitting your credit rating. And you could do it either at home proactively, or you could do it at the vet office if something unexpected pops up. Right. Especially in

Like I said, in my experience in rescue, we do not just rescue, but we do a lot of outreach in the community. And we get calls all the time from veterinarians who are like, hey, we've got a dog with a foreign body and the owner can't afford what we project the costs are going to be. Is that something that you can help with? And obviously we work with people on that, but time is definitely of the essence. But surprisingly, we actually had a recent case where

you know, because that person was able to get care credit, I actually had to call the vet after the fact and say, so what do we owe you? Like what was the final outcome? And as it turned out, you know, they were covered and they didn't need to have the money that we had set aside for that, which is great because now I can use that for the next animal that may not be as lucky. So it was super quick and a great option for that family.

That's absolutely right. And it's great about having various nets to catch where certain situations happen, making sure that people don't fall through the cracks. It's amazing that we have people like you that have dedicated and have those emergency funds, but ideally people can plan ahead. So similar to you, you talked about you're a big proponent of pet insurance or at least examining pet insurance. And pet insurance is great in certain situations and in other situations it doesn't work. Maddie, for instance, she's

Amy Castro (06:54.766)
know, 14 years old, she had pet insurance, but then we lived abroad and that insurance didn't transfer with her to where she was. And when she came back, she had just an incredible amount of pre -existing conditions that didn't make sense for her to be insured anymore. She does have an accident only policy, which covers things like if she were to, God forbid, get hit by a car or hurt her leg or eat something, you know, that she wasn't supposed to, but it doesn't make sense for the general means. generally I'm a big proponent. As you said, used to have, Pets Fest used to roll up into me.

It was the third largest insurer in the U S and credit and insurance work great together also, right? Because some of the friction in the insurance thing is waiting for the reimbursement rate you're putting in that claim, but you also have to have the money available to pay the vet at the time of treatment. And so care credit can help you as you wait for that reimbursement to come back. So those are, those are important things. And these things work very well together. And a lot of the studies we found is that people that have both care credit

and insurance tend to be some of your most highly engaged pet parents and are looking for the most optimal care for that pet. And optimal doesn't have to mean the most expensive. Right. Yeah. It's covering the bases. And it seems like those are kind of two of the maybe three bases. Maybe, maybe there's more bases. You'll have to let me know. But, you know, so you've got the possibility of insurance that may cover certain things and may not cover other things. You've got the care credit to make sure that the veterinarian gets paid. What about just the idea of budgeting?

Listen, everyone has to do what's right for them. What I'd say is, we know through our study, Pet Lifetime of Care, that four out of five pet owners are going to have an emergency at some point. And so putting yourself in the position to anticipate that you're going to have an emergency is step one. Budgeting is great, but not everyone is great at it. Budgeting is a great tool, but not everyone is great at it. I think a couple of things, education, know your breed.

dog or cat or where you live and what the general costs are going to be for certain things. That's very important. think health savings, high -yield savings accounts, health savings accounts are a great way to do it. think now, you know, we hear a lot about interest rates are high and stuff like that on a negative side from, you know, mortgage rates and people trying to borrow. But, you know, banks are lending money at a much higher rate, Synchrony is a bank and we have a high -yield savings account and we're offering, I think, just under 5%. And that's a great

Amy Castro (09:20.32)
way to, you know, kind of put that money into great products. But having something like care credit before, you know, we tend to think about it as an emergency product and it doesn't have to be an emergency product because generally even preventative care and, and, your routine appointments are running up to an amount where you could benefit from an interest free promotion that we offer for our deferred financing options. That's something that people can always take advantage of. I also think

talking to your vet, really understanding some of those nuances. I'm going to give you an example with Maddie. You know, she's lived a great life so far, but the longer you live, just like in humans, things pop up. Maddie, you know, about three years ago was diagnosed with Cushing's and that requires not just medicine, but also regulating her levels, For making sure her cortisol levels and the adrenal glands are operating at the optimal amount for her to that healthy life. Well, that's one thing that,

I didn't really realize. Then about nine months ago, she got diagnosed with a mitral valve deficiency, which is a precursor to the potential of having congestive heart failure. With that, she needs to go three times a year for an EKG and see a doggy cardiologist, right? Which a lot of people didn't know existed until they go visit one, but she gets great care over there and they work with me to manage the best way to...

together what is affordable, they accept care credit, which allows me to take those expenses and pay them over a much more orderly fashion over six months, a year, or even longer. Yeah. And not put yourself in a financial bind by using a higher interest credit card. Because just like you said, interest rates are up. So if you're using a regular credit card and you're not paying that balance, because that could put you in that situation, now you're paying a lot of interest that you didn't necessarily need to pay if you'd explored that other option.

Absolutely. Take advantage of if someone's offering you six months or a year and you're paying it on the schedule, it's a no cost to the cardholder. It's just such a valuable product where things are on the market now. Yeah. And even if it's not a credit card situation, I don't know about younger people, I'm old, but a lot of people in my generation are very like, don't use credit if you don't have to, you don't use credit if you don't have to. Well, if I'm getting zero interest credit and I'm getting 5 % or 4 .9 % on my savings, why would I take money out of my savings?

Amy Castro (11:39.682)
you know, take the money out of your savings as you're paying your care credit bill versus, I mean, it just doesn't, do the math, you know, do the math and figure out what is the best option for you in advance. That's important. I mean, that's part of being smart financially for sure.

Absolutely. That's my view also. And there are ways on the Care Credit website for you to set up for automatic payments so that you're hitting that minimum payment and not accruing interest after the promotional period, right? We make that available, those tools so that people get the most out of those promotional opportunities. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, you know, it takes a little planning for sure, but it's definitely doable. You had mentioned, and it's interesting, you

mentioned, because I did look through the lifetime of care document, you know, and you mentioned this idea of, you know, knowing the breed of your pet, I actually sent a text to my vet, because she's also a client of mine in my consulting business, I was like, Hey, have you thought about offering as part of your, whether it's a, you know, wellness or new, new client, new puppy, whatever it is, offering the genetic testing, so that people know what are the potential issues for their pet, and then

having a discussion with, because I think the communication with the veterinarian is so important and being able to talk to a pet parent to say, here are the long -term possible, may not happen to your dog because it's this mix or that mix, but here are some things we might be facing in the future and here's how we can better prepare for those. Do you find that people are doing that more, that they're doing their homework a little bit on their pets? I think so, listen, I think.

those DNA tests to learn more about the breeds are interesting, especially as you don't necessarily have all the history about them. So people are curious, I think it's a pit mix of this and that and people want to know, which is great. It's taken it to that next level. Just like, you know, I did a ancestry .com test also. Yeah, okay, it was interesting. I kind of knew this, but what are you going to do with that information and how do you make that better? And I think you hit the nail on the head. It's really talking to the vet. Okay, so this is what I have. This is the miniature poodle.

Amy Castro (13:43.276)
What can I expect over the course of the life? What do I need to watch out for? What do I need to budget for? know, vets are, they're great, right? They're so dedicated to the welfare of our family members, right? And they bear the burden of a lot of those conversations where someone shows up and can't afford that vital care or the optimal care. And so they want to do as much as they can, but you're not put in that situation. That pet is not put in that situation and they're not put in that situation. So I would say,

definitely talk to them, use those resources they will share with you. A treatment plan, whether you're paying in normal credit card cash or with care credit, it's all about working out something that makes sense ultimately for the pet and something that you can afford over that lifetime. A spectrum of care also, right? There's no exactly a hundred percent right or wrong on what is right for that pet. talking about

that with your vet and understanding the lifestyle that you live, the resources that you have, work together to figure out what makes most sense for that family member and how you go about it. I think that there's a lot of great tools out there and vets are so generous with their time because they care so much about those outcomes of the animals of our pet family members that they're willing to invest in that and help you figure that out. Yeah. You have to open that door to communication in some instances because what I have found

not only working with vets, working for vets, in interviewing vets for this show is that the initial conversation is going to be, in most instances, the gold standard. Here is the gold standard of what we can do for your pet. And if you just nod and smile and say, okay, they're gonna make the assumption that you have the finances, that you're not gonna put yourself.

you know, in the poor house, you're not going to be pulling from your kid's college fund or not being able to pay your rent. You have to open that door to communication to say, you know, are there alternatives? Can we do this in stages? And, you know, as just as an example. So when my dog, Jack, who was a doberman pincher, got a hemangioparasitoma, which is a very treatable type of cancer, but it was on his leg. you know, the standard, wasn't even necessarily the gold standard, but the standard was to amputate the leg.

Amy Castro (16:00.41)
And this is where it's so important to really think about just what you said, as far as your lifestyle, the pet itself, and having that communication with your vet is that knowing that a Doberman Pinscher carries a huge percentage of its body weight on its front leg, knowing that I had hardwood floors and he already was having issues with slipping and sliding on the floors, it's like, yeah, no, is there any other option? And financially, it was a reverse situation because I actually went ahead and did radiation therapy on it.

And I won't even throw the number out there because he's going to choke somebody. But, that was a long time ago too. But you know, for that dog, that investment to, to do that treatment made a whole lot of sense based on all of the things that considered. I think my vet thought I was nuts. Had it been a different pet and it has nothing to do with loving the pet more or less. Like I had a dog named Coco who was a miniature pincher. If she had gotten the same thing, I probably wouldn't have pursued for a lot of reasons that

that type of treatment because that dog, I mean, she could have one leg and she would have gotten around just fine. I she was just like so much more agile, didn't have, you know, didn't have the problems that he had. So my point in sharing that is that it's, it is so important to really think about the big picture because whatever is presented to you, although it might be a good solution or even the best solution, it may not be the right solution.

for you in your 360 degree situation and you have to communicate with your vet about that and be open and honest with them about it. Absolutely. You hit it square on. It is being realistic about what you can do. And that doesn't mean pet ownership isn't for you or that you can't provide a loving and caring home for that pet. It's just about, you know, what is that spectrum?

And what does it make sense in some cases, in some situations, right? And that's where education, knowledge, and being realistic with your vet about, here's where I am. This is what I budgeted for. And how do we go about doing that? It's paramount. Knowledge is power. Right. I know one of the complaints I say, and of course it's always the angry customer where you see the post on social media where people are complaining about...

Amy Castro (18:07.022)
prices of things. And one in particular that jumps out to me was a social media post where somebody was blasted that, you know, I need a new veterinarian. This veterinarian was ridiculous. I brought my two dogs in here and, you know, for well checks for this and that and came out and it was $700. And I think my first thought was, honey, you got off cheap for that. But to me, it shouldn't have been a shock to this person as to what the cost of care for their pet was going to be.

What would you tell pet owners as far as doing a better job in communicating with their veterinarians about the cost of things before they're down the path? Yeah. Listen, I think even before you bring that pet into your family, do the research. There's plenty of sites out there that have estimation of what procedures cost. If you go to our lifetime of care study, you'll be able to see what our survey has showed.

a pet can cost. our study determined that it's about $20 ,000 to $55 ,000 for a lifetime of a dog. Now that's not just vet bills, it's the totality of everything. it's a big range, which is fine, but those are not insignificant numbers. And for a cat, between 15 and 45 ,000, right? And so I don't share these numbers to scare people away because I think ultimately,

bringing a pet into your household and into your life that has a lot of benefits, but it's also a covenant. You're bringing a living being into your household and you got to be able to provide for it just like you provide for human household members, right? And so I would say that you should always have some sort of wherewithal of what you can budget for. And I would also say don't let an emergency...

come up on you to the extent you can't. Like we said, we know that there's going to be surprises, but how do you prepare for that? So whether it's having care credit before, because you can take advantage of it for your routine care, or you're having other people, whether it be your family know that, if something emergency comes up, I have the ability to reach out to you for certain things. Because the last thing you want to do is when that pet is having an emergency is to be thinking about how I'm going to pay for it as opposed to

Amy Castro (20:18.69)
how your pet is doing. It's already too stressful an event for you to add that upper variable, which is not gonna allow you to think clearly and be there emotionally for your family and for that pet. Right. You make a good point about communicating with family and friends. It's like having those, just like I always encourage people to have a plan B for their pet, especially when we get younger people, college students that wanna adopt a pet.

I'm always a little concerned because that's a very transitional time in your life. know, you're at school, then you might be living at home, then you might be getting an apartment, you might be living with somebody else. You know, what is your plan B? Do you have one? And it's like, if I hear a good answer, it makes me feel a lot more comfortable about the fact that you've taken the time to think through what might potentially happen in your life and in your situation for that pet. And that the pet has been considered in those factors. Because I think too many times,

I'm one that gets the calls every day, I don't know, 15 or 20 calls a day for people surrendering because I'm moving or I'm doing this or I'm doing that. And it's like, really? couldn't, you know, and by the way, the animal has to be gone by Friday. That was the call I got this morning. So don't be that person, you know, really think that through. I also want to stress too, knowing full well that certain breeds are going to be more likely to have, you know, right now, French bulldogs are super popular.

You know, obviously I think they're cute. I would never own one. I certainly wouldn't buy one for a lot of reasons, but I see a lot of people getting into situations where the hype of look how cute that is. I see it all over social media. Now I've got one and I had no idea it was going to have all these issues and all this cost. Do you see a lot of that? And what do we do to remedy that situation other than tell people, know, Hey, don't get that pet.

Yeah, it's a tough one, right? Because people ultimately make the decisions that they decide make sense, right? You hate to see when the 101 Dalmatians movie comes out and suddenly everyone thinks it's cool to have a Dalmatian, but they don't realize that Dalmatian has a unique lifestyle that not all homes are built for and are very active and need a lot of space and shouldn't be living in probably an apartment in Manhattan, right?

Amy Castro (22:33.908)
It's hard. You believe in the choice that people should make, but I think that another part of it is family socialization. What is the right pet for you to have in a family situation? There's pets that do much better with kids. And I think you probably see that a lot, Amy, as well. We thought this would be great for young children. it turns out, no, it's not the right mix. Or, my child's allergic to pets. Well, maybe you should have got your

kid checked for the allergy of dog or cats before you brought a living being into your house, right? So it's really tough, but ultimately I don't see that situation going away. And I think we're, you know, we're very lucky to have people like you that dedicate their, you know, their lives or their personal times to finding places and matching people and all the humane societies out there and the shelters that, know, are really doing this, this really hard work to hopefully find places for when.

those pets are just not in the right situation for that. Right. think education and knowledge, obviously, is a key to all of that. I mean, that's one of the reasons that we're doing this podcast is like, if we can get the word out about all the aspects of life with pets, the good, the bad, and otherwise, then people are at least armed with that knowledge and that information.

One of the things that I'm finding veterinarians doing more and more is that they're not only giving that initial range, you low end, it's going to be this high end, it's going to be that. But basically, you know, doing a good job of keeping those lines of communication open with the owner as things start to creep from the low to the high. Because I think human nature is if somebody says it could cost somewhere between $2 and $5, you're thinking too.

because that's obviously what you're hoping for. And when they come back and say it's going to be five, it's like, well, I thought you said two to five. And it's like, five is still five. Any thoughts on that as far as what you've heard or what you're seeing from the veterinary side of things and what vets are doing so that there's not surprises when it comes to paying the bill? Yeah. Listen, I think they're sharing treatment plans, right? So it's showing a range, but it's also showing, as we discussed earlier, a spectrum of care because

Amy Castro (24:49.918)
know, there are certain things that, yes, ideally we all would have unlimited funds to spend on that gold level service that that pet wants. And we all want to give that family member vet care. But the truth is, is that in some cases and only the vet knows best is when is that really needed? And so understanding with them, hey, I'd love to be able to do all this, but is there something that's going to get me

75 % of the way there that is, you know, 45 % of the cost and the other treatments that you have, maybe that's something that can follow in a year when I'm able to, you know, budget that out or afford it. Right. Yeah. Good point. I know that when I originally took my bulldog, she was having a lot of problems and I could tell she had probably done something to her knee or ACL, you know, the initial treatment plan from

one practice was to do a certain procedure that involved cutting bone and screws and things like that. It was very expensive and I probably would have done it except that a friend had mentioned, know, when we had the same issue with our dog, we had this other option. So I explored other options and went with a different procedure that has worked out really, really well. It was less invasive and about a third of the price. So, you know, that's something I think people to, you know, to talk about alternatives with their

their veterinarians. I I love my vets and I like to keep my business there, but at the same time, I have to do what's going to be not only the best for my pet health -wise, but what I can afford or what makes the most sense financially for me too. And I think the vets understand that. Yeah, I think they do. I've been fortunate to spend an incredible amount of time with vets and I know that they put the health of the pet first.

And so it's in their interest to provide the pet with the best options, that pet parent with the best options for the care of that pet. I think that in human health, it's not uncommon to get a second opinion in certain cases. Now I'm not suggesting that people shop around like that, but in certain cases, if you don't feel comfortable with what that vet is suggesting, whether it be cost -wise or treatment -wise, you have that option at your disposal as well. And I would think they would understand that. Right.

Amy Castro (27:03.192)
there's not always just one way to accomplish a goal with either our human health care or with our pets health care. And so because I might be an orthopedic veterinarian and I do TPLOs and that's what I do doesn't mean that it's wrong that that's what I offer because that's what I know how to do. That's what I'm trained to do. That's what I do really, really well. Whereas you might have somebody over here who

you know, and we ended up going to somebody who was one of the like original people to do the tightrope procedure. And that's kind of what he did. And so, you know, it's, it's, it's knowing those options. was the same thing when I had an incident with some horses and I tore my ACL and the first physician that I went to wanted to do a knee replacement because you're probably going to need that someday. like, am I really that old? But okay, you know, you're probably going to need that someday. I go to another physician.

and he has a completely different viewpoint on it. And it's not to say necessarily that one is right or wrong, time will tell, right? But it's what, like you said, it could be in stages. Right now, if you're telling me not to do a knee replacement and try to do physical therapy, I think I'll try that first. That's okay. It's just, it's options that we have when we get those other opinions and usually doesn't hurt anybody's feelings when you do.

No, I agree. And it's options. And in probably most cases is which is the right decision and maybe which one is the more right decision or best right, not necessarily wrong. Right. And I think it's about having that connectivity of comfort with that veterinarian and what fits your comfort zone and what is your ability to do something at this time. And they understand it. It's not as if veterinarians don't understand. Right.

So just to kind of start bringing this thing full circle, beyond the issues of insurance, care credit, doing proper budgeting, what in your experience, what other options are out there for people, whether it's like nonprofits or grants or what other options are out there to people? Of course. And I want to reiterate, I think the first part you could do is hopefully put yourself in a situation that that's not needed. And so whether it's insurance,

Amy Castro (29:13.186)
whether it's budgeting, whether it's, you know, care credit, have something out there that limits the necessity of some of the later stage plans to execute upon, if you will, right? But once you get through that and people do fall through, know, situations fall through the cracks, right? Check with your local, humane societies. They're certainly dedicating a lot of time. There's a lot of organizations that are out there, municipalities as well, to see what programs are available.

There's a lot of traveling vets, you know, services that go around and, and, okay, we're doing a clinic here for the next two days and we'll see as many pets as we can. I'd also add that many vet practices also have a charitable fund. You know, I think when you start getting into families and crowdsourcing, you know, GoFundMe, the challenge with those are that they take time and in many of these circumstances, it's an emergency. And so that's why it's about trying to plan ahead.

have a list of options that you can go down and you can't make the payment or if you can't, you know, then get care credit, if you can't get the next site, have those options ready. So you're not panicked, remove as much stress as you can from what is going to be an incredibly stressful situation. Unfortunately, you know, you're, you're, it's a covenant that you're bringing this living animal and into your lives and they add so much to it. And it's our responsibility to make sure that we're there for them when they need us the most. Right.

when you mentioned the range of the 20 ,000 to 50 something thousand, even if people were to think ahead enough to say, okay, let's take it on the low end. Let's just go with the assumption that my pet's gonna be a relatively healthy pet and it's going to live approximately X number of years. I mean, you can do the math on that because it's interesting and this is, I should know better, right? But when you threw out that $20 ,000 number, I was thinking, ooh, that's a lot of money and that's the low end. But if you take that,

and you divide that by, let's say, an animal that lived 20 years, just because it's easy math, right? So that's $1 ,000 a year. So what is that a month? I mean, it's pretty easy math to know what you wanna start thinking about trying to have on hand or put away. And yeah, maybe you don't use that $1 the first year, but now you've got that set aside and now it's 2 ,400, et cetera, et cetera, and you're ready because as your pet ages, like you said,

Amy Castro (31:33.868)
the cost of care is going to increase. You puppies, you got your initial puppy stuff, and then they're usually good for, you know, the first couple of years, barring an accident or incident. It's just, you know, wellness stuff. But inevitably, you know, you're going to run into more issues, health issues, as time goes on. Absolutely. Jennery, my personal view on this is that you're probably, over the lifetime of a pet, of that pet, going to spend the same amount. But it's how you spend it.

What we're trying to do here is to make it as orderly as possible to reduce the spikes as much as you can. And when you think about that way, just like human health, right? So, you know, going for your normal exams, you're going to be able to catch something sooner as opposed to not bringing your pet into the vet for two years or three years and they're not getting their regular, you know, routine physicals and stuff like that.

That's so important. That's why in human healthcare, generally they give you those visits for free because they want to catch stuff before they accelerate and get into something that is a bigger issue. So I'm convinced that you're going to spend that same amount over the course of that lifetime of a pet, but that pet will live longer and it'll be healthier and happier. And so I think that's the way, but you know, I really like to look at it. And that's why I think planning and budgeting and using tools like Care Credit or insurance are incredibly valuable to do that the right

Yeah. And at minimum, you know, from a planning perspective, just like we know tax day is going to come every April 15th, generally. And just like I know that I'm going to have a certain bill due at a certain time of the month, you know, as you're a pet owner, that if you got your pet in January of 2023, that they're going to be due for a wellness exam in January 2024. So it should be relatively easy to at least plan for the basic stuff if you just kind of think it through and not be like, suddenly I have no money set aside and it's

a day before my appointment that I know is going to cost me $400. So Jonathan, just to kind of wrap things up, what kind of final advice or reminders do you have for pet parents to ensure that they are not putting themselves in a bind, that they don't have those huge spikes that cause chaos in their lives throughout the life of their pets as far as planning financially? Yeah, I'd say, and we talked about it lot, do your research, know your breed.

Amy Castro (33:53.92)
Speak to your veterinarian, understand the options and that spectrum of care that fits the lifestyle that you have. Be proactive in getting the tools that you need. as we mentioned, like care credit in this case is what we're talking about here and the company that I work for and having that ready for you in the unexpected or unanticipated

emergency that you might have because it isn't going to be unanticipated because we know it happens. We know it happens in 80 % of the pets and you know, just use your use those resources, use your veterinarian, talk to them. Their outlook and their outcomes are the same as yours. It's the health of that pet and making sure that you're enjoying your life with that. you know, I'd say enjoy your time with that pet, right? There, yes, there is a cost element to it, but they add so much to our lives. They add so much to society.

And the least we could do for all the love and all the benefits that they provide us is to give them the care that they deserve and they need so that they live that great life. I couldn't have wrapped up any better myself. Jonathan, thank you so much for being here with us today and for opening our eyes to the options that we have, many options, a lot more than I even originally thought of, for making sure that we provide the very best care for our pets.

Amy, thank you. Thank you so much for welcoming me on the show, on the podcast, and for everything you do to help prospective pet parents or existing pet parents learn more about how best to manage that relationship and all the other work on the side you do for those who are struggling with emergency needs for their pets. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. And thank you again to everybody for listening to another episode of Starlight Pet Talk. We will see you next week. Thanks for listening to Starlight Pet Talk.

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