Marty and Laura tackle the high cost of vet care, everything from WHY the cost is so high to pro tips on ways you can help keep costs manageable.

Laura said, "I ran across (an article) in a magazine called Money Wise, and it says that half of America's 87,000,000 pet owners have decided against vet treatment. And it it continues that for many Americans, the cost of caring for their pets has become unbearable. A Gallup poll found 52% of US pet owners say that they've had to put off veterinary care because of the cost. A whopping 7 in 10 also say they forego pet care due to financial. Reasons. That's scary."

"There's a few things that have played a role in this," Marty said, "and certainly one is the corporatization of veterinary medicine. I think we should talk about the overall cost of pets. It's not just veterinary care, but it's also the overall cost. How much are you spending on your pet food? How much are you spending on your other stuff? Doggy daycare? Another thing that I thought was a really important thing for us to talk about, it was mentioned kind of briefly in this article, is that veterinarians can do more for pets today, but those machines and those processes and those tests cost more money.

"About half of the veterinary clinics now are corporate and that means the other half are still owned by your local small practice owner, your small business owner.

"You don't have to go to a veterinary clinic that's corporate owned. There are lots of them out there that are. And it doesn't make them bad, it just makes them different. And it means your prices are probably going to be higher.

"They have protocols that they're required to follow. So if your dog goes in with diarrhea, they have a specific protocol they're supposed to follow instead of being able to craft the kind of medicine that is based on what your pet needs are what your needs are.

"In our practice, we have a guarantee, like our guarantee is that we will provide you a care plan that fits your needs and your pet's and your resources. So we don't have to go through an algorithm where we say these are the things we have to do. If you look at me and say I can't do that, then we come up with Plan B and Plan C."

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.