With the rising cost of health care in this country, medical tourism seems to be all the rage these days. Wikipedia defines medical tourism (also called medical travel, health tourism or global health care) as a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of traveling across international borders to obtain health care. In fact, I just heard an NPR report the other day that indicated that many U.S. companies now offer it as a benefit to their employees.

Now check this out. This past weekend, a client of mine from Texas told me that he took his blind dog to a veterinary school across the border in Mexico in order to have cataract surgery to restore his pet's vision. Needless to say, the operation was a success, his dog can now see, and he saved over $3500 on the procedure! Interesting.

While it's true that many foreign veterinary schools are not accredited by the AVMA and other organizations in this country, it doesn't mean that the veterinarians at those schools and the graduates from those schools perform shoddy work. I've worked with many veterinarians who received their training from schools outside of the United States and felt perfectly comfortable with their competency. As a result, for high dollar veterinary orthopedic, ocular, and back surgeries that you could otherwise not afford for your pet, veterinary tourism may be the answer. I would think its least worth looking into.

If you're interested in exploring this subject further, here's a great link to the AVMA website that lists the various veterinary schools located throughout the world.

http://www.avma.org/education/ecfvg/world_colleges/colleges.asp

Good researching!

I know it's not something you like to dwell on, but have you thought about what would happen to your pet(s) in the event of your untimely death? Most pet owners haven't, and this often proves disastrous to the lives of their loyal four-legged companions. These pets often end up in the hands of relatives who don't like them or don't want to devote the time and money to properly care for them. As a result, many of these pets end up ignored, unmedicated, euthanized, or abandoned to a shelter or to the streets.

You can prevent such an awful scenario by taking the time to select your pet's caretaker ahead of time (obviously someone who loves pets and is willing to pass on that love to yours) and to arrange for the financial support of that care.

On that subject, here's some good information from Jonathan Rankin, Esq., an animal-law attorney from Massachusetts. In most states, animals are legally viewed as property and cannot inherit money or assets after an owner's death. However, according to Rankin, you can establish a pet trust that directs a portion of your assets to be used to care for your pet. You'll need to find an attorney to set-up the trust and act as trustee to monitor the caregiver you appointed and to make sure your assets are being used appropriately. Rankin also points out that the trust should designate a "remainder beneficiary". This is the person who will inherit the trust's remaining assets after the pet dies. As you might imagine, this person is often the caregiver himself/herself.

Be sure to do your research and talk to an attorney to find out more about these pet trusts. Rules will vary from state to state. Regardless of where you live, the pet trust offers a neat and effective way to help ensure that your pet is well-taken care of in the event you're no longer there.