Small Town Country Veterinarian : Saving Money on Your Pet's Veterinarian Needs While Getting Better Service No One Know Animals Better Than a Country Veterinarian Lex Loeb Contributor Network . I don't want to degrade the practice of city veterinarians but would like to let city pet owners know that there are sometimes lower cost alternatives to what is found in the big city limits. Small town pet services can be just as good or better. The country vet tends to serve more animals in his or her practice just because the country is where more animals are. In the fast I have felt taken by the costs of services of some big city veterinarians. I have also known friends that were milked maintaining dying animals. That can happen to anyone attached to a pet as a companion. The countryside has a more realistic view of the lives of animals but not necessarily always so. No doubt pets make better friends than most humans do. When you find a good country vet to go to you will notice how much more crowded the waiting room with incoming pet patients. In some country vet's offices you will find you can get a new kitten with all shots ready to go home with you for just $15 as opposed to the highway robbery charges you find at a Portland humane society. When the so called non profits like the Human Society started to get greedy it started to cost from $45 to hundreds to adopt a pet and worse they also require invasive home visits to be sure you are a qualified pet keeper. The nonsense in the Portland Pet Industry is enough to have you heading out to the country. It is worth the drive especially if you make your visit a pleasurable one getting out into the country and not just to have the vet see your pet. Even in a pet emergency, I might consider taking my pets to a country vet before I would have them set foot in a big city clinic if time allows for the health and safety of the pet. You can save more than the cost of gas doing so. Country vets can be found all around . You might be best off driving at least 50-100 miles away to find the real uncorrupted veterinarians. The city vets have higher rents as one disadvantage. This is not a universal recommendation for all country vets. One popular country vet is in Hood River. It is not the smallest town so you do find it a very busy clinic. The Tucker Road Animal Clinic is just one to check out especially if it is in the direction you want to go in. I was surprised that they did their own dog blood testing , one type of test with a long computer print out of factors, right on site with in minutes of having the test done. The cost of the test was not cheap but I dare not imagine what it might have cost in some Portland clinics! The Tucker Road animal hospital is clean and very basic. No fancy waiting room chairs. It is not the Cat and Dog Ritz. If you need to board a pet there overnight it is only $17.50. That may or may not be cheaper than some places in Portland but it does not seem unreasonable. Some people swear by the country vets. Maybe there is a country song celebrating the country veterinarian or maybe there should be. You might call it a no frills office. There is a brochure in the waiting room there on a Hood River area cat shelter offering very inexpensive services for adopting cats and kittens, spay and neutering . It was also the first vet I ever took a dog to where the dog was totally comfortable being there. What the pet thinks is important too. Lex Recommended: Tucker Road Animal Hospital 1125 Tucker Rd Hood River Oregon 97031 I don't want to give you too much information because I don't want to wait in a long line the next time I go. Maybe you can find the same sort of practice in Lebanon or Sandy etc. Country Veterinarians are all around so you want to find one most convenient to you. Hood River is not far off my pathway but it is over an hour's drive from Portland just not too far from where I live in the country. .