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Originally Posted by Garoto1973  Hi yes, I would say vet care in Costa Rica is pretty good. There are plenty of vets available as Veterinary school is pretty popular. Most city vets own a pet store and offer emergency care. In the central valley where the capital is you will find plenty of pet stores in each town. If you need more specialized care and equipment like CAT scans there are pet hospitals available but the more far away you go from San Jose, the harder are to find. There are pet hotels available too. I dont know where you are planning to live but I bet that if the population is above 5000 then you will find a couple of vets and stores around.
Keep in mind that like with everything else in Costa Rica, imported goods will be 30-50% more expensive than in the US. This goes for imported dry and wet food and all the accessories you will need. You will be able to find most popular brands easily but for quality brands (Acana, Orijin, TOTW, etc) you need to go to a petstore to buy them. Supermarkets just sell Purina and Pedigree brands, and Costco (called Pricesmart here) sell Kirkland.
Medical care on the other hand is reasonable in my opinion. Vet checks and visits hover around 50 USD, neutering/spading will cost you 80-100 USD, grooming around 20 USD.
We are becoming more a pet friendly country as people are starting to have more pets and less children. More and more pet friendly restaurants and places show up each month. Most malls are pet friendly now and some of them even encourage you to bring your pet in their ads.
Stray dogs on the other hand are still an issue, although you will see that most look healthy and even well groomed LOL I dont know how they manage! |
Great news, I am own my way to Costa Rica right now. I am constantly watching dash cam videos of Costa Rica at
https://videos.digitaltravels.net to see what it is like. The dash cam videos give you a street view of what the small cities and towns look like. Pictures are great doing a virtual tour gives you a much better idea and I have to admit I love Costa Rica. The only thing I wasn't sure about was vet care for my babies. Thank you for giving me some peace of mind.