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!

Here is an article about 24 hour emergency veterinary hospitals in Costa Rica. Apparently there are five. Most are in the San Jose (capital) area: https://news.co.cr/veterinary-servic...ta-rica/63776/

Here is a similar article in Spanish that may have more information: Hospitales veterinarios de 24 horas van en aumento - La Nación

He's a better motivator than any trainer for sure...he's got me doing 10,000 - 15,000 steps a day with his "come on let's go or I'm gonna be cranky" attitude !
That's my Piper, too, especially the pestering part!! I've not lost weight, though (congratulations to you, no mean feat losing 35 lbs!) I love colder weather which is a good thing since it's 4 degrees in southeastern Wisconsin and will go lower tonight. But that's just way too cold for Piper and me--and most everybody!!!

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.

I love this post. Your list is priceless.

You are coming in a great weather time plus traffic is less than usual! If you need more advice just let me know! This is a small country so I can recommend you stuff in the central valley if thats where you are going to settle down. Feel free to PM me.

My Husband was like, I don't want any of them little ugly yappers! I brought Macie home and I guarantee you he fell head over heels in love that night! They are precious!

First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR to everybody!!!

It was a cozy year end for our Otto, stayed at home, lots of treats and xmas gifts!

He was more than happy to spend these days with his siblings that came to visit!

Also, as the weather has been cool and breezy, my wife decided this was a good time to dress up Otto. He has being going butt naked until now. We bought what we call here a "mameluco", sleeveless shirt for him but it is difficult to find his size (M), looks like most dogs here are either S or L, so my wife decided to make some clothes for him!!!! We saved money too, typically costing 14-20 USD, we spent around 4 bucks in fabric for him and a couple of hours in front of the sewing machine.

Take a look. I still need to convince my wife for more "manly" designs, looks like a little baby for now. Its hilarious to see him growling at the bigger dogs in these clothes lol :D

Great outfits, very unique, very cute. Ask the lil Mrs. to see if she can find some camouflage fabric, same style but fabric can make it more macho looking. My guy is also in-between sizes. I have a sewing machine just no time to sit down and put something together for him. Otto looks just so sweet, lucky boy to have found such a loving family.

The camouflage idea is great! I cant wait to see him on his walks dressed as General Otto =)

Lol, General Otto, cute.

I posted in a another thread that my Otto thinks he is a human first and a German Shepard second.

Well this picture might explain it! This was before we adopted him, in his previous home.

From bottom up:

Bottom: Thiago, Otto´s dad
Middle Right: our beloved Otto (little tooth showing) :love:
Upper Left: Teddy, his brother (archrival and the reason we got to adopt Otto as they wanted to kill each other)
Top center : Vera, Ottos mom
Upper Right: stepbrother German Shepard!

What a beautiful pack, Garoto1973!

Yep that's a yorkie for ya, small dogs with big attitudes lol

Beautiful family of fur butts, Otto's momma is a lil cutie.