One of the responsibilities of having a pet is making sure your animal friend stays healthy, but that can be expensive.

“Americans spend $38 billion a year on veterinary care,” said Kevin Brasler, executive editor of Washington Consumers’ Checkbook. “A good vet can keep your pets happy and healthy, but you want to make sure you’re using a practice that’s convenient to you and is also cost-effective.”

Prices can vary widely from one veterinary practice to the next.

“Our undercover shoppers collected prices to spay a seven-month-old, 25-pound dog and got fees ranging from about $290 to more than $1,800,” Brasler said. “The exact same procedure, the exact same pet.”

It’s not clear why such a discrepancy exists.

“Some veterinary practices just charge prices that are threes higher than others for the same stuff,” he said.

And, while a devoted pet owner might blanch at the idea of using a cut-rate veterinarian, “We didn’t find any relationship between price and quality,” Brasler said.

Here are some of the questions Checkbook recommends you ask:

• Do they have veterinarians on call after hours? Most practices do.
• In case of emergency off hours, will they open the office and come in to treat your animal?
• Or, will they refer you to a 24-hour veterinary center and, if so, at what location?

In the consumer group’s research, veterinarians typically get good ratings from their customers, but Brasler said some engage in practices that raise red flags.

“Like the vet didn’t listen carefully, or it seemed like the staff was trying upcharge people and increase prices for care that pet didn’t necessarily need,” Brasler said.