May 21, 2025 • 43 mins
In this thought-provoking episode of About That Wallet, host Anthony Weaver engages in a heartfelt conversation with Jonathan Wainberg, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Pet and Co-Brand Business at Synchrony. They delve into the financial challenges faced by pet owners, particularly the Sandwich Generation, who must balance the emotional and financial responsibilities of caring for both their pets and their families.
Jonathan shares insights from a recent study highlighting that nearly 28% of pet-owning households face barriers to veterinary care, with financial constraints being the most common hurdle. As a pet owner himself, Jonathan discusses the importance of being financially prepared for unexpected veterinary expenses and the emotional toll of pet ownership.
Listeners will gain valuable tips on budgeting for pet care, understanding the benefits of CareCredit, and navigating the complexities of pet ownership without compromising their financial stability. Jonathan emphasizes the need for open communication with veterinarians to create a personalized care plan that fits individual budgets and needs.
💬 Question of the Day:
How do you manage the financial responsibilities of pet ownership while ensuring your furry family members receive the care they deserve? Share your thoughts in the comments!
🔗 Connect with Jonathan Wainberg:
Website: carecredit.com
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=|| 📚 Chapters ||=
(00:00) Welcome and Introduction
(02:30) Understanding Financial Barriers to Veterinary Care
(10:15) The Emotional Impact of Pet Ownership
(18:00) Budgeting Tips for Pet Care
(25:45) Exploring CareCredit for Pet Expenses
(32:30) The Importance of Communication with Veterinarians
(40:00) Preparing for Unexpected Veterinary Costs
(48:15) Jonathan's Personal Pet Care Experience
(55:00) Final Thoughts and Resources
🙏🏽 Thank you for tuning in!
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⚠️ DISCLAIMER:
This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Always do your own research and consult a licensed financial professional when needed.
#AboutThatWallet #PetCare #FinancialLiteracy #CareCredit #SandwichGeneration #VeterinaryCosts #PetOwnership
Episode 296
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
>> Anthony Weaver (00:00):
This episode is sponsored by Synchrony
CareCredit.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (00:05):
Just having that ready to come out of my
wallet or putting on a credit card wasn't
having it didn't have that money in the bank. So this was able to
give me the time to pay it over time or move things
around and be able to satisfy it through
different sources of funds that I had. So I used that
card multiple times that year because you don't only.
(00:28):
It's not just a one and done, it's a revolving credit
card in many cases at this time. I, you
know, at that time I probably had four or five visits where I had
different bills. It wasn't one 8,000, uh, dollars bill. It's like a
$1,200 bill here, a $2,000 bill here, a
$500 bill. Because you, you keep going back and all
those promotions are, you know, running concurrent.
>> Anthony Weaver (00:52):
Welcome everybody back to another exciting show of, uh, the
about that Water podcast where we help the sandwich generation build
strong financial habits so that they can spend money, talk
about money and en
confidence. And today I want to talk about
really just enjoying a pet because some of you
are actually pet owners and some of you might not
(01:12):
be, but come across a recent
article that said a recent
nationwide study by pet
healthequity.org found that, uh, 28% of
households with pets experience barriers to
veterinary care, with finances being the
most common reason in low income households.
And researchers found financial
(01:34):
and housing equity can increase the
risk of animals that will not
receive care that they need. Sociologist,
um, Arnold
Aluke, author of
Underdogs Pets People in Poverty, estimates that
66% of the pets in poverty have never
seen a vet at all. So I'm bringing on a
(01:56):
specialist, uh, his name is
Jonathan Weinberg, who brings
nearly 20 years of financial services
expertise and leaderships to the role of the
senior vice president and general manager of the
pet and co brand business at
Synchrony, one of the nation's premier
customer financial services companies.
(02:19):
Jonathan is responsible for business development,
commercial ingenuity, market expansion
and revenue growth as part of the health and
wellness platform comprised of more
than 260,000
health providers nationwide.
He offers like he oversees
the health and wellness co brand portfolio,
(02:41):
including Walgreens. How are you doing today, Jonathan?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (02:44):
Yeah, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on, Anthony.
>> Anthony Weaver (02:47):
Thanks, uh, for, uh, you know, being patient with me
with your intro because, I mean, you did so many great things and
this is amazing.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (02:55):
Listen, I didn't realize I did half of those, so
I'm glad it's written there. So. Thank you.
>> Anthony Weaver (03:00):
You're welcome.
Now one of the top questions that I have right now
is that, um, I've seen this going around
online and they say like, if you can't afford your vet
bills, should you even have a pet?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (03:13):
Yeah, listen, that's a very tough question,
right? I'm not
one to ah, dictate to
someone how they spend their money. Um, so it's a, it's
a very personal decision. What I can say is
you should, um, you know, you're
bringing a living being into your, into your household, right.
(03:34):
And that you're, you're going to be caring for.
So it's best to understand some of the commitments that
come with that and whether you can afford
them now or if you can,
you know, work with family members or build
a savings account, um, for that,
I think you're going to be uh, I think you're going to be better
(03:54):
off, uh, because, you know, a
lot of the research shows that financial
strains are a, uh,
you know, in the bed industry or pet
parents is, uh, is real. Right. And
um, you might be better off um, not
having that pet if you think about all the other
expenses you have. With that said, uh, you
(04:17):
know, it's, it's, it's a, it's a
personal decision. There's different levels of
care that you can, um, give to
uh, certain, certain animals. Um,
and, and each, you know, breed has a different
kind of, um, you know, lifestyle
and cost to it. So I would say,
(04:37):
ah, for me personally, I would, you know, not feel
comfortable having, you know, a living being and not being able
to provide and care for it. But I think there are
ways to um, to think
about it and budget for it so that pet ownership, uh,
is not beyond the reach of, of,
of a lot of people.
>> Anthony Weaver (04:57):
Yeah, that is tough because I see people who
have pets and they just, to me, I'm only seeing a
dollar behind it. Like, okay, you want to get them a collar, you want to
brush their teeth, you got to m. Make sure you get to the vet. Like
so many different things. Like are there any like, common
financial pitfalls that pet parents encounter
when trying to plan for that pet care?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (05:17):
Well, yeah, and before I kind of answer that, I think, you
know, the other element to it is that there's
incredible human benefits, right, for
having a pet in your life. And you know, it's not, you know,
like you said, you see the dollars behind and that's a very important thing
we got to talk about. But you know, there's an incredible amount of studies
that show, you know, you have, um, better
(05:38):
health outcomes, you know, reduced depression
by having a pet. People are more mobile if they're
walking their, you know, dogs. And, and
it helps, um, with loneliness
and a bunch of other stuff. So it's not just the dollar
part of it. There's a lot of human benefits which can then,
uh, improve other outcomes that people are
(05:58):
going through. Um, to answer
your direct question on
are there certain pitfalls that, uh, pet
parents, uh, fall into is.
Yeah, I think that the major one is not being prepared.
Right. I think it's hard. Um,
you can plan as much as you can. Right.
(06:20):
For eventualities. And I think
pet parents are decent at that. Where they
kind of fall behind, is expecting the unexpected.
And you're talking about a pet here. Right. And so
we know that, uh,
in a pet's lifetime, right.
Uh, we know that four to five
pets are going to have. Will experience a pet emergency.
(06:43):
Right. So. And you know, it's hard to say you got to expect
the unexpected, but that's the truth. So you,
you. One of the things that people should always be prepared
for is. Is,
um, something, uh, in case.
And because again, it becomes an incredibly stressful
time and you're, you know, trying to think about,
(07:03):
um, the care of your pet and the
life and death perhaps in some cases,
and then the stress of how are you going to afford this? And you want to be
able to think clearly as you go through those decisions.
Yeah.
>> Anthony Weaver (07:15):
And I think most of the pet deaths happen because
people can't afford their insurance just to kind of get
them taken care of. Because, I mean, I know when I was
growing up, we had a dog and it was like, well,
as we were moving around, it's just kind of like the dog
was just too big for the place and so
we had to, quote, unquote, put them down
(07:36):
or just give them to the vet and just be like, hey, we
can't. We don't want them anymore. Um, um. Or just
because it couldn't fit their household.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (07:44):
Um, um.
>> Anthony Weaver (07:44):
And it's emotional strain, just not on the parents,
but also the kids and. Cause you're talking about
more than just the finances. It's about the. The
caring feet of it. So.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (07:56):
Absolutely. I think, listen, there's a
lot of shelters that will take, uh, back,
um, you know, pets, you know, and
we like to partner with, um, you know,
no kill shelters. So ones that, you know,
work to find, um, you know, that pet, if it
has to be surrendered a household, uh,
(08:17):
that will, that will care for it. And won't put
them down. Um, but it's, it's, it
is the largest factor of
when people are unable to keep their, um,
to keep their pet and their family is financial, where they have to give
it to a shelter. Right. There's other reasons also. There's
behavioral reasons with the pet. There's like you said, even
(08:38):
living conditions. You move from, you know, a
house to an apartment and maybe the apartment doesn't allow pets.
Right. Or you going into a, you know, a different
geography and uh, you know,
things just don't work. You switch jobs, you can't take them
for walks and stuff like that. But the number
one, you know, reason for surrendering of, of
pets is uh, unfortunately financial.
>> Anthony Weaver (09:01):
Um, and you're a pet owner yourself, right?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (09:03):
I am indeed. Uh, may I introduce you?
Yeah, get over here. There she is.
There's the beautiful Maddie. She is. Oh,
look at her. She's. Yes, uh, she is a,
uh, she's hopefully going to be turning
15 in human years,
um, in, in June. So she's a miniature
(09:24):
poodle. Put her back down.
She's ah, she's feeding me all the info to answer these questions, just
so you know. And uh, she's been with us, she's lived all
over the world with us actually. And she's been a great uh, part of
her family and um, we're, we're blessed to have
her. But she
um, especially as pets get older, she has more health
issues. Right. 15 year old is a
(09:46):
senior pet and she has a couple of
uh, chronic conditions. One of them is called Cushing's disease, which
is common in poodles. And ah, it's
an adrenal gland, um, issue that she
has uh, problem with
cortisol levels. And so she's on
medication for that and she has to get her levels tested two to three times
(10:07):
a year. She has ah, a heart condition, a
mitral valve deficiency. So the blood that goes into
uh, one of her um, chambers in the heart has
like a, like a murmur. Like it goes back, it doesn't
close. So she's on um, she's on
heart medicine and she has to get uh, you know, a doggy
EKG about twice a year to make sure that that is
(10:27):
uh, that is
um, being um, you know, kind of maintained
properly. Right. Um, and not
deteriorating. Um, with that comes an expense.
I'm, I'm fort. Uh that I have
the uh, means and the tools to pay
for it. One of them is, you know, the business that I work for,
CareCredit, where I'm able to uh, you know, put
(10:50):
my uh, bills, pay ah, my bill with my
CareCredit card and get um, a deferred
promotional finance product that
um, allows me to um, defer
interest for you know, from six months to 18 months depending
on the size of the bill.
>> Anthony Weaver (11:07):
Bill, yeah. So one of the things is
understanding is when you have the
pet, but as the pet ages, going back to
being able to afford that care, which
goes back to if you can't afford the
bills, should you even have a pet? Um,
because I could see like, yes. And then it was like,
all right, well it's a part of the family
(11:30):
now. It's more than the finances. Let's do
whatever we need to do to make sure that we
um, take care of this pet, this our family member,
um, and really make sure that they're taken care of.
Um, but for some people who feel like they are
struggling right now to whether or not, hey, do
we pay this vet bill or do we
take care of the food on the
(11:53):
table for the rest of the family. Um, and you
mentioned credit care. How can credit care kind of help out
with that process?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (12:00):
Oh, CareCredit.
>> Anthony Weaver (12:01):
Yeah, I'm sorry.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (12:02):
So. Yes, no, no, no problem. So CareCredit is
uh, you know, it's, it's, it's of
synchrony and I'm responsible for a pet business and it's basically the
largest elective, uh, health care
credit card um, in the United States.
And um,
um, it's accepted at around
280,000 uh, healthcare
(12:24):
providers in the United States, including
about 28,000 of them, uh, veterinarians.
So we have about 85% of veterinarians in the US
accept CareCredit. And it's also accepted
in the dental space and the vision and um,
cosmetic space, audiology, etc.
But in the vet space, uh, what it can do for
(12:46):
you is um, if you apply and
you get approved for that CareCredit card and you get a
bill for, let's call it just, let's just make it easy math,
$1,200 bill, right? Which is, you
know, a large bill, um, you can then
um, use that credit card that care, the
care credit card at the vet and depending
(13:06):
on which promotions that offers.
But I would think they would put you on a 12 month promotion
where as long as you can pay
$100 a month for 12 months to
pay off your bill and not accrue interest so long as you're making those
payments and that gives the pet parents
um, the ability to pay that over
time without having to hopefully borrow
(13:29):
money, without hopefully having to accrue interest.
And because we know people don't have
$1,200 just lying around, um,
or too many people don't have that. And so this
is uh, a product that helps uh, manage that and put it
into um, you know, it's called bite sized
pieces if you will, in that bill.
>> Anthony Weaver (13:49):
Now how does one go about even
applying for the CareCredit?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (13:54):
Yeah, you can go to CareCredit.com and
apply uh, right there. Um, so
www.carecredit.com and you'll see there might be a
dropdown box for which industry you want. But the truth
is is once you have the card it can be used across
the network. So if you have some dental work
um, that you need done, or if you need to get a hearing
aid or stuff like that, or you need something for your pet,
(14:18):
it could be used across that network. Um, you can
also um, get it at the,
at the veterinarian. Right. So if you're there and you're, you know,
you get a bill that um,
you're a little bit taken aback um, at
the cost because you weren't prepared for that. Um, it's very
easy to apply in the veterinarian's practice as
(14:39):
well. It's obviously better to
get it before in case. That's what we recommend.
It's good to have something just in case. And if you
have a pet, the odds are you're going to have an unexpected
expense. So you may as well be prepared. But we're there ah, at the
point of care as well.
>> Anthony Weaver (14:55):
Do you need to have good credit for it?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (14:59):
You need to have some level of credit history?
Um, it's, you know, good credit is
uh, not something for me. You know, I
don't have a grading on what's good and what's bad
because we underwrite um, at synchrony,
um, you know, very
um, deliberately with a lot of different data
(15:19):
sources. So I can't pinpoint, hey, if you're FICO scores this,
you're going to get it or not? Because we built in so
many different factors into um,
our approval underwriting, uh,
mechanism. So what I can say is that we,
because this is a network card and it is used
just within um, this space and for
(15:40):
certain um, procedures and uh, with
certain uh, providers we are able to underwrite
deeper than you would for a general purpose credit
card. So I think you, you have a better chance
of uh, of getting approved um, for us because of
uh, some of those behaviors that, that we See and
uh, we try to approve as as many people as
possible, um, in particular in this space.
>> Anthony Weaver (16:03):
Yeah. Because just thinking about the,
the disparities of even access to credit in
certain areas and you know it's really good that the
underwriting is there to help out even the people in
the, the tightest of budgets. So let's say.
And so going through that process,
understanding like okay, now that we got this card
(16:23):
we have all the things, um, can
you just do like a quick. I know you just did one far as like you got a
bill um, at twelve hundred dollars and it goes through that
way.
Now is there anything like an annual fee
that's going on along with this process or is it just
only as you use it?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (16:40):
Yeah, there's no annual fee so. And um,
it's free to apply as well. Um,
also I would add that um, our application
process is um, you can get pre qualified.
So if for some reason you're not going to get approved, it's not going to
hit your credit bureau. So you won't, that won't um,
that won't hurt your, you know, it won't look like
(17:01):
someone's requesting it. So that's good. So we try to you
know, protect the uh, consumer that way. And then you'll
get through the pre qualification stage. It'll say okay, yes, ah, you
know, you pre qualified finish the application. So we're able
to help uh, the consumer out that way.
But other than that there, there's no annual fee. The way that
it works is you know we're able to give interest free
(17:22):
um, promotions
out or deferred interest promotions I should say, so long
as you're making those payments. Right. So uh, if,
give that example, if you have that twelve hundred dollar
bill and you got a twelve month promotion, as long as you make
that, that payment every month of $100,
you will not accrue um, interest and,
(17:42):
or any fees. Um, you can also
catch up. Ah, right. So if you miss a month or two and as
long as you pay the full 1200 before the end, you
also will not have um, uh any
fees or accrue any interest in that as well.
So as long as you pay it off within that promotional period,
each vet, uh, depending on the
(18:03):
uh, size of the procedure, ah,
and based on talking to the uh,
pet parents or the pet owner,
uh, will determine the length of that promotion. Everyone
offers a six month, um, some people offer the
12 month. Also um, quite a few
offer 12 month, some offer an 18 month, there's a
(18:23):
24 month. It really varies, depends on the
size of the ticket and um, what's
manageable, uh, for the, uh, per
the counterparties in the transaction.
>> Anthony Weaver (18:35):
Now, for your pet, um, what was
like the biggest expense that you had to deal with in
CareCredit? Really just kind of like, I'm so
glad that I got this.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (18:45):
Yeah, I think it was, um, it was a few
years ago when we, um, kind of
discovered that she had this,
um, you know, this Cushing's thing. Uh. Right.
There was a lot of different blood works we had to get done. She's
quite small and so, um, we had to
calibrate the right dosage.
Right. And we kept having to go back a month here, a.
(19:08):
M. Month there, a month there. I think, um,
in that year, between that and the heart condition, which
both happened in the same year, I think her out of pocket costs,
uh, at the veterinarian that year was, um,
over $8,000. And yeah,
that's significant. And just having that
ready to come out of my wallet
(19:31):
or putting on a credit card wasn't,
uh, or having it didn't have that money in the bank.
So this was able to give me the time to pay it over time
or move things around and be able to
satisfy it through, uh, different sources
of funds that I had. So I used that card,
um, multiple times that year because you don't only.
(19:51):
It's not just a one and done. It's a revolving credit
card. So in many cases, you know, this time
I, you know, at that time I probably had four or five
visits where I had different bills. It wasn't one $8,000 bill.
It was like a $1200 bill here, like a $2,000 bill here, a
$500 bill because you, you keep going back and all
those promotions are running concurrently.
(20:11):
And you know, I set it, uh, up for auto pay. Right.
So we have that feature so that people, you know, hopefully,
you know, it reminds them to pay it and so that they don't
accrue the interest. So you have that feature also where it pays
it every month as well.
>> Anthony Weaver (20:25):
Okay. It's starting to sound like that I should get,
um, a life insurance policy out for the
pet just in case. Well, when the pet dies,
it's like, all right, let's go down to pay your bills right quick.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (20:36):
Yeah. Ah, well, listen, there is, um,
pet insurance is another tool to help,
uh, manage, um, the costs,
uh, and the unexpected costs of pet
ownership. Not on the life insurance side, but on the pet health
insurance side. Right. And we're, you know, I'M involved
in that, um, as well, uh,
(20:59):
synchrony. I used to own Pets Best. We had bought it
and grew it and recently sold it. But
that was the um, third largest pet
insurer, uh, in North America I
believe, um, when we sold it, um,
but we're still invested in it and a parent company
which owns a lot of other insurance brands. And so
insurance, uh, is a good way also to
(21:23):
uh, help budget and manage uh, expenses.
It's not for everyone,
but it is a valuable tool together with
CareCredit to be able to uh,
manage uh, those unexpected expenses and also
make sure that you got a little bit of
compliance to some of the medical care that you want with uh, some of
(21:44):
the wellness plans that come along with that. And there's different types of
insurance that you could um, toggle
and build a plan that makes sense for
you. So it's um,
um, quite
adjustable to the individual's needs.
>> Anthony Weaver (22:02):
To remind people that this is just for educational purposes
only. So make sure you select what is best for
you, uh, and your family and including
your pet into that family arena.
So just want to throw that out there.
Um, so we're going to go into the future. This is the,
the growth side of it. And I
(22:24):
want to get your thoughts because you've been in this industry for a
long time and what are your thoughts on the future
of just pet health care?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (22:33):
Well, we've seen
the cost of care rise,
you know, not insignificantly over the last several years,
certainly since, you know, Covid and with some of the inflation
in the market and um, you know,
inflation in the veterinary
space and the pet space has outpaced, uh,
(22:55):
that of the general market. So it's
rising faster. There are several
reasons for that. But one of the
reasons which I think, um,
unfortunately doesn't get as much,
um, news is that outcomes are better.
Right. People, the
veterinary, the veterinarians are
(23:17):
better, um, than they have been in the
past. The information that they get, the testing
of that stuff, the drugs, um,
the specialties, we're seeing so much better outcomes. And with
that, um, you're seeing some rising
of price because there's a lot of specialized medicines,
uh, that in Iraq, uh, hadn't been able to be done before.
(23:38):
Surgeries, which hadn't been able to be done before. Right.
And so I think you're going to see, just like in human healthcare,
um, really a lot of advancements, uh,
which is exciting right now. Some of them are going to
come at a, at a very high and
specialized price. And some people aren't going to be able to, you
know, afford that. And some people aren't. And I think that's,
(23:59):
that's just the way life is, you know, sometimes. But
I think what you're, what you're seeing
certainly, um,
you know, in a large proportion of the population
is people are willing to spend more on their pets than
they ever were in the past also. Right. I think
you look, um, you
(24:19):
look at pet ownership and it's on the rise, but it's not just on the
rise. Um, it's also
the place that the pet uh, has
in the family. Right. And so people are
either, you know, getting married later, having kids later,
not having kids at all. Right.
Um, and so, and more people have grown up with
(24:40):
pets than they did in the past. Right. And so they're,
they're, you know, you want to call it the humanization of pets or
what have you, but people are certainly
spending more and are happy to, you know, kind of put them at the
center of the household. And, and with that I think you're seeing
people wanting to spend more on their pets, whether it be on
uh, uh, some more high end
(25:01):
treats, uh, uh, maybe
some nice Halloween costumes also or things
like that, but also in the care
that they get. You're seeing a lot of um,
specialized foods for specialized diets
happening and great advances there. And
you're seeing um, hopefully um,
(25:21):
you know, better compliance of care for those
uh, frozen uh, family members that,
that we bring in.
>> Anthony Weaver (25:28):
Yeah. One of my clients was just talking about they have
a birthday for their dog coming up. And
it was like, hey, I gotta make sure I get them ice cream
and I gotta make sure that they don't have this particular
peanut uh, butter with all this extra stuff in it. I was like, well, why
don't you just use natural peanut butter where it's just roasted
peanuts and, and it was like, well,
(25:49):
I need to make sure I get it from this particular place. I don't want to try
anything else. And I was like, but it's just peanuts.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (25:55):
Okay, Well I am,
what I am not is a, uh, is a vet diet specialist.
I can tell you. You know, we try to adhere to
um, you know, her recommend
recommendations from the vet. But I'd be uh,
disingenuous of me to say that a piece of chicken
hasn't fallen off uh, the table from time to time,
uh, or, or, or some steak. When she's looking at me
(26:18):
like that, why does her food smell better than mine? So,
um, I, I, I, I don't think I'd be Useful in that
discussion?
>> Anthony Weaver (26:27):
No, it's fair because it goes back to, you
know, how do we make sure that these pets
are getting the same care and love that
we want to have for ourselves as humans? And
um, you know, granted, they are. Their
stomachs are different, their eating habits are definitely going to be
different.
Um, but also because this is
(26:48):
Small Business Month, it kind of behooves me
not to talk about how could CareCredit really benefit,
uh, the small business or even the
veterinarian practices out there. So,
um, how could actually Care Credit help
them?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (27:03):
Well, let me start off by saying that, um, about
60% of the vets,
um, that CareCredit is accepted
in are independent, uh,
and independent vets or small business,
that's not, you know, the large chains, we also are accepting
both, but we're, you know, more accept, you know,
there's more independents, um, and small business ones
(27:26):
that we partner with. Um, and we think
independent, um, bed ownership is very important.
And uh, small business, um, especially
in America, is an engine which is so
important for the economy. Um, so we Talked about
how CareCredit can help, um,
the pet parent or the pet owner. Right. By
(27:46):
giving them the time to pay and,
um, the flexibility and having that
peace of mind knowing that you have that card in case something
happens. Well, how it works for
the veterinarian is
we enable them to get
paid the small business owner, um, in a timely
(28:07):
manner. Right. And so if, if not for something they care
credit, they would have to, you know, put it on their own account.
Right. And have to chase after, um,
you know, um, you know, clients, um, which is not,
you know, something that's good. So we're able to, um,
send um, them the, uh, money
for the treatment. If it's used on the
(28:28):
CareCredit card within. Within two days, there's
very, very limited recourse to them. So they're
gonna. They don't have to, uh, chase after
the uh, uh, the
client and remove that. It helps them with accounting
and helps them with cash flow. Right. So I think, um, that's
part of it. I think also as a company, uh, Synchrony is
(28:49):
very much invested in, uh, you know, small and
medium business community. And so we do
educational, um, just in
CareCredit, we train, um,
our partners in that space on how to use credit,
um, when it makes sense, how to make it
easier for your practice to run more efficiently
(29:10):
with it and all the tools. There's also an incredible
amount of data, ah, through our,
um, dashboards that we share and how to maximize
revenue through using credit as well and
sharing with the best practices. So those are some of the things we
do. We, we help them with some of the marketing,
uh, campaigns that they can do and how best
display and best practice sharing. So I think those are
(29:33):
things that we do and synchrony as a company, as
a larger bank does that, um, across the board,
not just in the health and wellness space, but in
the home and auto space and some of the, um,
diversified, um, portfolios, whether they be
in jewelry, uh, or
sewing or travel and other stuff that, that we
(29:53):
uh, that we participated.
>> Anthony Weaver (29:55):
It sounds like a whole nother episode because I would like to dive more
into that piece of it. It's like uh,
from the business perspective of, you know, how to
maximize the use of incorporating
such a, a big bank into your
everyday practice.
And with that, just thinking about the futures one
more time with the veterinarian. So
(30:17):
say if I'm going to a veterinarian and I
realize that they don't have um,
CareCredit, what can I do to kind
of pitch them as a user? Be like, hey,
um, I notice you guys don't offer this, um,
here's a number or here's a website to kind of check them out so we can
offer it here at this particular event as well.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (30:38):
I'm happy to say that CareCredit is
quite widely accepted. Right. So we're accepted in 85% of
vets in the U.S. right. And if
you factor in a lot of, you know, we offer
promotional financing starting at $200. There's a lot of
vets that typically, you know,
if it's just a, uh, vaccine or a quicker clinic that
you only need $100, they don't accept. So I
(31:01):
like to think we're not everywhere. We love to be
accepted in everyone. Um, and we're working
on that so that you could tell them, you know,
if someone went and didn't have it, you should really accept CareCare,
have a CareCredit card. It's a great product to help
us, uh, as pet parents or pet owners
manage that expense. Uh, the other thing you could do if you go
to carecredit.com uh, we have a,
(31:24):
um, partner locator, a provider
locator. So before going to a
vet or choosing a vet, you can see who actually accepts
CareCredit already. And so that you're going into someone that
has that um, service provide, which
we believe. And certainly I, in my,
not just in my professional role, but in my, in my
(31:44):
personal experience is something that is
fundamental to helping pet Parents,
you know, manage. Manage the cost of care for that, for
that family member.
>> Anthony Weaver (31:55):
Man, that's awesome. And thank you for making it
so easy to kind of enroll to make that happen.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (32:02):
Thank you so much.
>> Anthony Weaver (32:03):
So I have one last question before we get to the final four questions,
which is if you could share one message with pet
parents who are feeling overwhelmed by veterinarian
costs, what would it be?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (32:14):
Well, first of all, I'd say you're not alone. Right. I think, um,
I think we've seen, um, you
know, a large rise in costs. We've talked about why
some of it has happened. Some of it also was that, you know,
veterinarians had to make a living wage also. And a
lot of the people in their, uh, in their practices,
you know, labor costs, uh, had gone
(32:36):
up. And it doesn't mean it was wrong. I don't
think they're raising price for the sake of raising price. You're
seeing some of the supplies and inputs going up.
So I would say, um,
don't take it out on the veterinarian.
It's just something that is going through the system
and working its way through the economy. I'd say
(32:56):
you should talk to your veterinarian and
come together with a plan also. They're the experts. They're going
to know what this pet
could cost, um, over the lifetime and how you should
budget for it. And then there's something called the spectrum of
care. Right. And what might be right for me as a pet
parent might not be right for someone else.
(33:17):
Right. And so kind of talk to them and think
about, okay, what kind of level of care makes
sense and works with your budget
and your financial situation. And I think that's a very
useful conversation to have when you're starting off, uh,
in that relationship, um, with. With that, uh,
veterinarian. Right. People are. Tend to be quite loyal
(33:38):
to their veterinarian. Right. It's. Which makes sense.
And, you know, they're the experts in that field. So that's one
of that. That's one thing I would say, you know, start off, have a, have
a conversation, say, hey, how much. How often is this?
Do you think I'm going to have to bring in? I have, let's say this, let's say
when Maddie was a puppy, this miniature poodle, how often do you think she's going
to come in? Once a year, twice a year? What else do you
recommend is, you know, how much is that going to be
(34:00):
costing? You know, this much over this. And, you know, together,
work with them on a plan and I think, um,
um, information is power. Right? And, uh,
knowing all that stuff up front is going to make you less
stressed about it. There's always going to be some sort of, you
know, financial stress at some point,
uh, no matter what. Because like we said, you know,
(34:22):
um, we tend
to also sometimes bring your
pet, sometimes unnecessarily to the vet
because they don't speak. Right. And so they're your, you
know, your little protected child. You're like, oh, this person, it is an
acne and it could just, you know, could just not be feeling well if it doesn't
need to go to the vet. Right. And so, uh, there's going to be
(34:42):
times where you're going to. Where you're going to be emotional about it. And so
being prepared and talking with the vet through all that stuff is
great. There's some, um,
there's incredible amount of information online also.
And, um, just different
networks and different community groups for
those pets and even those pets in these
(35:03):
certain geographies that you can get a lot of information from as
well.
>> Anthony Weaver (35:07):
I like that. And thank you for bringing that up
far as. Because we both not, uh,
pet experts, because each species has its own
thing, like you mentioned that early on, and they have their
own care and feed. So we gotta.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (35:22):
Absolutely. Right. There's certain things which, and there's certain,
um, breeds which, you know,
are gonna have respiratory issues or certain breeds that you
could be getting based on your, number one, your
lifestyle, the amount of time you're gonna be able to walk it. And so if
you're not gonna be able to take that dog on, get
that dog that amount of exercise, it might not
(35:42):
fit in the lifestyle that you need, which could result in,
um, adverse health, uh, kind of
situations. Uh. Right. If it's not getting the right amount of exercise
or if it isn't, it might behave, uh,
you know, it may have behavioral issues because of that.
So really study up before you, you get your
pet and what the right matches for
(36:03):
what you're trying to get out of that relationship and what you can
provide it. Awesome.
>> Anthony Weaver (36:08):
Uh, all right, ready for the final four question,
Johnson?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (36:11):
Oh, okay, I'm ready. I don't, you know.
You'll tell me if I did well after
you.
>> Anthony Weaver (36:17):
Got it.
All right, question one. What does
wealth mean to you?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (36:32):
Oh,
health. Yeah, I
think your, your, your health is your wealth. Right. I think you can
have as much, um, money as.
As you want, but if you're not able to enjoy it, if you're
not able to,
uh, enjoy life,
spend time with your family, your, your loved ones,
(36:55):
then, then it does no good. So really
having in health is, is around the center
of that. So you know, your,
your health is. Your wealth is an expression which I'm sure you've heard
before, but it's certainly something that is, that
is very true.
>> Anthony Weaver (37:11):
Yes sir.
Number two, what was your worst mistake
as a pet owner?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (37:18):
Oh, that
is a good one.
>> Anthony Weaver (37:22):
Um.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (37:28):
I would say my worst mistake
as a pet owner,
um, was.
That's a tough one. That's a good question. I wasn't ready for that
one. My worst mistake as a pet owner.
Well, I think
(37:48):
we had a little bit of a hard time
when um, I have a seven year old son. Maddie
is going to be 15. She was about seven when we had
uh, had him. And so um,
I think I could have done a better job of
getting her prepared for bringing another living
being in the family. So he had a, his fingers
(38:09):
got nipped a little bit, uh, and
we could have probably had a smoother transition plan for the two of
them. We tried our best but still there were some uh,
uh, some incidents. So getting her a little bit, maybe more
socialized. She's not a dog that, that bites. But you know,
children go and they pull and you know, they do stuff
and so just uh, making sure that
uh, we were ready for, for uh, the human
(38:31):
coming into the house.
>> Anthony Weaver (38:33):
Those darn kids. Right.
Uh, number three, is there a
book that inspired your journey or change your perspective.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (38:47):
On pet parenting or just
in uh, just in life?
>> Anthony Weaver (38:52):
I usually go with life, but you can go with that.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (38:55):
No, no, no, I don't, I don't. I. That, that makes it
um, that makes it uh, easier for
me. Is, is uh, is that
um. I think, you know,
the book that I would say, you know,
really influenced me and it's a book I read when I was young.
Um, but it was just uh,
(39:18):
it just taught me a lot about how the world works and
people and it ah, actually has a, an affiliation
to pets of sunscreen. It was. Is Animal
Farm by George Orwell. Yeah, you
know. Yeah, it starts off, um, you see how people and
power can change things and uh, how
people are treated differently and how
corruption, you know, works and um, just really,
(39:41):
you know, it sticks to me, you know, to this day. Well, I probably read
it and you know, the eighth grade or something like that and I try
to reread it once in a while. It just, you know, kind of freshens
things up, you know.
>> Anthony Weaver (39:52):
Yeah.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (39:53):
Not an exciting one like the Art of War. I'm not dead or,
you know, Machiavelli, you know, the prince. I'm not that
calculated.
>> Anthony Weaver (40:00):
No. This Animal Farm was a great book.
Great storytelling, um, in using
personification in the animals. It was perfect book, I
think.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (40:09):
Yeah. That's a good match, right? Yeah.
>> Anthony Weaver (40:11):
Uh, number four, what is
your favorite dish to make?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (40:16):
Oh, well, anything that's
not going to kill my family because I am not a good cook.
So, um, I,
uh. Yeah, that's
a good. I am not great, uh, at
cooking. My son says I make the best
macaroni and cheese, but I'll concede it
comes out of a box. I think he just is, you know, is. Is.
(40:39):
Is being nice. They have this good brand now. I think
it's called Good Olds. It's like a, uh, like a
healthier, you know, boxed,
uh, Mac and cheese. Um,
I think, uh, you know what? Okay, here's what
I. I got something for you.
>> Anthony Weaver (40:54):
Okay.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (40:55):
I. I learned how to make pizza, uh, during COVID
and so, uh, during COVID you know,
I'd get the dough and, you know, started making
pizza. So for even, like, since then, I think I
made it a few weeks ago, and my son, you know,
uh, likes to do it with me. And, you know, we make, you know, kind of these
two little personal pizzas and, you know, dress them up,
(41:16):
and it's a good, good way to spend time with them. Also, it's always fun, you know,
curling dough, hopefully catching it. Um,
and. And, uh, he really enjoys that. So I'd say. I'd say
pizza.
>> Anthony Weaver (41:25):
That is awesome, man. You might have to,
uh, do a video one day, check that off.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (41:31):
Oh, boy. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I'll
pass the, uh, food inspection, but, you
know, we'll try.
>> Anthony Weaver (41:39):
Awesome. Well, Jonathan, it's been a pleasure
having you on the show and really getting to learn a
lot more about you, who you are, um, from the
various interviews that you've done before, and also learning a lot
more about carecredit and how to actually can help out the pet
parents, um, in doing such great
things. And I just want to commend you for doing a great work, really
(41:59):
spreading the word out there and making it nice and easy for
people to take care of their family,
um, not just financially, but also emotionally because this
is an emotional strain when things happen. We always want to have everybody
in a good light and to have this happen.
This is a great way to help
people just continue on to live their lives that they want
(42:19):
to. Um, but where. This is the last
question of the show, which is where can people,
um, just find out a little bit more about your services or
even just get in touch with you and your team?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (42:31):
Yeah, I would say to, uh, go to carecredit.com um,
and you'll see all the, um, different,
um, specialties we're in. And if you hit the veterinary
drop down, there's a lot of great information there as well that
we provide to prospective pet owners
and budgeting tips and
all the other things we have. There's a lot of, um, good knowledge
(42:53):
out there. So I'd recommend, um, going to
carecredit.com and, and using that as a
starting point. Um, and I would say, uh,
I want to thank you for having me on and letting me talk
about this and get the word out. It's important. But,
um, want to thank you as well for what you're doing and
trying to help, uh, your listeners
and your community, um, get
(43:15):
more education about finance and getting more
perspectives and, um,
serving. Doing that as a great, uh, public
service is important. So thank you so much for your work.
>> Anthony Weaver (43:26):
All right, thank you. Thank you so much.
All right, so, uh, for those of you who are listening,
please make sure y' all do the thing, you know,
subscribe, follow and share this
episode with another pet parent. And even if
you're not a pet parent and you think of somebody who's planning to be a
pet parent, this is the episode that you really
want to share with them. So thank you all again.
(43:48):
Y' all be safe. We out.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (43:50):
Peace. Peace.
This episode is sponsored by Synchrony
CareCredit.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (00:05):
Just having that ready to come out of my
wallet or putting on a credit card wasn't
having it didn't have that money in the bank. So this was able to
give me the time to pay it over time or move things
around and be able to satisfy it through
different sources of funds that I had. So I used that
card multiple times that year because you don't only.
(00:28):
It's not just a one and done, it's a revolving credit
card in many cases at this time. I, you
know, at that time I probably had four or five visits where I had
different bills. It wasn't one 8,000, uh, dollars bill. It's like a
$1,200 bill here, a $2,000 bill here, a
$500 bill. Because you, you keep going back and all
those promotions are, you know, running concurrent.
>> Anthony Weaver (00:52):
Welcome everybody back to another exciting show of, uh, the
about that Water podcast where we help the sandwich generation build
strong financial habits so that they can spend money, talk
about money and en
confidence. And today I want to talk about
really just enjoying a pet because some of you
are actually pet owners and some of you might not
(01:12):
be, but come across a recent
article that said a recent
nationwide study by pet
healthequity.org found that, uh, 28% of
households with pets experience barriers to
veterinary care, with finances being the
most common reason in low income households.
And researchers found financial
(01:34):
and housing equity can increase the
risk of animals that will not
receive care that they need. Sociologist,
um, Arnold
Aluke, author of
Underdogs Pets People in Poverty, estimates that
66% of the pets in poverty have never
seen a vet at all. So I'm bringing on a
(01:56):
specialist, uh, his name is
Jonathan Weinberg, who brings
nearly 20 years of financial services
expertise and leaderships to the role of the
senior vice president and general manager of the
pet and co brand business at
Synchrony, one of the nation's premier
customer financial services companies.
(02:19):
Jonathan is responsible for business development,
commercial ingenuity, market expansion
and revenue growth as part of the health and
wellness platform comprised of more
than 260,000
health providers nationwide.
He offers like he oversees
the health and wellness co brand portfolio,
(02:41):
including Walgreens. How are you doing today, Jonathan?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (02:44):
Yeah, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on, Anthony.
>> Anthony Weaver (02:47):
Thanks, uh, for, uh, you know, being patient with me
with your intro because, I mean, you did so many great things and
this is amazing.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (02:55):
Listen, I didn't realize I did half of those, so
I'm glad it's written there. So. Thank you.
>> Anthony Weaver (03:00):
You're welcome.
Now one of the top questions that I have right now
is that, um, I've seen this going around
online and they say like, if you can't afford your vet
bills, should you even have a pet?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (03:13):
Yeah, listen, that's a very tough question,
right? I'm not
one to ah, dictate to
someone how they spend their money. Um, so it's a, it's
a very personal decision. What I can say is
you should, um, you know, you're
bringing a living being into your, into your household, right.
(03:34):
And that you're, you're going to be caring for.
So it's best to understand some of the commitments that
come with that and whether you can afford
them now or if you can,
you know, work with family members or build
a savings account, um, for that,
I think you're going to be uh, I think you're going to be better
(03:54):
off, uh, because, you know, a
lot of the research shows that financial
strains are a, uh,
you know, in the bed industry or pet
parents is, uh, is real. Right. And
um, you might be better off um, not
having that pet if you think about all the other
expenses you have. With that said, uh, you
(04:17):
know, it's, it's, it's a, it's a
personal decision. There's different levels of
care that you can, um, give to
uh, certain, certain animals. Um,
and, and each, you know, breed has a different
kind of, um, you know, lifestyle
and cost to it. So I would say,
(04:37):
ah, for me personally, I would, you know, not feel
comfortable having, you know, a living being and not being able
to provide and care for it. But I think there are
ways to um, to think
about it and budget for it so that pet ownership, uh,
is not beyond the reach of, of,
of a lot of people.
>> Anthony Weaver (04:57):
Yeah, that is tough because I see people who
have pets and they just, to me, I'm only seeing a
dollar behind it. Like, okay, you want to get them a collar, you want to
brush their teeth, you got to m. Make sure you get to the vet. Like
so many different things. Like are there any like, common
financial pitfalls that pet parents encounter
when trying to plan for that pet care?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (05:17):
Well, yeah, and before I kind of answer that, I think, you
know, the other element to it is that there's
incredible human benefits, right, for
having a pet in your life. And you know, it's not, you know,
like you said, you see the dollars behind and that's a very important thing
we got to talk about. But you know, there's an incredible amount of studies
that show, you know, you have, um, better
(05:38):
health outcomes, you know, reduced depression
by having a pet. People are more mobile if they're
walking their, you know, dogs. And, and
it helps, um, with loneliness
and a bunch of other stuff. So it's not just the dollar
part of it. There's a lot of human benefits which can then,
uh, improve other outcomes that people are
(05:58):
going through. Um, to answer
your direct question on
are there certain pitfalls that, uh, pet
parents, uh, fall into is.
Yeah, I think that the major one is not being prepared.
Right. I think it's hard. Um,
you can plan as much as you can. Right.
(06:20):
For eventualities. And I think
pet parents are decent at that. Where they
kind of fall behind, is expecting the unexpected.
And you're talking about a pet here. Right. And so
we know that, uh,
in a pet's lifetime, right.
Uh, we know that four to five
pets are going to have. Will experience a pet emergency.
(06:43):
Right. So. And you know, it's hard to say you got to expect
the unexpected, but that's the truth. So you,
you. One of the things that people should always be prepared
for is. Is,
um, something, uh, in case.
And because again, it becomes an incredibly stressful
time and you're, you know, trying to think about,
(07:03):
um, the care of your pet and the
life and death perhaps in some cases,
and then the stress of how are you going to afford this? And you want to be
able to think clearly as you go through those decisions.
Yeah.
>> Anthony Weaver (07:15):
And I think most of the pet deaths happen because
people can't afford their insurance just to kind of get
them taken care of. Because, I mean, I know when I was
growing up, we had a dog and it was like, well,
as we were moving around, it's just kind of like the dog
was just too big for the place and so
we had to, quote, unquote, put them down
(07:36):
or just give them to the vet and just be like, hey, we
can't. We don't want them anymore. Um, um. Or just
because it couldn't fit their household.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (07:44):
Um, um.
>> Anthony Weaver (07:44):
And it's emotional strain, just not on the parents,
but also the kids and. Cause you're talking about
more than just the finances. It's about the. The
caring feet of it. So.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (07:56):
Absolutely. I think, listen, there's a
lot of shelters that will take, uh, back,
um, you know, pets, you know, and
we like to partner with, um, you know,
no kill shelters. So ones that, you know,
work to find, um, you know, that pet, if it
has to be surrendered a household, uh,
(08:17):
that will, that will care for it. And won't put
them down. Um, but it's, it's, it
is the largest factor of
when people are unable to keep their, um,
to keep their pet and their family is financial, where they have to give
it to a shelter. Right. There's other reasons also. There's
behavioral reasons with the pet. There's like you said, even
(08:38):
living conditions. You move from, you know, a
house to an apartment and maybe the apartment doesn't allow pets.
Right. Or you going into a, you know, a different
geography and uh, you know,
things just don't work. You switch jobs, you can't take them
for walks and stuff like that. But the number
one, you know, reason for surrendering of, of
pets is uh, unfortunately financial.
>> Anthony Weaver (09:01):
Um, and you're a pet owner yourself, right?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (09:03):
I am indeed. Uh, may I introduce you?
Yeah, get over here. There she is.
There's the beautiful Maddie. She is. Oh,
look at her. She's. Yes, uh, she is a,
uh, she's hopefully going to be turning
15 in human years,
um, in, in June. So she's a miniature
(09:24):
poodle. Put her back down.
She's ah, she's feeding me all the info to answer these questions, just
so you know. And uh, she's been with us, she's lived all
over the world with us actually. And she's been a great uh, part of
her family and um, we're, we're blessed to have
her. But she
um, especially as pets get older, she has more health
issues. Right. 15 year old is a
(09:46):
senior pet and she has a couple of
uh, chronic conditions. One of them is called Cushing's disease, which
is common in poodles. And ah, it's
an adrenal gland, um, issue that she
has uh, problem with
cortisol levels. And so she's on
medication for that and she has to get her levels tested two to three times
(10:07):
a year. She has ah, a heart condition, a
mitral valve deficiency. So the blood that goes into
uh, one of her um, chambers in the heart has
like a, like a murmur. Like it goes back, it doesn't
close. So she's on um, she's on
heart medicine and she has to get uh, you know, a doggy
EKG about twice a year to make sure that that is
(10:27):
uh, that is
um, being um, you know, kind of maintained
properly. Right. Um, and not
deteriorating. Um, with that comes an expense.
I'm, I'm fort. Uh that I have
the uh, means and the tools to pay
for it. One of them is, you know, the business that I work for,
CareCredit, where I'm able to uh, you know, put
(10:50):
my uh, bills, pay ah, my bill with my
CareCredit card and get um, a deferred
promotional finance product that
um, allows me to um, defer
interest for you know, from six months to 18 months depending
on the size of the bill.
>> Anthony Weaver (11:07):
Bill, yeah. So one of the things is
understanding is when you have the
pet, but as the pet ages, going back to
being able to afford that care, which
goes back to if you can't afford the
bills, should you even have a pet? Um,
because I could see like, yes. And then it was like,
all right, well it's a part of the family
(11:30):
now. It's more than the finances. Let's do
whatever we need to do to make sure that we
um, take care of this pet, this our family member,
um, and really make sure that they're taken care of.
Um, but for some people who feel like they are
struggling right now to whether or not, hey, do
we pay this vet bill or do we
take care of the food on the
(11:53):
table for the rest of the family. Um, and you
mentioned credit care. How can credit care kind of help out
with that process?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (12:00):
Oh, CareCredit.
>> Anthony Weaver (12:01):
Yeah, I'm sorry.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (12:02):
So. Yes, no, no, no problem. So CareCredit is
uh, you know, it's, it's, it's of
synchrony and I'm responsible for a pet business and it's basically the
largest elective, uh, health care
credit card um, in the United States.
And um,
um, it's accepted at around
280,000 uh, healthcare
(12:24):
providers in the United States, including
about 28,000 of them, uh, veterinarians.
So we have about 85% of veterinarians in the US
accept CareCredit. And it's also accepted
in the dental space and the vision and um,
cosmetic space, audiology, etc.
But in the vet space, uh, what it can do for
(12:46):
you is um, if you apply and
you get approved for that CareCredit card and you get a
bill for, let's call it just, let's just make it easy math,
$1,200 bill, right? Which is, you
know, a large bill, um, you can then
um, use that credit card that care, the
care credit card at the vet and depending
(13:06):
on which promotions that offers.
But I would think they would put you on a 12 month promotion
where as long as you can pay
$100 a month for 12 months to
pay off your bill and not accrue interest so long as you're making those
payments and that gives the pet parents
um, the ability to pay that over
time without having to hopefully borrow
(13:29):
money, without hopefully having to accrue interest.
And because we know people don't have
$1,200 just lying around, um,
or too many people don't have that. And so this
is uh, a product that helps uh, manage that and put it
into um, you know, it's called bite sized
pieces if you will, in that bill.
>> Anthony Weaver (13:49):
Now how does one go about even
applying for the CareCredit?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (13:54):
Yeah, you can go to CareCredit.com and
apply uh, right there. Um, so
www.carecredit.com and you'll see there might be a
dropdown box for which industry you want. But the truth
is is once you have the card it can be used across
the network. So if you have some dental work
um, that you need done, or if you need to get a hearing
aid or stuff like that, or you need something for your pet,
(14:18):
it could be used across that network. Um, you can
also um, get it at the,
at the veterinarian. Right. So if you're there and you're, you know,
you get a bill that um,
you're a little bit taken aback um, at
the cost because you weren't prepared for that. Um, it's very
easy to apply in the veterinarian's practice as
(14:39):
well. It's obviously better to
get it before in case. That's what we recommend.
It's good to have something just in case. And if you
have a pet, the odds are you're going to have an unexpected
expense. So you may as well be prepared. But we're there ah, at the
point of care as well.
>> Anthony Weaver (14:55):
Do you need to have good credit for it?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (14:59):
You need to have some level of credit history?
Um, it's, you know, good credit is
uh, not something for me. You know, I
don't have a grading on what's good and what's bad
because we underwrite um, at synchrony,
um, you know, very
um, deliberately with a lot of different data
(15:19):
sources. So I can't pinpoint, hey, if you're FICO scores this,
you're going to get it or not? Because we built in so
many different factors into um,
our approval underwriting, uh,
mechanism. So what I can say is that we,
because this is a network card and it is used
just within um, this space and for
(15:40):
certain um, procedures and uh, with
certain uh, providers we are able to underwrite
deeper than you would for a general purpose credit
card. So I think you, you have a better chance
of uh, of getting approved um, for us because of
uh, some of those behaviors that, that we See and
uh, we try to approve as as many people as
possible, um, in particular in this space.
>> Anthony Weaver (16:03):
Yeah. Because just thinking about the,
the disparities of even access to credit in
certain areas and you know it's really good that the
underwriting is there to help out even the people in
the, the tightest of budgets. So let's say.
And so going through that process,
understanding like okay, now that we got this card
(16:23):
we have all the things, um, can
you just do like a quick. I know you just did one far as like you got a
bill um, at twelve hundred dollars and it goes through that
way.
Now is there anything like an annual fee
that's going on along with this process or is it just
only as you use it?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (16:40):
Yeah, there's no annual fee so. And um,
it's free to apply as well. Um,
also I would add that um, our application
process is um, you can get pre qualified.
So if for some reason you're not going to get approved, it's not going to
hit your credit bureau. So you won't, that won't um,
that won't hurt your, you know, it won't look like
(17:01):
someone's requesting it. So that's good. So we try to you
know, protect the uh, consumer that way. And then you'll
get through the pre qualification stage. It'll say okay, yes, ah, you
know, you pre qualified finish the application. So we're able
to help uh, the consumer out that way.
But other than that there, there's no annual fee. The way that
it works is you know we're able to give interest free
(17:22):
um, promotions
out or deferred interest promotions I should say, so long
as you're making those payments. Right. So uh, if,
give that example, if you have that twelve hundred dollar
bill and you got a twelve month promotion, as long as you make
that, that payment every month of $100,
you will not accrue um, interest and,
(17:42):
or any fees. Um, you can also
catch up. Ah, right. So if you miss a month or two and as
long as you pay the full 1200 before the end, you
also will not have um, uh any
fees or accrue any interest in that as well.
So as long as you pay it off within that promotional period,
each vet, uh, depending on the
(18:03):
uh, size of the procedure, ah,
and based on talking to the uh,
pet parents or the pet owner,
uh, will determine the length of that promotion. Everyone
offers a six month, um, some people offer the
12 month. Also um, quite a few
offer 12 month, some offer an 18 month, there's a
(18:23):
24 month. It really varies, depends on the
size of the ticket and um, what's
manageable, uh, for the, uh, per
the counterparties in the transaction.
>> Anthony Weaver (18:35):
Now, for your pet, um, what was
like the biggest expense that you had to deal with in
CareCredit? Really just kind of like, I'm so
glad that I got this.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (18:45):
Yeah, I think it was, um, it was a few
years ago when we, um, kind of
discovered that she had this,
um, you know, this Cushing's thing. Uh. Right.
There was a lot of different blood works we had to get done. She's
quite small and so, um, we had to
calibrate the right dosage.
Right. And we kept having to go back a month here, a.
(19:08):
M. Month there, a month there. I think, um,
in that year, between that and the heart condition, which
both happened in the same year, I think her out of pocket costs,
uh, at the veterinarian that year was, um,
over $8,000. And yeah,
that's significant. And just having that
ready to come out of my wallet
(19:31):
or putting on a credit card wasn't,
uh, or having it didn't have that money in the bank.
So this was able to give me the time to pay it over time
or move things around and be able to
satisfy it through, uh, different sources
of funds that I had. So I used that card,
um, multiple times that year because you don't only.
(19:51):
It's not just a one and done. It's a revolving credit
card. So in many cases, you know, this time
I, you know, at that time I probably had four or five
visits where I had different bills. It wasn't one $8,000 bill.
It was like a $1200 bill here, like a $2,000 bill here, a
$500 bill because you, you keep going back and all
those promotions are running concurrently.
(20:11):
And you know, I set it, uh, up for auto pay. Right.
So we have that feature so that people, you know, hopefully,
you know, it reminds them to pay it and so that they don't
accrue the interest. So you have that feature also where it pays
it every month as well.
>> Anthony Weaver (20:25):
Okay. It's starting to sound like that I should get,
um, a life insurance policy out for the
pet just in case. Well, when the pet dies,
it's like, all right, let's go down to pay your bills right quick.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (20:36):
Yeah. Ah, well, listen, there is, um,
pet insurance is another tool to help,
uh, manage, um, the costs,
uh, and the unexpected costs of pet
ownership. Not on the life insurance side, but on the pet health
insurance side. Right. And we're, you know, I'M involved
in that, um, as well, uh,
(20:59):
synchrony. I used to own Pets Best. We had bought it
and grew it and recently sold it. But
that was the um, third largest pet
insurer, uh, in North America I
believe, um, when we sold it, um,
but we're still invested in it and a parent company
which owns a lot of other insurance brands. And so
insurance, uh, is a good way also to
(21:23):
uh, help budget and manage uh, expenses.
It's not for everyone,
but it is a valuable tool together with
CareCredit to be able to uh,
manage uh, those unexpected expenses and also
make sure that you got a little bit of
compliance to some of the medical care that you want with uh, some of
(21:44):
the wellness plans that come along with that. And there's different types of
insurance that you could um, toggle
and build a plan that makes sense for
you. So it's um,
um, quite
adjustable to the individual's needs.
>> Anthony Weaver (22:02):
To remind people that this is just for educational purposes
only. So make sure you select what is best for
you, uh, and your family and including
your pet into that family arena.
So just want to throw that out there.
Um, so we're going to go into the future. This is the,
the growth side of it. And I
(22:24):
want to get your thoughts because you've been in this industry for a
long time and what are your thoughts on the future
of just pet health care?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (22:33):
Well, we've seen
the cost of care rise,
you know, not insignificantly over the last several years,
certainly since, you know, Covid and with some of the inflation
in the market and um, you know,
inflation in the veterinary
space and the pet space has outpaced, uh,
(22:55):
that of the general market. So it's
rising faster. There are several
reasons for that. But one of the
reasons which I think, um,
unfortunately doesn't get as much,
um, news is that outcomes are better.
Right. People, the
veterinary, the veterinarians are
(23:17):
better, um, than they have been in the
past. The information that they get, the testing
of that stuff, the drugs, um,
the specialties, we're seeing so much better outcomes. And with
that, um, you're seeing some rising
of price because there's a lot of specialized medicines,
uh, that in Iraq, uh, hadn't been able to be done before.
(23:38):
Surgeries, which hadn't been able to be done before. Right.
And so I think you're going to see, just like in human healthcare,
um, really a lot of advancements, uh,
which is exciting right now. Some of them are going to
come at a, at a very high and
specialized price. And some people aren't going to be able to, you
know, afford that. And some people aren't. And I think that's,
(23:59):
that's just the way life is, you know, sometimes. But
I think what you're, what you're seeing
certainly, um,
you know, in a large proportion of the population
is people are willing to spend more on their pets than
they ever were in the past also. Right. I think
you look, um, you
(24:19):
look at pet ownership and it's on the rise, but it's not just on the
rise. Um, it's also
the place that the pet uh, has
in the family. Right. And so people are
either, you know, getting married later, having kids later,
not having kids at all. Right.
Um, and so, and more people have grown up with
(24:40):
pets than they did in the past. Right. And so they're,
they're, you know, you want to call it the humanization of pets or
what have you, but people are certainly
spending more and are happy to, you know, kind of put them at the
center of the household. And, and with that I think you're seeing
people wanting to spend more on their pets, whether it be on
uh, uh, some more high end
(25:01):
treats, uh, uh, maybe
some nice Halloween costumes also or things
like that, but also in the care
that they get. You're seeing a lot of um,
specialized foods for specialized diets
happening and great advances there. And
you're seeing um, hopefully um,
(25:21):
you know, better compliance of care for those
uh, frozen uh, family members that,
that we bring in.
>> Anthony Weaver (25:28):
Yeah. One of my clients was just talking about they have
a birthday for their dog coming up. And
it was like, hey, I gotta make sure I get them ice cream
and I gotta make sure that they don't have this particular
peanut uh, butter with all this extra stuff in it. I was like, well, why
don't you just use natural peanut butter where it's just roasted
peanuts and, and it was like, well,
(25:49):
I need to make sure I get it from this particular place. I don't want to try
anything else. And I was like, but it's just peanuts.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (25:55):
Okay, Well I am,
what I am not is a, uh, is a vet diet specialist.
I can tell you. You know, we try to adhere to
um, you know, her recommend
recommendations from the vet. But I'd be uh,
disingenuous of me to say that a piece of chicken
hasn't fallen off uh, the table from time to time,
uh, or, or, or some steak. When she's looking at me
(26:18):
like that, why does her food smell better than mine? So,
um, I, I, I, I don't think I'd be Useful in that
discussion?
>> Anthony Weaver (26:27):
No, it's fair because it goes back to, you
know, how do we make sure that these pets
are getting the same care and love that
we want to have for ourselves as humans? And
um, you know, granted, they are. Their
stomachs are different, their eating habits are definitely going to be
different.
Um, but also because this is
(26:48):
Small Business Month, it kind of behooves me
not to talk about how could CareCredit really benefit,
uh, the small business or even the
veterinarian practices out there. So,
um, how could actually Care Credit help
them?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (27:03):
Well, let me start off by saying that, um, about
60% of the vets,
um, that CareCredit is accepted
in are independent, uh,
and independent vets or small business,
that's not, you know, the large chains, we also are accepting
both, but we're, you know, more accept, you know,
there's more independents, um, and small business ones
(27:26):
that we partner with. Um, and we think
independent, um, bed ownership is very important.
And uh, small business, um, especially
in America, is an engine which is so
important for the economy. Um, so we Talked about
how CareCredit can help, um,
the pet parent or the pet owner. Right. By
(27:46):
giving them the time to pay and,
um, the flexibility and having that
peace of mind knowing that you have that card in case something
happens. Well, how it works for
the veterinarian is
we enable them to get
paid the small business owner, um, in a timely
(28:07):
manner. Right. And so if, if not for something they care
credit, they would have to, you know, put it on their own account.
Right. And have to chase after, um,
you know, um, you know, clients, um, which is not,
you know, something that's good. So we're able to, um,
send um, them the, uh, money
for the treatment. If it's used on the
(28:28):
CareCredit card within. Within two days, there's
very, very limited recourse to them. So they're
gonna. They don't have to, uh, chase after
the uh, uh, the
client and remove that. It helps them with accounting
and helps them with cash flow. Right. So I think, um, that's
part of it. I think also as a company, uh, Synchrony is
(28:49):
very much invested in, uh, you know, small and
medium business community. And so we do
educational, um, just in
CareCredit, we train, um,
our partners in that space on how to use credit,
um, when it makes sense, how to make it
easier for your practice to run more efficiently
(29:10):
with it and all the tools. There's also an incredible
amount of data, ah, through our,
um, dashboards that we share and how to maximize
revenue through using credit as well and
sharing with the best practices. So those are some of the things we
do. We, we help them with some of the marketing,
uh, campaigns that they can do and how best
display and best practice sharing. So I think those are
(29:33):
things that we do and synchrony as a company, as
a larger bank does that, um, across the board,
not just in the health and wellness space, but in
the home and auto space and some of the, um,
diversified, um, portfolios, whether they be
in jewelry, uh, or
sewing or travel and other stuff that, that we
(29:53):
uh, that we participated.
>> Anthony Weaver (29:55):
It sounds like a whole nother episode because I would like to dive more
into that piece of it. It's like uh,
from the business perspective of, you know, how to
maximize the use of incorporating
such a, a big bank into your
everyday practice.
And with that, just thinking about the futures one
more time with the veterinarian. So
(30:17):
say if I'm going to a veterinarian and I
realize that they don't have um,
CareCredit, what can I do to kind
of pitch them as a user? Be like, hey,
um, I notice you guys don't offer this, um,
here's a number or here's a website to kind of check them out so we can
offer it here at this particular event as well.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (30:38):
I'm happy to say that CareCredit is
quite widely accepted. Right. So we're accepted in 85% of
vets in the U.S. right. And if
you factor in a lot of, you know, we offer
promotional financing starting at $200. There's a lot of
vets that typically, you know,
if it's just a, uh, vaccine or a quicker clinic that
you only need $100, they don't accept. So I
(31:01):
like to think we're not everywhere. We love to be
accepted in everyone. Um, and we're working
on that so that you could tell them, you know,
if someone went and didn't have it, you should really accept CareCare,
have a CareCredit card. It's a great product to help
us, uh, as pet parents or pet owners
manage that expense. Uh, the other thing you could do if you go
to carecredit.com uh, we have a,
(31:24):
um, partner locator, a provider
locator. So before going to a
vet or choosing a vet, you can see who actually accepts
CareCredit already. And so that you're going into someone that
has that um, service provide, which
we believe. And certainly I, in my,
not just in my professional role, but in my, in my
(31:44):
personal experience is something that is
fundamental to helping pet Parents,
you know, manage. Manage the cost of care for that, for
that family member.
>> Anthony Weaver (31:55):
Man, that's awesome. And thank you for making it
so easy to kind of enroll to make that happen.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (32:02):
Thank you so much.
>> Anthony Weaver (32:03):
So I have one last question before we get to the final four questions,
which is if you could share one message with pet
parents who are feeling overwhelmed by veterinarian
costs, what would it be?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (32:14):
Well, first of all, I'd say you're not alone. Right. I think, um,
I think we've seen, um, you
know, a large rise in costs. We've talked about why
some of it has happened. Some of it also was that, you know,
veterinarians had to make a living wage also. And a
lot of the people in their, uh, in their practices,
you know, labor costs, uh, had gone
(32:36):
up. And it doesn't mean it was wrong. I don't
think they're raising price for the sake of raising price. You're
seeing some of the supplies and inputs going up.
So I would say, um,
don't take it out on the veterinarian.
It's just something that is going through the system
and working its way through the economy. I'd say
(32:56):
you should talk to your veterinarian and
come together with a plan also. They're the experts. They're going
to know what this pet
could cost, um, over the lifetime and how you should
budget for it. And then there's something called the spectrum of
care. Right. And what might be right for me as a pet
parent might not be right for someone else.
(33:17):
Right. And so kind of talk to them and think
about, okay, what kind of level of care makes
sense and works with your budget
and your financial situation. And I think that's a very
useful conversation to have when you're starting off, uh,
in that relationship, um, with. With that, uh,
veterinarian. Right. People are. Tend to be quite loyal
(33:38):
to their veterinarian. Right. It's. Which makes sense.
And, you know, they're the experts in that field. So that's one
of that. That's one thing I would say, you know, start off, have a, have
a conversation, say, hey, how much. How often is this?
Do you think I'm going to have to bring in? I have, let's say this, let's say
when Maddie was a puppy, this miniature poodle, how often do you think she's going
to come in? Once a year, twice a year? What else do you
recommend is, you know, how much is that going to be
(34:00):
costing? You know, this much over this. And, you know, together,
work with them on a plan and I think, um,
um, information is power. Right? And, uh,
knowing all that stuff up front is going to make you less
stressed about it. There's always going to be some sort of, you
know, financial stress at some point,
uh, no matter what. Because like we said, you know,
(34:22):
um, we tend
to also sometimes bring your
pet, sometimes unnecessarily to the vet
because they don't speak. Right. And so they're your, you
know, your little protected child. You're like, oh, this person, it is an
acne and it could just, you know, could just not be feeling well if it doesn't
need to go to the vet. Right. And so, uh, there's going to be
(34:42):
times where you're going to. Where you're going to be emotional about it. And so
being prepared and talking with the vet through all that stuff is
great. There's some, um,
there's incredible amount of information online also.
And, um, just different
networks and different community groups for
those pets and even those pets in these
(35:03):
certain geographies that you can get a lot of information from as
well.
>> Anthony Weaver (35:07):
I like that. And thank you for bringing that up
far as. Because we both not, uh,
pet experts, because each species has its own
thing, like you mentioned that early on, and they have their
own care and feed. So we gotta.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (35:22):
Absolutely. Right. There's certain things which, and there's certain,
um, breeds which, you know,
are gonna have respiratory issues or certain breeds that you
could be getting based on your, number one, your
lifestyle, the amount of time you're gonna be able to walk it. And so if
you're not gonna be able to take that dog on, get
that dog that amount of exercise, it might not
(35:42):
fit in the lifestyle that you need, which could result in,
um, adverse health, uh, kind of
situations. Uh. Right. If it's not getting the right amount of exercise
or if it isn't, it might behave, uh,
you know, it may have behavioral issues because of that.
So really study up before you, you get your
pet and what the right matches for
(36:03):
what you're trying to get out of that relationship and what you can
provide it. Awesome.
>> Anthony Weaver (36:08):
Uh, all right, ready for the final four question,
Johnson?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (36:11):
Oh, okay, I'm ready. I don't, you know.
You'll tell me if I did well after
you.
>> Anthony Weaver (36:17):
Got it.
All right, question one. What does
wealth mean to you?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (36:32):
Oh,
health. Yeah, I
think your, your, your health is your wealth. Right. I think you can
have as much, um, money as.
As you want, but if you're not able to enjoy it, if you're
not able to,
uh, enjoy life,
spend time with your family, your, your loved ones,
(36:55):
then, then it does no good. So really
having in health is, is around the center
of that. So you know, your,
your health is. Your wealth is an expression which I'm sure you've heard
before, but it's certainly something that is, that
is very true.
>> Anthony Weaver (37:11):
Yes sir.
Number two, what was your worst mistake
as a pet owner?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (37:18):
Oh, that
is a good one.
>> Anthony Weaver (37:22):
Um.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (37:28):
I would say my worst mistake
as a pet owner,
um, was.
That's a tough one. That's a good question. I wasn't ready for that
one. My worst mistake as a pet owner.
Well, I think
(37:48):
we had a little bit of a hard time
when um, I have a seven year old son. Maddie
is going to be 15. She was about seven when we had
uh, had him. And so um,
I think I could have done a better job of
getting her prepared for bringing another living
being in the family. So he had a, his fingers
(38:09):
got nipped a little bit, uh, and
we could have probably had a smoother transition plan for the two of
them. We tried our best but still there were some uh,
uh, some incidents. So getting her a little bit, maybe more
socialized. She's not a dog that, that bites. But you know,
children go and they pull and you know, they do stuff
and so just uh, making sure that
uh, we were ready for, for uh, the human
(38:31):
coming into the house.
>> Anthony Weaver (38:33):
Those darn kids. Right.
Uh, number three, is there a
book that inspired your journey or change your perspective.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (38:47):
On pet parenting or just
in uh, just in life?
>> Anthony Weaver (38:52):
I usually go with life, but you can go with that.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (38:55):
No, no, no, I don't, I don't. I. That, that makes it
um, that makes it uh, easier for
me. Is, is uh, is that
um. I think, you know,
the book that I would say, you know,
really influenced me and it's a book I read when I was young.
Um, but it was just uh,
(39:18):
it just taught me a lot about how the world works and
people and it ah, actually has a, an affiliation
to pets of sunscreen. It was. Is Animal
Farm by George Orwell. Yeah, you
know. Yeah, it starts off, um, you see how people and
power can change things and uh, how
people are treated differently and how
corruption, you know, works and um, just really,
(39:41):
you know, it sticks to me, you know, to this day. Well, I probably read
it and you know, the eighth grade or something like that and I try
to reread it once in a while. It just, you know, kind of freshens
things up, you know.
>> Anthony Weaver (39:52):
Yeah.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (39:53):
Not an exciting one like the Art of War. I'm not dead or,
you know, Machiavelli, you know, the prince. I'm not that
calculated.
>> Anthony Weaver (40:00):
No. This Animal Farm was a great book.
Great storytelling, um, in using
personification in the animals. It was perfect book, I
think.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (40:09):
Yeah. That's a good match, right? Yeah.
>> Anthony Weaver (40:11):
Uh, number four, what is
your favorite dish to make?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (40:16):
Oh, well, anything that's
not going to kill my family because I am not a good cook.
So, um, I,
uh. Yeah, that's
a good. I am not great, uh, at
cooking. My son says I make the best
macaroni and cheese, but I'll concede it
comes out of a box. I think he just is, you know, is. Is.
(40:39):
Is being nice. They have this good brand now. I think
it's called Good Olds. It's like a, uh, like a
healthier, you know, boxed,
uh, Mac and cheese. Um,
I think, uh, you know what? Okay, here's what
I. I got something for you.
>> Anthony Weaver (40:54):
Okay.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (40:55):
I. I learned how to make pizza, uh, during COVID
and so, uh, during COVID you know,
I'd get the dough and, you know, started making
pizza. So for even, like, since then, I think I
made it a few weeks ago, and my son, you know,
uh, likes to do it with me. And, you know, we make, you know, kind of these
two little personal pizzas and, you know, dress them up,
(41:16):
and it's a good, good way to spend time with them. Also, it's always fun, you know,
curling dough, hopefully catching it. Um,
and. And, uh, he really enjoys that. So I'd say. I'd say
pizza.
>> Anthony Weaver (41:25):
That is awesome, man. You might have to,
uh, do a video one day, check that off.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (41:31):
Oh, boy. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I'll
pass the, uh, food inspection, but, you
know, we'll try.
>> Anthony Weaver (41:39):
Awesome. Well, Jonathan, it's been a pleasure
having you on the show and really getting to learn a
lot more about you, who you are, um, from the
various interviews that you've done before, and also learning a lot
more about carecredit and how to actually can help out the pet
parents, um, in doing such great
things. And I just want to commend you for doing a great work, really
(41:59):
spreading the word out there and making it nice and easy for
people to take care of their family,
um, not just financially, but also emotionally because this
is an emotional strain when things happen. We always want to have everybody
in a good light and to have this happen.
This is a great way to help
people just continue on to live their lives that they want
(42:19):
to. Um, but where. This is the last
question of the show, which is where can people,
um, just find out a little bit more about your services or
even just get in touch with you and your team?
>> Jonathan Wainberg (42:31):
Yeah, I would say to, uh, go to carecredit.com um,
and you'll see all the, um, different,
um, specialties we're in. And if you hit the veterinary
drop down, there's a lot of great information there as well that
we provide to prospective pet owners
and budgeting tips and
all the other things we have. There's a lot of, um, good knowledge
(42:53):
out there. So I'd recommend, um, going to
carecredit.com and, and using that as a
starting point. Um, and I would say, uh,
I want to thank you for having me on and letting me talk
about this and get the word out. It's important. But,
um, want to thank you as well for what you're doing and
trying to help, uh, your listeners
and your community, um, get
(43:15):
more education about finance and getting more
perspectives and, um,
serving. Doing that as a great, uh, public
service is important. So thank you so much for your work.
>> Anthony Weaver (43:26):
All right, thank you. Thank you so much.
All right, so, uh, for those of you who are listening,
please make sure y' all do the thing, you know,
subscribe, follow and share this
episode with another pet parent. And even if
you're not a pet parent and you think of somebody who's planning to be a
pet parent, this is the episode that you really
want to share with them. So thank you all again.
(43:48):
Y' all be safe. We out.
>> Jonathan Wainberg (43:50):
Peace. Peace.
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