pet insurance?

[Julie Billingsley]

I know pet insurance isn't super common, but I was wondering if anyone had or or considered it. We'll be getting our new puppy in May, so I've been looking into it. I wouldn't go without health insurance for my kids, so it seems to make sense to get it for the puppy. But I'm probably an insurance company's dream, because I like to be protected like that. LOL Anyone look into pet insurance and what did you decide?

[sprauncey1]

I would when we get another beagle. By the time they hit the "stage" where problems show up and are expensive...its too late to get the insurance. So depending on exactly what it covers then yes.

[disneyaddict]

We carried insurance on our cats and dogs several years ago, but then the policy coverage changed, and it didn't make sense for us to continue. When we had it, we did use it quite a bit for one of our dogs- he liked to fight, and for him, it did pay for itself. I haven't checked into it for several years, so it may be worth it again.

[DawnMarch]

I kind of wish we had done it for our puppy who had a lot of health problems when we first got him (needed surgery for about $1000 within the first week).

[Andrea Gourley]

Pet insurance is common in the UK.I have it for Haggis but you have to be careful of the terms of the policy as many of the insurance policies only cover the dog for a year so if your little puppy has something wrong with him longterm after a year the insurance company will stop paying out. I pay more each month but have a 'for life' policy. It might not seem worth paying the extra each month but the mother of a work colleague has a Westie a few years older than Haggis, she has diabetes and two other things that I can't remember and requires drugs for life and it costs them a fortune as they only had insurance that covered them for the year.

The insurance for Haggis costs more each month than my car insurance! but it's worth it to know that whatever happens to my financial situation Haggis will be able to have whatever medical care he needs in the future.

[Gemma]

Suki (my newest dog) is covered by free insurance for 1 more month (thanks to her microchipping) but I will definitely be continuing it once the free one is up. I was in the vets with her last month and someone had a HUGE bill to pay with no insurance and they had to pay in installments, I don't want to end up like that and have to owe money to the vets when it can be prevented by paying a bit money each month to be protected.

My little doggie has been covered since 2010, we haven't had to use it yet as she's been healthy but it's good to have still, just in case!

[Leontine78]

We have three cats and no insurance....we have to pay so much money and there are so many exceptions that we will take the costs as they come. Last year our little kitten of 9 months got cancer and died. That costs a lot, but that's an exception ofcourse.

[tanyiadeskins]

we have it for our dog and our cat and it has saved us a ton of money... you never know and if you can afford I would not hiesitate! It helps covers visits, shots, etc. We get ours through Banfield so we take them to the vets at Banfield at Petco or Petsmart, which ever it is. It follows where ever you move too which is great for us.

[MamaBee]

I think my mom has it for Lillie, their dog... Lillie has had a lot of stomach and intestine problems and has been in and out of pet ER and the Vets many, many times... so it has saved them a lot.

[kendallt]

I've never had it for any of my animals, but I can see how it totally makes sense. Vet bills are insane, and you never know when something might happen.

[ayaandjudah]

Well, our lily spent her first weekend with us in the pet hospital. Luckily it was covered by the person we got her through but I'd like to consider it for going forward. Where are you looking, Julie?

[Julie Billingsley]

Alisa, I just googled pet insurance and started looking at some of the companies. There are a lot of choices and it seems each has it's supporters and it's haters. From what I'm reading, a lot of the people disappointed in pet insurance companies are upset because they didn't understand the policy they were signing up for. Some policies cover illness care and/or routine care, some don't and only cover injuries. So it's definitely a case of reading as much as you can about the insurance company and the specific policy. I did find out that my credit union has pet insurance available through ASPCA, so their pricing might end up best for us. I believe if I do get insurance that I wouldn't just get injury coverage. I like the idea of it covering illness, because if puppy gets a cold or even something bigger than it would be covered. The iffy part is if I want it to also cover the annual exam, shots, spaying, etc.

I did read Consumer Reports on this and they basically end up saying to just save away money for any pet injuries or illness. Which sounds great in theory I guess. But what happens if we've saved away $30 a month for the vet and then puppy gets hurt and it will cost $1000? If that happens when we only have $90 saved aside, then the savings plan idea didn't really work out well. But like I said, I'm probably an insurance company's dream. LOL

[ayaandjudah]

I'm an insurance company's dream as well. I over insure us on jsut about everything. But I've always been an "you never know" type of person.

I'll contact my credit union and see if they have something.

[aggiefamily]

My dad's vet clinic recommends VPI Pet Insurance. Honestly, I have no clue about pet insurance!

[Sherri Tierney]

Our family is over insured, I'm sure. We took every kind of 'just in case' insurance that they offered. However, we have no pet insurance. For the amount of animals we have, I don't think it would be worth it in the long run. We have 2 dogs and 3 cats and 4 rabbits. I don't even know if I could get rabbits covered and the rabbits have been our biggest veterinary expense. We have been fortunate in that we've had very healthy pets. Besides shots and routine visits, we've taken our shepherd to the vet once and our westie to the vet twice (and the first visit was free because it was right after we got her, she had kennel cough). Our old cat (13 years) has been maybe 3 times in her life, our kittens haven't been (again, other than shots, routine visits). We have a vet that is super reasonable. They saw 5 bunnies for us on a SUNDAY (so after hours charge) and we had to have antibiotics for them and more and only paid $70. We took our dogs to them for an issue they were both having with urination (turns out they both had UTI's) and the exams, meds, etc. all total cost us less than $60. For our current animals, I'd say that we've spent less than $400 lifetime total in 'surprise' visits to the vet. Shots and routine visits are super cheap around here.

Now, we did have a cat years ago that got hit by a car. We had him at the vet for a week and then had to take him to KU veterinary center and grand total he cost us around $1200 for his care. That was back before we had kids. We also had a dog that cut an artery in his paw and had to have surgery. We only paid $300 for that. That was in '95 though so the same surgery now would probably be a lot more expensive. Then again, the vets around here have always been super reasonable.

Anyway, all that to say that for US, having money saved back for these expenses makes much more sense than paying for insurance, especially if we are covering 9 animals!!

[Kjersti]

I would find out the most "common" problems that your dog might have and see if the insurance covers it. We had insurance for our dog but ended up paying over $6000 in eye surgeries because eye problems are "common" in our breed......so it was not covered by insurance. Grrrrr.

[Andrea Gourley]

Julie, I talked to the vet when we took Haggis for his first puppy visit and she recommended two companies here in the UK so I researched them, she also pointed me in the direction of who to avoid and was a good source of information

[luvmykids]

We have been with VPI Pet Insurance for almost 10 years now for our almost 10 years old cocker mix and our 7 year old beagle that died a couple years ago. The policy has become a lifesaver without it we would have spent a lot of money. Our beagle got sick a couple years ago and because of the insurance we were able to do all we could to save him (he needed a blood transfusion) and a weeks stay in the hospital. Unfortunately he caught a blood clot and that is what killed him. Our bill for him totaled around $1400 and our insurance reimbursed us like $1080.

[Melissa Bennett]

We are through Banfield Pet Hospital through Petsmart. Very inexpensive and covers them getting fixed 100%. There are various levels for their coverage.

[Sharon Kay]

We didn't have it on our dog that passed away last year ... we had him for 11 years ... and what happened this Fall was something sudden and nothing could have been done for him. Insurance would have been wasted on him ... Banfield told us their low level insurance is $25 a month ... but this wasn't covered, that wasn't covered ... so thinking we won't pay for it.

...but we have a new dog now ... we're saving money on the vet bills by going to our local shelter ... $8 less per appointment than Banfield ... a TON less than the regular vet we first saw with our first dog ... and if you go in for shots ONLY (besides those being cheaper), you don't have to pay an office visit where you do with Banfield ... I'm not knocking Banfield ... they were very good to our first dog ... we just found out the difference in the cost ... and it will really add up for us.

[Sharon Kay]

Originally Posted by luvmykids

We have been with VPI Pet Insurance for almost 10 years now for our almost 10 years old cocker mix and our 7 year old beagle that died a couple years ago. The policy has become a lifesaver without it we would have spent a lot of money. Our beagle got sick a couple years ago and because of the insurance we were able to do all we could to save him (he needed a blood transfusion) and a weeks stay in the hospital. Unfortunately he caught a blood clot and that is what killed him. Our bill for him totaled around $1400 and our insurance reimbursed us like $1080.

Out of curiosity, what did you spend on the premiums for 10 years? I am new to this pet insurance ... in reading information it just seemed like the normal day to day wasn't covered ... just the extremes ... ??? Would love to know more ...

[luvmykids]

Originally Posted by Sharon Kay

Out of curiosity, what did you spend on the premiums for 10 years? I am new to this pet insurance ... in reading information it just seemed like the normal day to day wasn't covered ... just the extremes ... ??? Would love to know more ...

We have the VPI Superior Plan (called Major Medical) now. It covers almost everything and some cancer. We also have the CareGuard Core Coverage, which covers all his shots and a yearly wellcheck exam. His monthly payment started out around $20 a month when he was a puppy (7 weeks), it slowly increases with age and since he will be 10 this June we now pay $50.58 a month. The annual premium is $433.00 for the medical insurance, $144.00 for the CareGuard and $6.00 for a Lost & Found Registry Fee for a total of $583.00 annually or the $50.58 a month. The last claim we had was this past February, when our dog caught a really bad ear infection, the bill was $220.58 and we got $105.07 back. We also have a $50 deductable per each unrelated incident, but they changed that with the new plans, which make the deductible annually instead.

[TanyaH666]

We use the insurance through Banfield Pet Hospital inside PetsMart as well. I have no idea how we would survive without it!! We had 6 dogs at one point and each of them have/had a ridiculous amount of medical problems. It is nice that it includes all their shots and yearly teeth cleanings and whatnot.