Does anyone have pet insurance?

[february2003bride]

I'm starting to look into pet insurance for our 9 year old Shih Tzu. So far I've look at ASPCA and VPI. Are there any other companies to consider? What coverage do you have? Is it worth and it and does it really cover vet bills?

Thanks!

 

[lliang_chi]

No it doesn't *really* cover vet bills. I got it the first year I had my dog (from puppy) to cover spaying, and all the puppy shots. After that it was an expense that really wasn't providing any cost benefits for a healthy dog. If you dog has some medical condition, then it might be worth while. I was paying for the health insurance and pretty much 80-90% of the vet bills anyway.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I'm not a huge fan of pet insurance. You will pay out of pocket for anything and then hopefully be reimbursed if it's covered. I always suggest a savings account specifically for your pet/s.

 

[lliang_chi]

Davi, Thanks for the reminder on why I hated it. All I remember is I thought it was a PITA. Yes, you have to petition for a reimbursement and you won't necessarily get it. Great suggestion on the savings account for the dog.

 

[Haven]

I'm starting to look into pet insurance for our 9 year old Shih Tzu. So far I've look at ASPCA and VPI. Are there any other companies to consider? What coverage do you have? Is it worth and it and does it really cover vet bills?

Thanks!

I think I need a picture of this pup in order to fully participate in this thread.

 

[chemgirl]

Hmmm, now I'm concerned. We have never actually claimed anything on our insurance before. We have a $400 deductible and everything above that is supposed to be 80% coverage. Our cats are having a lot of health issues at the moment so we will be trying to claim shortly. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[elrohwen]

Personally I'm not a fan of pet insurance if you have the means to set aside an emergency vet fund. For the average pet that doesn't get sick constantly, you will save a lot of money in the long run by just having a few thousand saved up for emergencies. If you do have an extremely sick pet you might same some in the long run, but remember that they don't pay for everything and don't necessarily pay the full price or the things they do cover.

I think it could be a good option for someone who isn't able to save up an emergency fund but is able to put a little towards insurance every month. If you can put money aside for your pup, that's a much more cost effective solution, IMO.

 

[chemgirl]

We use SecuriCan...it looks good on paper.

ETA: I think its really not worth it for a healthy pet. We would have been better off creating a savings account like others have said. The insurance is more a relic from DH's ex and it seems counter productive to cancel it now after he has payed in to it for 6 years.

 

[elrohwen]

Another thing I thought of - have you called the companies and made sure they would insure your dog? I know some have age restrictions and won't start insuring an older dog. All of them also have restrictions about covering any existing conditions so, say she needed her teeth cleaned last year, they probably won't cover it if you need to have it done next year, because it was an existing problem.

 

[dragonfly411]

We keep the horses insured in case of any large emergency bills that may happen. We've had two go to vet hospital before, one stayed for a week and it would have cost 10k, the other stayed for three days and would have cost 4k. Fortunately our insurance covered it. I think for horses the companies are different and it functions a bit different. Most of our horses are or have been working show horses. I know that smaller things like at home colic visits, choke, west nile vaccines, coggins, etc haven't been covered. The very large ones were. The first horse ended up having been sold to us with a very contagious parasite, and had to be quarantined for that week period. The other was colic and we expected to have to do surgery, they performed a stomach tap and it somehow had righted itself in the horse trailer, but he was very weak and was on fluids only for those few days.

Anyways, We don't keep any of our small animals insured. We keep small savings put away for emergencies, and generally don't have any issue with doing basic upkeep. I'd recommend doing that for smaller.... unless it's a show winning breeder or something lol.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I think you're better off setting aside a specific amount of $ per month as a pet emergency fund rather than signing up for pet insurance.

 

[Miscka]

We have it for my 2 year old chihuahua. I don't know that we will keep it forever, but I have certainly seen more in return than I have put in so far. He had to have 2 $800+ eye surgeries and a few xrays etc his first year and I got reimbursed for all of that with no problem. We have Embrace and I highly highly recommend them. They are great, great customer service and never any hassle. In fact, once they called me at like 9pm because a check they mailed me came back and they wanted to verify my address. I agree that if you have the savings to set aside its not always a good thing, but we keep it since we are saving for house + baby and it would suck to get a few thousands in vet bills to derail those goals at this point. Good luck!

 

[Irishgrrrl]

We have it for our 18-month-old French Bulldog. Frenchies tend to be prone to certain health issues, which can get VERY expensive. Like, expensive beyond what any kind of dedicated savings account would realistically be able to handle. We know another couple who have a Frenchie with some serious health issues, and they would have spent upwards of $20,000.00 on their dog's vet bills over the years if they hadn't had insurance for him. He's six years old.

When we first got Tucker, I did a lot of research into the various insurance companies to see which one was the best value. We decided on Trupanion, and they have been WONDERFUL!!! When you set up your policy, you can choose your level of deductible. (Obviously, the higher the deductible, the lower the monthly premium.) We chose a $0 deductible, and we pay just under $50.00 per month, which includes the optional hip dysplasia rider. It doesn't cover "routine maintenance" (vaccinations, spay/neuter, heartworm/flea prevention, etc.) or pre-existing conditions, and it doesn't cover the cost of the office visit. But it does reimburse for 90% of the rest of the cost (diagnostic tests, treatment, prescriptions, etc.), and you can use whatever vet you want. The best part is, there is NO limit on the policy. No annual limit, no per-occurrence limit, no lifetime limit . . . nothing. They will cover 90% of your pet's non-routine vet bills for as long as you have the policy, regardless of how much that might add up to over time. Also, your premium will not increase due to the filing of claims or the aging of your pet. (Supposedly, it may occasionally increase a little bit to keep up with the increasing cost of veterinary services in your area. However, we haven't had this happen yet and I don't know of anyone else who has, so I don't think it's very common.)

We've had to make two claims so far, both of which were relatively minor. (The first was for a scratch on his eye, and the second was for a weird growth on the back of his neck.) We just paid our vet up front, had him sign our claim form (which is VERY easy to fill out), and faxed the claim form to Trupanion. Both times, we received our reimbursement check within less than a week. So far, DH and I have been completely thrilled with them and I would highly recommend them. I think the $50 per month is definitely worth it, for my peace of mind if nothing else.

 

[Jessie702]

We have it on our poodle, he has seizures, and a heart condition, and has since he was a puppy. I dont really like it because we pay out of pocket first, and than submit a paper to try and get the money back. Luckily, our vet knows how to wrod things, just right, so we tend to get most of it back, but not all of it.

 

[Hera]

We have trupanion because they have 90% coverage, and a high cap on any major problems. I sleep much better now that my pets are in their senior years. If you are one of those people that will spend their last dollar saving their pets, I think it's a worthwhile purchase.

 

[Miss Sparkly]

My inlaws had pet insurance and when their nine year old aussie broke her hip the insurance told them is wasn't covered because aussies are prone to hip problems. Why they had it to begin with is beyond me as they are well off I've heard that it is a huge waste of money.

 

[Imdanny]

I have a 3 year old cat from the shelter at 9 weeks who had a few minor health problems when I got her (worms, viral infection, eye infection). There's been nothing since. I can't justify to myself paying for pet insurance for her. So, no.