OT: Pet Insurance
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All depends on your personal risk tolerance. I buy pet insurance for my two dogs, mainly because I had a previous dog (for whom I did not have pet insurance) who suffered a back injury that ultimately cost around $15k. Don’t want to go down that road again. But I only buy the catastrophic coverage — I’m fine paying out of pocket for routine vet visits, vaccinations, etc.
Thanks. That’s my thinking too - don’t want to get socked with a huge bill which happened twice with my last dog. Do you mind naming the company you’re with?
I have pet insurance for our cat. Has paid for itself, as she needs prescription supplements and has had a few health issues.
I’m with Nationwide for pet insurance. If I’m being honest, it’s not because I did some sort of exhaustive search and they ended up the winner based on a balance of cost/coverage. Rather, they‘re an option through my company benefits, so I just stick with it at annual enrollment.
I have them also through work but I will say it pays for itself IMO. One word of advice is if you do get it get it right away, they can be a stickler for pre-existing conditions.
Good point....I signed up for it within a week of adopting our dogs. Didn’t want to deal with any pre-existing condition arguments.
We just had to put our 6 year old dog down. Was hearbreaking. We didn’t have insurance on him and cost us over 10k over the course of the last few years. Would never get another dog without a quality pet insurance. Having to decide between putting the dog down or charging another procedure to possibly help save him is a decision I wish on no one. With that said, since we didn’t have insurance, can’t recommend one.
That’s exactly why I’m going to get insurance on this dog. Had to put my dog down last summer but she was 14 and for a bigger dog - 65lbs Lab - that’s a good run but the last few years we dropped about 10k too. You are spot on about having to make those decisions , they are agonizing .
How much does it cost and what % of visits and meds does it cover?
Never buy your meds from the vet. Get a script and buy online or you local pharmacy.
Pet Insurance will also cover the scrips on line. As for the price I pay a little over $100 a month.
They have a predetermined about they will cover for most procedures but I'll say we get over 80% of the costs covered, we take our dog to the Oradell Animal Hospital so if you to some place more reasonable prices you'd probably get even a bigger % back.
Is it for all visits and procedures? That was the problem years ago. It was very restrictive on what it would cover. Also there was a max on major emergency procedures.
Trupanion is not bad; they are a bit more expensive, but they have one lifetime deductible, so it appears that you will pay less over the long haul. Best thing to do a look at a few side by side. You want them to pay for perscriptions as well. Just make sure you purchase the insurance right away, as these plans do not pay for pre-existing conditions.
I'm with Healthy Paws and they've been super easy to deal with
They don’t lose money selling it. For some people it will be a good idea most people will lose money on it
Blocked stomach from eating dirty socks, broken tail after he landed on his ass while jumping for a ball...had some fun vet bills when my dog was a puppy. Even recently had to pay for a call to a poison hotline after he ate a little box of chocolate truffles.
I was very lucky with Scarlet. After the first year only one emergency visit for stitches.
This is what I have for my 2 small dogs.
But will say it saves on regular check ups but for major problems: regular pet insurance might be better
PetSmart does not offer its own insurance plan but instead offers what they call a “Wellness Plan.” The plan resembles a service contract more than an insurance policy. This plan does not accidents or injuries, or other unexpected health conditions. The Wellness plan is a discount plan that lists a series of predictable health care services that will be covered by the plan. Petsmart In Store Pet Clinics are referred to as Banfield Pet Hospitals located within the PetSmart stores. Banfield’s policy is a membership plan, where members pay a monthly fee and must obtain treatment through the Banfield clinics. Petsmart has stores in every state in the nation and Canada so they are probably very accessible in large urban areas and more sparsely available in smaller towns.
Is Petsmart Wellness Plan Right for Your Pet
Plenty of pet insurance plans are out there, and comparing policies can seem daunting. It might be wise to assess your pet’s potential health care needs before diving into the many policies that are offered in the marketplace. Petsmart likes to focus on basic and routine health care services and recommend early membership to receive the most from your plan. Some breeds are more susceptible chronic illnesses, be that their heredity or a congenital condition and examining the details of the actual policy will be necessary to make sure that your coverage will be appropriate to your pet’s needs.
https://petinsurance.review/petsmart-pet-insurance-review/
But will say it saves on regular check ups but for major problems: regular pet insurance might be better
PetSmart does not offer its own insurance plan but instead offers what they call a “Wellness Plan.” The plan resembles a service contract more than an insurance policy. This plan does not accidents or injuries, or other unexpected health conditions. The Wellness plan is a discount plan that lists a series of predictable health care services that will be covered by the plan. Petsmart In Store Pet Clinics are referred to as Banfield Pet Hospitals located within the PetSmart stores. Banfield’s policy is a membership plan, where members pay a monthly fee and must obtain treatment through the Banfield clinics. Petsmart has stores in every state in the nation and Canada so they are probably very accessible in large urban areas and more sparsely available in smaller towns.
Is Petsmart Wellness Plan Right for Your Pet
Plenty of pet insurance plans are out there, and comparing policies can seem daunting. It might be wise to assess your pet’s potential health care needs before diving into the many policies that are offered in the marketplace. Petsmart likes to focus on basic and routine health care services and recommend early membership to receive the most from your plan. Some breeds are more susceptible chronic illnesses, be that their heredity or a congenital condition and examining the details of the actual policy will be necessary to make sure that your coverage will be appropriate to your pet’s needs.
https://petinsurance.review/petsmart-pet-insurance-review/
We use Figo...all of the insurance companies for pets are a pain in the ass but worth it. Now- if you are lucky enough for a healthy dog, it will seem like a waste of money from year 1-8 or so. But...if something catastrophic happens, it pays for itself mult times over. And if you buy it for a pet after that age, premiums are steep- though, most likely will still pay for itself.
we lost one dog at the age of 7, no insurance. Ran us at least 10k- and, we were devastated that her illness was less than a week and we had to do the hardest thing ever. But if her cancer didn’t take her so fast- most likely would have been another 15-20 k .
We got the insurance on our older German Shepherd right then, no questions. And even the high premiums all all the pre existing- it has still paid for itself as we found 3 bulging arthritic discs win his back the were not pre existing. MRI’s Therapy, cold laser and the meds would have been almost impossible out of pocket.
Get the insurance- don’t worry about the Dr visit coverage. You want it for major illness and injury
we lost one dog at the age of 7, no insurance. Ran us at least 10k- and, we were devastated that her illness was less than a week and we had to do the hardest thing ever. But if her cancer didn’t take her so fast- most likely would have been another 15-20 k .
We got the insurance on our older German Shepherd right then, no questions. And even the high premiums all all the pre existing- it has still paid for itself as we found 3 bulging arthritic discs win his back the were not pre existing. MRI’s Therapy, cold laser and the meds would have been almost impossible out of pocket.
Get the insurance- don’t worry about the Dr visit coverage. You want it for major illness and injury
Take this with a grain of salt, but is a good way to compare different pet insurers.
The 9 Best Pet Insurance of Plans of 2021 (Investopedia )
https://www.investopedia.com/best-pet-insurance-4787972
2nd opinion to check out:
Pet Insurance Reviews 2021: Ratings, Pros, Cons & More For 23 Companies – CanineJournal.com
https://www.caninejournal.com/pet-insurance-reviews/
The 9 Best Pet Insurance of Plans of 2021 (Investopedia )
https://www.investopedia.com/best-pet-insurance-4787972
2nd opinion to check out:
Pet Insurance Reviews 2021: Ratings, Pros, Cons & More For 23 Companies – CanineJournal.com
https://www.caninejournal.com/pet-insurance-reviews/
Anyone can google. Real life feedback is what people look for on these boards.
We've used Embrace for our pet insurance for the last 8 years. We have 3 animals on the policy. Two dachshunds (Male 8, Female 4) and a cat that knew Christ personally (Adopted as an adult 20 years ago). The dogs were covered from their second or third visits as puppies after the vet declares them healthy and normal in their first visit. This is extremely important as you don't want to deal with pre existing condition nonsense although we were able to add the cat without any real hassle as a senior citizen.
Our policy has a $1000 deductible on each animal. It's strictly an emergency policy for our peace of mind. When the animal visits the vet the cost of the visit is removed from the deductible. When the threshold is crossed Embrace reimburses 80% of the remaining costs as they are incurred assuming the treatment is covered. We have found once a vet knows you have insurance they are more than willing to make sure they write up their treatments to fit Embrace's needs. That might just be lucky on our part but I doubt it. We have found them to be VERY easy to work with. As long as your paperwork is in order they payout (in our case by check) within 9-10 days.
In the last five years we have crossed the deductible threshold twice. Once for the cat and once for the female dachshund. Five years ago they denied the cost of a laser rental for the cat but at the time the treatment was not considered mainstream. Considering how well it worked I think that has probably changed. I've also switched vets since then to a group that has a better understanding of dealing with pet insurers. Other than that one instance there hasn't even been a hiccup.
After 8 years my premium is $850 so roughly $23 - $24 a month per animal. It's just about doubled from the beginning and that includes adding a second dog in that time. Money VERY well spent when you consider I never have to look my wife or kids in the eye and tell them we just can't afford to save one of our buddies.
Our policy has a $1000 deductible on each animal. It's strictly an emergency policy for our peace of mind. When the animal visits the vet the cost of the visit is removed from the deductible. When the threshold is crossed Embrace reimburses 80% of the remaining costs as they are incurred assuming the treatment is covered. We have found once a vet knows you have insurance they are more than willing to make sure they write up their treatments to fit Embrace's needs. That might just be lucky on our part but I doubt it. We have found them to be VERY easy to work with. As long as your paperwork is in order they payout (in our case by check) within 9-10 days.
In the last five years we have crossed the deductible threshold twice. Once for the cat and once for the female dachshund. Five years ago they denied the cost of a laser rental for the cat but at the time the treatment was not considered mainstream. Considering how well it worked I think that has probably changed. I've also switched vets since then to a group that has a better understanding of dealing with pet insurers. Other than that one instance there hasn't even been a hiccup.
After 8 years my premium is $850 so roughly $23 - $24 a month per animal. It's just about doubled from the beginning and that includes adding a second dog in that time. Money VERY well spent when you consider I never have to look my wife or kids in the eye and tell them we just can't afford to save one of our buddies.
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Yes it's for everything. I think you are right, in the past they were more restrictive, but they are almost like human health insurance at this point.
Very true about anyone can google.
Personal knowledge is a far better way to judge.
But when making a decision about pet insurance plans the more info about what they cost, cover and
what they don't take care of needs to be looked into before deciding.
That's the only thing I was trying to do with my googled message.
I didn't see those things really being addressed in the personal feedback in this thread.
But did see how some messages show how pet insurance saved a bunch when pet needed treatment when some in this tread posted their personal pet health story.
So I put in google search in case the OP wanted to look at different pet insurance companies and compare cost and coverage.
Competition seems to have made a difference. There are a lot of companies doing it now. Only a handful before
Devils advocate opinion here....
We are self insured on all of our dogs. 5 so far and never really had anything more than a $500 vet bill for one who had recurring throat cancer.
All of our dogs are medium sized rescue mutts > No pure breeds etc. If we would have had pet insurance we would have paid way more than the cost of the care our pets needed.
All of the dogs have lived to ~12-14 years old.
You also need to find a Vet that will not push expensive procedures on you.
Also one other interesting fact that anyone who is 50 years or older. Did you ever do anything for your dog that was more than a rabies shot? The explosion of pricey vet procedures is what is causing the need for pet insurance . This is exacerbated by the inbreeding with Pure bred dogs that has caused so many of the health issues .
Rescue a Mutt you wont have many issues.
We are self insured on all of our dogs. 5 so far and never really had anything more than a $500 vet bill for one who had recurring throat cancer.
All of our dogs are medium sized rescue mutts > No pure breeds etc. If we would have had pet insurance we would have paid way more than the cost of the care our pets needed.
All of the dogs have lived to ~12-14 years old.
You also need to find a Vet that will not push expensive procedures on you.
Also one other interesting fact that anyone who is 50 years or older. Did you ever do anything for your dog that was more than a rabies shot? The explosion of pricey vet procedures is what is causing the need for pet insurance . This is exacerbated by the inbreeding with Pure bred dogs that has caused so many of the health issues .
Rescue a Mutt you wont have many issues.
No bad guys here - I appreciate the information you’re all providing. I did ask for
“Any advice at all”
Bottom line- almost all the companies are very similar. Pre existing is going to be there for all of them. Compare your prices to what you want to select. And don't be shocked on the yearly increases. The rate of increase is going to be based on age, of course, and size of dog. LArge breed premiums go up much faster that small to medium.
Your big choices are if you want Dr visits covered, deductible and max coverage. You can change these on a yearly basis.
BEWARE!!!!!!!! - when you chose an insurance company- it will be for the life of your dog unless you do a change before they have anything determined pre existing. And be careful, you may have them treated for an ear infection, if it is bacterial and then later in life, they get skin rashes that are bacterial - it won't matter that it is skin vs ear- it will be pre existing.
With that said- I will never have a pet without insurance on them. They become to important in your life.
our dog same name! Wife tired to get me to get a second one (Black lab) and name it Knight...Good tru but ahhh no... Hopefully our Scarlet will have the same luck as yours did!
I hope your Scarlet lives a long life. Mine, a Great Dane lived to 12. About 1% of Great Danes live that long. I owe it to her name!
Our little 1 year old dog recently just found a lose furniture felt pad about the size of a dime, chewed the plastic backing into a point and swallowed it. The felt pad only showed as a low opacity shadowy image on an X-ray and it I took three days in the hospital to diagnose her. The point pierced a hole in her esophagus and she had major infections, two surgeries and was a given a 25% chance to survive. She was home after a week but three weeks later she is doing great but we are still feeding her through a stomach tube which comes out next weekend. So far we’re up to $8300. From now on, it’s pet insurance.
I’m actually sort of shocked that’s only $8300 so far. Best wishes to her for a full recovery.
I had a lab mix who suffered a back injury a few days after Hurricane Sandy. To this day I have no idea how it happened, but he must have moved strange, slipped a disc, and it just degenerated overnight to the point where he was paralyzed in the hind legs. Getting an MRI a few days after Sandy was brutal. All sorts of tests to diagnose it and eventually the surgery. Then follow-up therapy consisting of underwater treadmill work, acupuncture, some sort of electro-stimulation craziness. All up around $15k at the end of the day. Like you said, never again will I go without pet insurance.
Glad to say he recovered his ability to walk eventually (he was given a 50/50 chance) after about 4 weeks. That was some hard work. He was 75 pounds, needed to be ”walked” outside to go to the bathroom using a sling to support his hind legs, first couple weeks bowels were — let’s say — unpredictable. All post-Sandy. But he made it....lost him in December 2019 to brain cancer sadly, but he lived to almost 12.
Use them also. Out of nowhere like 50% increase a year ago. Want to replace them. Well Over $1k per year now.
Geico!?
So sorry to hear of your little girl’s problems. Best wishes. I would still get it for her now. Even though traumatic, it should be an isolated incident and not cause you problems getting insurance for her
Our German Shepherd is 14 and was highly trained 115lb dog that was able to jump 9 ft walls. After all this training and being a big dog, he also got slipped discs arthritis and partial paralysis in the hind legs. He is able to walk but they are week and very little feeling. I walk him for bathroom breaks with a harness as well and due to the paralysis his does not always know he has a poop waiting and if sleeping or relaxing, it may just “slip” out. All other things with him super healthy but you can see in his proud face he doesn’t like needing help, will do anything for him and so glad we had insurance because he gets any treatment he n
Yeah very similar experience to what mine went through. And you’re right....you can tell in their face they don’t want the help, but we do it anyway.
We just purchased pet insurance for our new puppy.
We've experienced some very high (last year of life) costs for some of our pets, so this time we felt we'd try it.
We've experienced some very high (last year of life) costs for some of our pets, so this time we felt we'd try it.
We were thinking about pet insurance for our 4 year old mutt (chihuahua/terrier mix) we rescued from Texas a few months ago but thought it was too expensive. Reading this thread has me thinking about it again.... What do they consider as pre-existing conditions? We brought her to the vet, all he said was that she needs a dental cleaning and that one knee is a little unstable (long skinny legs).
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