OT: Pet Insurance

[jgreco]

After hearing my friend's hearbreak of putting her 10 year old dog down after spending $15,000 on pet medical bills, I started thinking about my one year old dachschund and how we could never afford something like that. As a child we had to put our beloved German Shepard down because we could not afford the surgery he needed.

Is pet insurance worth it? Is there a plan you recommend?

 

[tink2dw]

My only comment is that Blockbuster, one of their benifits for empoyees is pet insurance.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Our 3 year old golden tore the ligament in her knee about 1.5 months ago. The surgery cost about $1300. Fortunately we had just refinanced our mortgage and that happened to be the month that we had no mortgage payment. I started looking into pet insurance because I read that it is very common for the other knee to go. After reading a bunch of websites and policies I realized that many have the ACL repairs excluded from coverage. The cost for me would be about $25 per month. I decided instead of buying that I would open a separate savings acct and make an automatic deposit of $25 per month. That way if something happens I have some money set aside and if nothing happens then I still have my $$ and I'm collecting interest! I also have other pets so this way I can use my fund on any of them and not be stuck with restrictions. I talked with my vet and she agreed this was a good plan. She said she really doesn't recommend pet insurance because there are so many exclusions and you need to be very careful to read the fine print. She's seen many clients pay for insurance and then be denied when they try and use it.

 

[Shelli_5]

I have a 7 year old Boston terrier who has unfortunately had to have surgery twice. He had a luxating patella fixed when he was a puppy ($3000) and just had a ruptured disc in his neck fixed last month ($4000). He doesn't have insurance and I had to pay for both procedures on my own. My next dog will definitely have pet insurance!!

Shelli

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I bought a VPI policy for my sister's dog when she got her as a puppy. She has maintained the policy ever since, and every year it's paid for itself. I would buy it for a young dog. I would also let it lapse when the dog was older, though, and here is why.

We had a policy on our cat, but I let it lapse about 2 years ago because I didn't ever want to be tempted to do major surgery on an older pet. Long story short, our cat started walking funny...we were told that it was an ACL tear and we had her ACL repaired about a month ago to the tune of like $1100. Her ACL healed up nicely, but her true issue was neurological. We are having her put to sleep on Monday as she is paralized and incontinent We put her through the pain of surgery for nothing I'm very glad that we don't have pet health insurance on her now, because if we did, I'd be tempted to put my very senior (almost 14 year-old) cat through major back surgery to try to "help" her neurological problem.

 

[Kat&Dom]

I was going to get Pet Insurance for our dog and I started investigating it and talking to people. I talked to her vet and the feedback that I got was that it most likely would not be worth it.

My brother has Pet Insurance for his dog and he pays $38 per month and when their dog needed coverage, it was not included in the plan so they had to fork out $600.

When I talked to the vet and he discouraged me from getting Pet Insurance, he said that he recommends people having a savings account to put money into because he felt that the Pet Insurance was a waste of money.

So I decided not to get Pet Insurance.

 

[SnowWhite2]

Get the pet insurance.

My lovely, sweet dachshund was 4 yo last year when we had to put her down. She had a disc problem in her neck and it was $8-9K to fix it. We couldn't afford it and couldn't get any discount from the vets. She was in pain and we were drugging her to keep her comfortable.

I sit here 5 months later in tears as I write this because it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do and I don't think I'll ever get over it. Dachshunds are known for back problems. Please get the insurance. I regret I never did and had to put down the sweetest dog in the whole world.

 

[pezaddict231]

We just got Pet Insurance, we got it through Purinacare. It only costs $20 per month for each pet (we got the plan that includes wellness visits too). For the peace of mind it is worth it for us. In fact, one trip to the emergency vet would make the plan "worth it". We haven't had to use it, and I would actually be thrilled to never have to use it.

We just lost a kitten to FIP, it was horrible and the amount we spent on vet bills makes it even worse. He was only 8 months old, so the putting the money on the side thing wouldn't have come close to what we actually paid out. And if we did have insurance at the time most of it would have been covered.

The thing is, most of the time nothing bad happens, and so it would be a waste in that case. But what if something bad did happen? What if your pet was diagnosed with something horrible? How far would you be willing to go? If your pet had cancer or needed surgery, would you want to do the necessary treatment? If the answer is yes than you need insurance. All insurance is a waste unless something bad happens and you need it.

 

[At World's End]

We have owned 4 doxies and three of them have had back surgery. We had pet insurance (wtih VPI) for all of them. The pet ins. helps, but we found that it pays about one half of the total costs. One back surgery for one of our dogs was over $8000. We paid about $40/month for the ins. so even if we had stashed that money away, it would have taken many years to cover that kind of cost. I think it is a very worthwhile investment for a young dog.

Now that our last remaining doxie is 15, we no longer have insurance on her. We made the decision a couple of years ago that we would not subject her to any surgeries anyway. She has already loved at least nine lives!

 

[ChisJo]

If we had a dog, we would definitely have pet insurance. However, we have 2 cats, and I would never get insurance for them. The cost to have it for them per month is $20 each...$40/month total, or $480/year (and that isn't even the best insurance out there). I have a cat thats 14 years old, and I don't think I've spent more than $1000 on vet bills for her in her entire life, and insurance wouldn't have covered all of this anyways. I buy all of their yearly injections and give them myself (I would actually do this for a dog as well....$5-$10 compared to $140 at the vet for the same injection), so its not necessary to go to the vet every year for a check-up. My mom has a 16 year old cat that I don't think she's taken to the vet in over 10 years, and that cat is spry and content and playful. But, like I said, if I had a dog, I would get pet insurance as dogs seem to require more care than cats.

 

[JCW]

I say do it.

Our puppy was sick when we got her (breeder paid all bills to get her well, but it was an eye-opener to the costs of vet emergencies). So we got her insurance right away.

She is only 9 months old now and we have used her pet insurance 3 times now (she is a bully, so had her nose done-to enlarge the nostrils for better breathing, she hurt her leg, & had a hotspot on her face which required antibiotic). All 3 times, 90% covered, simple process, and don't know what we would have done without the coverage after seeing the full bill amounts. We are actually ahead of the game $ wise.

We went with TruPanion. I researched all the top companies, checked Better Business Bureau ratings, made a spreadsheet and everything. With TruP. we were able to add a hip displaysia rider (most do not, and with bullys this can be a common problem) we have a $0 deductible (we were able to choose our deductible, which in turn adjusts the monthly premium) and they pay 90% vs others which are usually 80%. It costs us $40/month.

And we had her nose done same time as her spaying, so she would only be under once, and TruP covered the anethesia - which they didn't have to.

Best $ we ever spent. In fact, her leg is still not healed and may need x-rays, which will be covered.

I submit the claim, receive an email when it's been approved, and I have reimbursement check in hand about 7-10 days later.

Only things not covered are her annual exams and yearly shots (and spaying wasn't covered) - but we were good with that because these are costs we expect to have. We just wanted some peace of mind for the unexpected, and let me tell you, we are so glad we did it.

Some companies you can purchase insurance for the routine items too, but that wasn't necessary for us.

Do your research, check out their websites, check BBB, make some phone calls, and you will find one that fits the needs of you and your pet.

PS I do not work for a vet or a pet insurance company. I am in finance so I am very analytical, hence the research I did

HTH

 

[mollygirl13]

Get the insurance!

We use PETPLAN for our Boston Terrier. We had to use it twice now and he is only 4. Once for an anal gland abscess and the other was for a 2 night hospital stay when Buddy ate an entire pack of Orbit gum.
Both visits were at the Emergency Vet which is not cheap. Both times we got almost all of our money back, and it was well into the high hundreds! Our Vet recommends Pet Insurance and so did the Emergency Vet.

 

[jgreco]

Wow, thank you for sharing your experience. I am concerned about her back since she is a doxie and loves to jump off things. I think I will go with Trupanion.
Thank you all very much.

PS Any coupon codes for Trupanion?

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

I pay about $14 a month for coverage for my 3yr old sheltie mix from VPI. This policy does not cover routine visits and vaccinations, but that's okay, we budget for them. I don't even miss the $14 a month, but last May when Winston swallowed a chicken bone and needed to go to the emergency vet, I was very thankful that I was reimbursed for 80% minus my $50 deductible of the bill. Just that incident alone made what we had paid for the premiums worth it several times over, plus he had surgery to remove a cyst. I am VERY happy with our decision to have insurance for Winston.

 

[gracie1]

I personally would not do it. I have two pups, one will be 3 and one will be 4. In the past 3 years I have went through about $10k in surgeries, and illness. If I had the insurance, it would not have covered a dime of it. So I would not only be putting out the cost of the surgeries but also for insurance that I wouldn't be using,

 

[Telcogirl]

Make sure you read the entire policy, know what is covered and know what your deductible is. Also know that this is a reimbursement type of policy. You pay the vet bill and then submit the invoice for reimbursement. That said, you are going to need to have money in hand when visiting the vet regardless.

We had VPI for our Boston since he was a puppy. We also had the rider for wellness visits. The insurance never really paid for itself. For example, on the wellness visits, it would cover only a portion of his needs. If he was due for heartworm pills and Frontline applications, we had to choose which product we wanted to apply the insurance to. VPI did not cover both, even though he needed both. And even then, we were not reimbursed for the full amount on these products. Same with the cost of the office visit. I believe VPI reimbursed for $25 a visit. Our vet charges $35 for the office visit.

When we had a few situtations where he needed care outside of his wellness visits, there was a deductible applied to each visit/procedure. Additionally, we were denied reimbursement in one case and in another, we had to do a lot of extra paperwork to show VPI that this was a recurring condition and that the deductible needed to be waived. That was a very frustrating experience. I mean, that is why we purchased this insurance, right?

After doing the math, our payments for him were roughly $30 a month. If we put that money aside monthly and all he needed was his annual wellness visits, then we were better off.

If he require a more comprehensive medical treatment, we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Owning a pet is an expensive journey and you have to be somewhat prepared for the medical costs associated with that.