Pet Insurance - thoughts?

[adventure_woman]

So, we are hopefully going to be getting a pug in about 3 months. I am still doing all kinds of research. I know that they can have medical issues. Has anyone had pet insurance? I was specifically looking at VPI. It would be about $44/mth - that includes $100 for spay, $50 for flea, $35 for vaccinations, $60 for wellness visits (divided up btw 2 visits), $15 fecal test.

Any experience with this? My thought/question is how are they with reimbursement. Also, does the premium keep going up as they get older?

 

[pklein09]

I don't have pet insurance, but I probably wouldn't personally get it. I just had my dog neutered on Monday...grand total $169.42 for the surgery and cone. When I first brought him in to the vet when we got him, his first office visit, first shots (3), fecal test, and heart worm test was $81.54. For me, I'd just assume pay out of pocket.

ETA: I just went back and looked at my out of pocket expenses for both dogs last year: $680. That included getting the first one neutered, his current year's shots, the new puppy and all his shots, fecal and heartworm tests for both dogs, and heart worm meds for both dogs. That's not much more than what you'd be paying in insurance for one dog. I think I'd call local vets to see what they charge and figure out if insurance is worth it. You may be better putting that $44/month away for when you may need a pricey vet visit.

 

[Eastern]

I think it's good to have for the first year. You can get a feel for what your dog is likely to get into. For ex does he eat everything in sight? exam and xrays add up quickly.

I got insurance for my puppies their first year until I knew what kind of things to expect. I probably broke even each time. I didn't renew it because they are mostly indoor dogs and they don't eat random stuff.

I had VPI for one and Pet's Best for the other. I liked VPI because it seemed easier to get reimbursed.

You can view covered events on the website so you can see if it would be worth it to you. My dog had a small lesion on his back (which ended up falling off) and when I looked specifically for lesion removal it said something like lesion removal isn't covered, but drug therapy is. Some breeds will not be covered for certain conditions. Some conditions might not be paid for. You have to check it out.

 

[cherylp3]

I have embrace. It is $45 a month, doesn't cover wellness.

You can find reviews at http://www.petinsurancereview.com/

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We have it for our lab. It is $42/month. It does not cover the exam fee, spay, vaccines, flea or heartworm meds because those are maint type things.

It reimburses 90% after the $100 deductible. $100 deductible is per year, not per incident.

We are with healthypaws.com. We've submitted one claim and had excellent service and very prompt reimbursement. Couldn't be happier.

 

[Disneefun]

Our vet bills for the past year totaled just under $700 and this is for a senior dog that has blood work done twice a year, and it includes the heartworm meds. This also includes a couple of random visits and antibiotics for a couple of abscessed teeth. For us, the insurance never made sense. We'd pay more in premiums plus the things they don't cover than to just pay OOP. When our dog was younger and only went to the vet once a year, it made even less sense.

Remember that a lot of insurers, if not all, won't cover conditions that most dogs of a certain breed get, (i.e., hip dysplasia in Labs, etc.), so whatever health problems are common with Pugs likely won't be covered.

I agree with a PP. Call around to some vets in your area and ask what they charge for common visits and then really examine the policy to see what it covers and excludes. That'll give you an idea of whether it's worth it.

 

[roxysmum123]

If you're getting a pug, my answer to you ranges from "definitely" to "you'd be nuts not to get it". My friend has 2 pugs and her vet bills last year were in the $4000 range and about half of that was due to breed specific issues and one was an emergency/accident. If she didn't have the pet insurance she wouldn't have been able to afford the procedures and would have had very ill pugs if they survived or had to put her pugs up for adoption to a rescue that can handle the expenses. She's also very involved with pug rescue and I teach dog training out of a vet clinic and all the vets we work with between her rescue work and my training even say THEY wouldn't get a pug without pet insurance... for what that's worth.

 

[RMAMom]

I don't think the plans that cover well visits are worth it, you will probably spend less without it but I do recommend Pet Plan.

Pet Plan covers accidents and illness and they have a very good record of paying quickly. What I really like is that they cover illnesses that are genetic to the breed. In the case of your pug that would be a very good thing as they can be prone to many things.

The fact that they cover genetic illness is the reason I have them for my German Shepherd I have coverage to $20,000 with 100% reimbursement after a $200 deductible, we pay $117.00 quarterly. You can go to their website and play around to get a couple of quotes and you can also check on your breed to see what the genetic issues are for your specific breed.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Last year my 3 yr old golden tore her ACL and had to have a pricey knee surgery. At the time I looked into getting pet insurance for the future but the more I read and talked to my vet the more I decided it wouldn't be a good thing financially. My vet said she has a really hard time getting insurance companies to actually pay for the big stuff. The red tape and fine print in the policies is pretty bad. I decided to open a separate savings acct. and I have an automatic deposit made every month in the amount that pet insurance would cost me. That way I have a savings fund if something were to happen and if not I still have my money, not the insurance company!

 

[Simba22]

I actually have VPI for my dog (she just turned 2 in December) and I'm considering dropping it.

I pay $55 a month... her flea/tick/heartworm medication costs $300 a year, and VPI only reimburses up to $50 a year total for those medications.

They do request medical records and will exclude anything that's a "pre-exisiting condition" ... in my dog it happens to be diarrhea because she has a nervous stomach and makes herself sick when she's stressed. So recently when she had diarrhea for over a month, I took her in for an exam and we found that she has a genetic disorder that effects her pancreas' ability to digest food. Since the presenting issue was diarrhea, VPI denied the claim. I had to fight with them for over a month to get reimbursed.

I feel like I'd be better off putting $55-$60 a month in a savings account and just using that to pay for visits/meds. Less stress and there is no exclusion on what will be covered.

 

[Simba22]

If you're getting a pug, my answer to you ranges from "definitely" to "you'd be nuts not to get it". My friend has 2 pugs and her vet bills last year were in the $4000 range and about half of that was due to breed specific issues and one was an emergency/accident. If she didn't have the pet insurance she wouldn't have been able to afford the procedures and would have had very ill pugs if they survived or had to put her pugs up for adoption to a rescue that can handle the expenses. She's also very involved with pug rescue and I teach dog training out of a vet clinic and all the vets we work with between her rescue work and my training even say THEY wouldn't get a pug without pet insurance... for what that's worth.

You have to be careful though because, I know VPI for example, tells you right in their Explaination of Coverage booklet that certain genetic disorders or "breed specific" conditions are not covered.

 

[marie1203]

Sorry double post

 

[marie1203]

My answer is no and I have 7 pets. It is a waste of money. I haven't found an issuance that will cover breed specific problems so that goes out the window and just for regular check up it just does't justify the cost. Here is what I would do if I was you I will put that money that you were going to spend on the insurance in a savings account. Do it every month and when an emergency arrives use the money to cover it. I put a certain amount every month into our pet account. I added up how much check up and prevention medication are a year and then added some extra money to leave there in case of emergencies and it has work well. of course with 7 pets our vet bills are in the thousands but they are worth every penny. Good luck.

 

[Lisa71]

Yes, I would get it, especially on a pure bred dog. We have 4 dogs, 4 cats, and a rat. We have insurance on our dogs, but not our cats as I have had much better luck with cats staying healthy. We have gopetplan as our insurance and used VPI before. Go petplan has fewer exclusions. We saved thousands in the past with our insurance. It is worth it for our peace of mind. Have fun! Woof!

 

[Fabinva]

I've had VPI for my Chihuahua since he was a pup, we had no kids, he look so fragile and he was our "baby", well he just turned 12 and I thought many times of canceling it but my husband keeps talking me out of it. When we got it it was like $9 a month and now paying $30/month for basic plan, our deductible is $50 per claim (I think). I used it two or three times (in 12 years!), once for ear infection, other for sprain, the reimbursement was painless and forms easy to fill out.
I have another dog, she is mixed and couple of years younger, no insurance for her.
I would not get it again but can't complaint about their service.

 

[adventure_woman]

You can find reviews at http://www.petinsurancereview.com/

Thank you for this website. Now I'm thinking maybe Healthypaws or Petplan.

 

[scottmel]

www.gopetplan.com is great for pure breds b/c it DOES COVER GENETIC things. I have a King Charles Cavalier and covered her the first year as a puppy just b/c I was paranoid! YEs they are a little higher than other places but again if she had something genetically wrong it was covered - hips, heart murmer, etc. That being said, I dropped it after the first year. Thank goodness never had to use it but I had a cat that I spent 3k trying to save in 2010 and swore I wouldn't have vet bills like that again...but still it adds up every month so we dropped it.

 

[Sheree]

Didnt have it with first jack russell. 5k and one eye removal later....
new puppy, got it. first year got plan that paid spay etc, iee increased cost vs what i got was worth it
now we just do basic plan for major issues. it has paid for her skin allergies.
we also have vpi

 

[Evi]

I think it all depends on what kind of pet owner you are. Personally I regret not buying pet insurance with my little one. He suffers from allergies and is now on weekly immunotherapy shots. Also just got sick a few days ago and have been to vet twice this week no answer yet so I don't even know where this is going to go financially. I say it depends on the kind of owner you are. My furbies are family so I will do whatever I can. I hate the system though just between basic tests and er its already into the $500+ and I don't even know whats wrong with him yet.

 

[Happiest mommy]

I wish I would have had it with my 1st dog i'm still paying $3000 of a $5000 Care credit bill so with my new pup that was the first thing I did she's insured with Trupanion and they have already paid for itself I am so pleased with them we have no deductable, check them out