Know anything about pet health insurance?

rabbit

I've been wondering about the feasibility of this and whether those with fuzzy family members might have some insight.

My husband's work offers a discount on a policy, but it's still not inexpensive. When I looked into it when my kittens were small it didn't appear to cover a lot of the routine kitten things they needed, but I wonder if it does make sense going ahead. (One of my cats is prone to eye infections that require at home vet visits because he can't tolerate the car ride).

Anyone have any experience or recommendations?

9 years ago

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9 replies

Latest reply was from rabbit

deb

Veteran

My understanding is that it is great fir kittens and puppies but doe not cover pre existing conditions in older animals.

9 years ago

crutcher

Veteran

Considering the cost of major procedures for dogs...it would be worthwhile to really investigate insurance...which doesn't work with a preexisting condition...

9 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Not worth it. Looked into it a few times - and almost EVERYTHING from the insurer's point of view is a pre-existing condition. A torn tendon is a pre-existing condition. I rest my case.

Puppies and kittens can be insured but you'll run into the pre-existing condition thing over and over again.

9 years ago

Style Fan

Veteran

I have looked into it and decided against it. The cost of the insurance is $30.00 per week for emergencies only. This does not cover regular appointments. I can put this money in my dog's bank account (okay I could) and use when needed and I would be ahead. With all my dogs the big vet bills did not happen until they were older (10 years and up). I would have saved a lot of money in their bank accounts.

Insurance companies are hard to deal with and will find ways to not pay. My sister in law is a vet tech and advises (privately not at the clinic) against it.

That's my opinion as a long time pet owner.

9 years ago

rabbit

Veteran

Thanks for the insight guys. Doing some more googling Consumer Reports advises against it too. Good to know. Better just to have a emergency buffer fund.

9 years ago

Louise

Veteran

In a 12 month period I spent £1500 on my fur boy (cat) Marley and I couldn't claim a penny back because it was teeth and water works related which weren't covered for cats. I then spent £100 on fur boy Tigger (who wasn't eating properly) getting bloods and an ultra sound done and with an £80 excess it wasn't worth the hassle of claiming for 20 quid! I may add the little swine started eating normally a very short while later grrrr. Still the vet reassured me at least we'd have previous bloods results to look back on if anything is wrong in the future!!! Anyway I digress I doubt they would cover your eye infections as they are a pre existing condition. I just regularly try to put money in my savings to cover future vets bills. Marley had more teeth out over the summer and the money was sitting in my savings ready to hand over, I try not to think of the clothes I could have bought with £300!! X

9 years ago

jackiec

Veteran

We don't do pet insurance either. Saying that, we recently incurred a massive bill for disc surgery for our dog (plus lots of big bills over the past couple of years for xrays, blood tests, medications for flare ups, etc). Would I go back and do insurance? Probably not. You never know what's going to happen, and I think you're just as well off to keep a "slush fund" for the pet. Sounds like a lot of things aren't covered anyways. Let me say, though, that the vet bills do rack up quite quickly....sooooo

9 years ago

Jeanie

Veteran

I have 2 cats, 17 & 4 and have racked up some serious vet bills over the last couple of years. It seems that they are developing more and more procedures for animals and they are all very costly. Since my cats don't talk it takes more tests to discover what may be wrong which usually involves costly blood work and x-rays. Last time I had to question the cost of a blood pressure test for my cat which was $50! I said "but don't you just put the cuff on and pump it like you do for humans? yikes! I wish I had put away a pet slush fund. It makes total sense but requires discipline.

9 years ago

rabbit

Veteran

I hear you Louise, Jackie C, and Jeanie. It's really hard to be an informed consumer with veterinary costs. I want to do all that's necessary, but at the same time can't always tell what tests are okay to skip. I've gotten better about talking to my vet and getting down the costs of routine medical things by having an open prescription on call and a phone consult instead of an office visit or something, but that doesn't help when something new shows up.

9 years ago

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