Pet health insurance

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Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it worth it? What are the pros & cons? Any words of wisdom to share? Thanks!

rockpants

If your evil, nasty cat :twisted: has a pre-existing condition, it might be difficult to get certain types of coverage - pretty similar to the US style of health care, no? I used to know a tonne about this stuff but that was 5 years ago, and I can't imagine it's stayed the same. I never bothered to get any for my dachshund. By the time I discovered pet insurance, he had already had a bout of IVDD and was taking narcotics for epilepsy.

I'd talk to your new, house-calling vet about it - better yet, pop by their office for some pamphlets. I bet that the office staff would know more about the details than the vet anyway.

Good luck.

jecica

Not that I am an expert, but you will end up paying more to insurance than you actually use. I have 4 healthy pets and the annual total was $470 a year. My annual vet bill was $264. Not worth it. You also have to pay up front then submit for reimbursement which takes a while.

I worked at an animal hospital for several years and have met only one person who actually made out and she had a chihuahua and German Shepard. The Shepard use to pick the little guy up and throw him around. He always got injured and needed surgery. If you just have one cat, I wouldn't do it. I see that you are worried about diabetes, pet insurance doesn't cover the insulin. If you find a policy that does, please let me know.

norm

first thing i did when i got my dog from the shelter was sign up for insurance....to me it's worth the cost...

mca47

I get pet insurance through my work. Cost $7/mo.
That I can handle.

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jecica wrote:

Not that I am an expert, but you will end up paying more to insurance than you actually use. I have 4 healthy pets and the annual total was $470 a year. My annual vet bill was $264. Not worth it. You also have to pay up front then submit for reimbursement which takes a while.

I worked at an animal hospital for several years and have met only one person who actually made out and she had a chihuahua and German Shepard. The Shepard use to pick the little guy up and throw him around. He always got injured and needed surgery. If you just have one cat, I wouldn't do it. I see that you are worried about diabetes, pet insurance doesn't cover the insulin. If you find a policy that does, please let me know.

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out a good way to do the math on which will be less expensive. I have two cats, 9 & 10 years old, so it's not like I'll be paying into it the whole time they're young and healthy. But I know they can get more sickly later in life. I actually noticed on the pet insurance website last night that once your pet hits 10 they won't take them as a new client, and that the premiums go up every year. I could fudge a little and say Nacho's 9, but if I wait much longer I may not be able to pull this off.

Anyway, regarding the cost of vet care without insurance, I've already paid $270 for one visit for one cat just this week - and that didn't include shots, microchip, teeth cleaning, etc. And now the vet wants to do more tests... So I can see how I could easily pay more than that per year. I'm impressed that you were able to keep your vet bills so low with 4 pets! My cats got out a few years ago and I ended up paying over $2000 in vet bills just for one of them for that one incident.

Thanks SO much for the tip about insulin coverage!! That's just the kind of thing I don't want to neglect to think of when trying to make this decision. The policy I looked into said it covered diabetes, but I didn't think to check whether that actually included the insulin.

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mca47 wrote:

I get pet insurance through my work. Cost $7/mo.
That I can handle.

No way!! Where do you work??

Who Princess

I've seriously considered getting it at different times. Of the 6 dogs I've lost over the years, 4 developed cancer and the one of the ones that didn't had a heart problem as she got older. Another took meds for epilepsy almost all his life but that was never a major expense like the ones who had cancer.

I've gone to the same vet for many, many years and discussed it with him several times but not for a long time. He's told me some of the pros and cons. In the past if I've had a major expense he's just let me pay out the bill since he knows me. But I still wonder sometimes if having insurance would make a difference if one of my dogs developed something like cancer again.

mca47

scb wrote:

mca47 wrote:

I get pet insurance through my work. Cost $7/mo.
That I can handle.

No way!! Where do you work??

I work in clinical cancer research for a pharmaceutical company (Boehringer Ingelheim).

Sawyer

I have an English Bulldog so your damn right I have it....'Cherry Eye'....it ain't pretty

Who Princess

Sawyer! When did you get off the island?

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Sawyer wrote:

I have an English Bulldog so your damn right I have it....'Cherry Eye'....it ain't pretty

So do you think it's worthwhile then? (I don't know what "Cherry Eye" is. :oops: )

P.S. Love the name/avatar/signature!

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whoprincess wrote:

I've seriously considered getting it at different times. Of the 6 dogs I've lost over the years, 4 developed cancer and the one of the ones that didn't had a heart problem as she got older. Another took meds for epilepsy almost all his life but that was never a major expense like the ones who had cancer.

I've gone to the same vet for many, many years and discussed it with him several times but not for a long time. He's told me some of the pros and cons. In the past if I've had a major expense he's just let me pay out the bill since he knows me. But I still wonder sometimes if having insurance would make a difference if one of my dogs developed something like cancer again.

Yeah, see, that's what I worry about. It's usually later in life that these things happen. And it's just so tragic to have to make medical decisions based on finances - for people or animals. :(

vedderfan10

I thought there was an age limit on pet insurance...I had Pet Plan and it was more hassle than it was worth. If your pet has ever been treated for anything (i.e. gastro enteritis) you can never get that covered....and if it's a food allergy, you have to fight with them and pay $$$ to prove it's an allergy and then they only cover part of it. I paid way more in premiums than what they covered. Big waste of time and $$$ from my experience.

know1

Just self-insure. What I mean is - if you are going to pay a premium to an insurance agency, why not just pay it to yourself and build up a savings account to pay for pet medical bills.

Peoples' inability to be disciplined leads them to rely way too much on insurance for everything.

You all do realize that insurance companies make a profit, right?

iluvcats

I never had pet insurance.

I may consider in the future.

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Vedderfan10 wrote:

I thought there was an age limit on pet insurance...I had Pet Plan and it was more hassle than it was worth. If your pet has ever been treated for anything (i.e. gastro enteritis) you can never get that covered....and if it's a food allergy, you have to fight with them and pay $$$ to prove it's an allergy and then they only cover part of it. I paid way more in premiums than what they covered. Big waste of time and $$$ from my experience.

From what I read, your pet can't be accepted as a new patient once it hits 10 years old. But I think if you got in before then they'll keep you - they just raise your premiums each year. Of course I'd need to confirm that (and find out what the premiums are).

So how do they know what your pet has and hasn't been treated for before?

What pet insurance company did you have?

Thanks for all the info!

vedderfan10

We had Pet Plan (which I think might have been through Lloyds of London)...they know what conditions you're pet has had because they need copies of vet records - they ask for medical history, etc. You tell them who your vet is, and they contact the vet.

Our whole situation was one big debacle...took us four years to determine what our dog was allergic to, so I sent in the pile of receipts for treatment and presciption food and they refused to reimburse..so after a pile of angry letters and phone calls, we got reimbursed for about 1/4 of what we paid for treatment, two years of premiums refunded, and agreement that I would never again get pet insurance... and I think you can't insure dogs over the age seven...I don't know what it is for cats...

Anyway, because she had a history of gastroenteritis, that would be an exclusion, meaning they'd never cover that.

Things with pet insurance might be different now, but with today's economy, it's a big waste of money (in my opinion)...better off saving that money in an account (the premiums you'd pay) and using it when the time comes.

iluvcats

Vedderfan10 wrote:

We had Pet Plan (which I think might have been through Lloyds of London)...they know what conditions you're pet has had because they need copies of vet records - they ask for medical history, etc. You tell them who your vet is, and they contact the vet.

Our whole situation was one big debacle...took us four years to determine what our dog was allergic to, so I sent in the pile of receipts for treatment and presciption food and they refused to reimburse..so after a pile of angry letters and phone calls, we got reimbursed for about 1/4 of what we paid for treatment, two years of premiums refunded, and agreement that I would never again get pet insurance... and I think you can't insure dogs over the age seven...I don't know what it is for cats...

Anyway, because she had a history of gastroenteritis, that would be an exclusion, meaning they'd never cover that.

Things with pet insurance might be different now, but with today's economy, it's a big waste of money (in my opinion)...better off saving that money in an account (the premiums you'd pay) and using it when the time comes.

aw poor doggie! I hope your dog feels better. how would that insurer know if you did get it again? did they mean just for that particular pet?

Who Princess

Vedderfan10 wrote:

Things with pet insurance might be different now, but with today's economy, it's a big waste of money (in my opinion)...better off saving that money in an account (the premiums you'd pay) and using it when the time comes.

That was what my vet recommended after the last time we went through one of our dogs having cancer. There's no way of predicting what will happen to them so just try to be ready for emergencies.

vedderfan10

They meant I could never get insurance from them (Pet Plan)....

The dog in question is now dearly departed...three years ago tomorrow. It turned out that she was allergic to Lamb & Rice foom (particularly the rice), which was the recommended treatment of her skin condition (food allergy). She was fine once we switched her to the fish & potatoes food...(fish n' chips, we called it). Anyway, she was 16 when she died of myasthenia gravis...and we gladly paid whatever it cost to keep her free of pain...

Our two current dogs are not insured, although one of them is clumsy and injurs himself usually requiring surgery. Insurance would have covered all of that because there is no exclusion criteria for doofusness... Our other dog, after nine years, she's only been to the vet to be spayed and regular checkups...It's luck of the draw...

Obviously it's scb's choice...but our vet does not recommend it. Save the money or buy nice treats or toys to keep the pet happy while it's healthy....