Pet Insurance

RoMy215

Hi everyone. I'm new on this board...we took in a stray (doxle) that a friend found. We were thinking about getting a dog at some point, but wanted to do a little more preparing first. But this little guy needed a home, so we decided to give him a go.

I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions, or just reading your posts for info and advice.

In the meantime, does anyone have pet insurance and if so, what do you recommend? 

Thanks for your help!!  

NalasMomma618

I don't have it for either of mine, but I've known people that had petplan and Embrace that seemed pretty happy with those.

RoMy215

Thank you!

GrayGhost13

Welcome. I don't haven any personal experience with pet insurance, but since I see you are a brand new pet owner, I wanted to point you toward the Pets Board FAQ website. It has a lot of really great info. there.

Thanks for rescuing and GL with your new addition!

emricmacy

My dog, Emric was on Petplan Insurance for 2 years. I spent about $1,300.00 a year. It was a waste for me because:

 

When Emric was a few months old, he had to have a major surgery because he ate his stuffed animals. Also, at that time, I took him in to the vet because he had 1 flea bite, and he was scratching so they have him some Prednisone to help the itching for a few days. 

 

After that, I put him on insurance. 

 

I went to the vet for chronic diarrhea, and it cost me around $1,000 for treatment, and he still needed more. I figured the insurance would pay for it(after my deductible)..well they wouldn't! Why? Because he had a stomach surgery before I put him on insurance, and they said that surgery could make him have diarrhea.

 A few months later in the summer, Emric had some itching, took him to the vet, and he ended up having an allergy to grass, dust, beef, dandelions, etc. He needed to be put on medication that cost $400/month for life. I figured insurance would help pay for that. They didn't, because they said before I put him on the insurance he went to the vet for scratching.

 

Insurance is a joke. But for dogs that do not have any pre-existing conditions it might be worth it..

 

CandiceAdam

The ASPCA and VIP both offer pet insurance plans. The way most of these work is that you pay a monthly premium for whatever policy you pick. You must pay for the services rendered at the vet office and then submit a claim to get paid back. The company may or may not pay for everything. Also, they do not cover any pre existing conditions and they will request the records for at least the past year of the pets life to check on this. Depending on the breed of your pet, if they are known for health issues this may be worth while but as some of the previous posters pointed out, at the beginning of a pets life they may not need much extra care. It might be worth it to set this money aside in a separate account and then you can fall back on it if you need it for any major issues with your pet, such as unplanned surgery.

AliciaB1987

I have had VPI pet insurance for my yorkie since she was about 6 months old. I don't have any special coverage, just the basic (so something around $240/year) and I pay it in one shot, rather than month-to-month, to save a few bucks.

I was thinking about getting rid of it, but so far it's actually paid me back 3 out of 4 years. The peace of mind to me is worth it. The claims process is very easy, and quick. I scan/email (or you can fax) in your claim sheet along with the vet bill. Pretty standard. It takes about two weeks to get any refund I am due.

They do offer more extensive coverage, but the value to you is of course dependent on the pre-existing conditions you might be aware of/have documentation of and what costs you foresee in your dog's future. For example, I know that I need to get my dog's teeth cleaned/a few leftover baby teeth pulled this year (requiring anesthesia and is a whole big ordeal since she doesn't do well with that), and there is partial coverage for that under VPI. However, to get that coverage you obviously pay more for the plan, plus that type of [partial] coverage automatically comes in conjunction with other coverage which I won't use. So, I'd pay slightly more for that upgraded coverage than I'll actually get back. May as well just pay the few hundred bucks for the surgery. Obviously other health issues are hard to foresee, though. It can be a roll of the dice re: value.

In case you want to check out their covered health issues:

http://www.petinsurance.com/ 

aggiebug

I am really not a fan of VPI.  Our clients with VPI have a had time getting them to cover things. And they are the biggest pain for the clinic too.