Need pet insurance advice! I know there was a thread recently where this was discussed but a search left me lost…
Since our other dog had back to back ACL surgeries, I swore with the new dog we’d get pet insurance as those surgeries nearly wiped us out. We adopted her from the Humane Society and they partner with an org to give newly adopted animals catastrophic insurance for free for 30 days. After that, there is a $10 discount which left us ~$33/month for basic insurance (I can’t remember off the top of my head what it covered but it wasn’t much). This seems really high, but I don’t have experience with insurance.
So tell me, what are your experiences with pet insurance?
I’m not sure if any of this matters but the new pup is a female, 5 months. The shelter called her a lab-mix but she is only about 25 lb and they predict her to be around 40 lb. The shelter gave her a clean bill of health and her spay surgery went fine.
I have no advice to offer, because I’ve wrestled with the same decision. I will be interested in what others have to say.
As of now, I have no pet insurance. Historically, routine care–annual tests, vaccinations, and standard preventative meds for flea and tick/heartworm, plus maybe one relatively minor complaint per year requiring antibiotics–run in the neighborhood of $500-600 for one of my dogs (goldens and GSDs, about 50-80 lbs). I doubt that pet insurance would cover any of that. I also doubt that it would cover the meds for arthritis: Dasuquin MSM and quality fish oil capsules, probably around $30 per month.
Cancers, hip surgeries, that kind of stuff…that’s a whole 'nother ballpark. Would you be better off setting aside the premiums in a just-in-case fund…maybe, I don’t know.
FWIW, people I know with pit mixes seem to deal with more ACLs than others…
Yes, unfortunately that’s what our vet told us, too. He also warned us that after the first one goes, the 2nd one usually follows right after.
The whole buying pet insurance vs setting aside money is what we’re grappling with right now.
Mr. R pointed out the obvious after I posted this- that we should just ask the vet when we meet him or her next week. (We’re going to a new vet just because our old one is kind of far away. I’d rather start the new pup with a closer vet.) Hopefully (s)he’ll also give us an idea of what kind of breed Fi is and that might help us get an idea of what kind of issues we might face in the future.
Ive heard good things about Trupanion, from people who have several pets and cant afford to have big outlays.
I looked into getting pet insurance for our beagle when we got him a couple years ago. There was a waiting period for certain kinds of claims if we purchased it. So I opted not to get it but maybe for a puppy it would be different.
I will always, always, always have pet insurance. I have Trupanion. They will pay for 90 percent of pretty much all procedures, excluding routine vaccination and walk-in-the-door fee.
They will even pay for cancer treatments, dialysis, bone marrow/stem cell treatment, even kidney transplant. You can add a rider that will cover acupuncture, physical therapy, etc., even hip dysplasia, depending on your state. I would call them with the specifics.
My dog is older and have been having some issues. In the last month alone they paid over $500 to me. In the past, they have even paid for animal poison control phone call when he ate something he wasn’t supposed to.
I have also heard good things about Embrace and Pet Plan, but no specifics.
Sorry, this is all over the place. Let me know if you have specific questions.
Also heard good things about Trupanion.
If I were considering buying pet insurance, I’d be most interested in what it covers. My family has had three dogs over the years, all adopted from shelters. We adopted the first one when he was about 10 years old. He lived four more years. He developed vestibular problems (spinning eyes, not able to stand) and we decided to have him euthanized because the chance of recovery seemed small. As best I remember, his vet bills weren’t large, even during the last week of his life, when he was so sick. We adopted the second dog when she was two years old. The large bills we had for her were for one tooth cleaning; heartworm pills; diagnosis and surgery for a tumor on her toe when she was 7 (the surgery cured the cancer); treatment for an acute liver disorder when she was 12; and several office visits during her last three months or so of life, at age 13. We decided to not have the fatal ailment treated because the likelihood of surviving the surgery was somewhat low. I adopted the third dog last year, when she was eight. No major problems so far, but again, heartworm pills are expensive. So, none of our dogs has had major issues until middle age or old age. I think pet insurance probably wouldn’t have paid off well for us.
Personally, I wouldn’t set money aside instead of insurance (in addition to, definitely). That’s just me. I live in an expensive area. My dog growing up had cancer for a year. My parents had to spend close to 10k, and that wasn’t even very advanced treatment. My friend’s young pup developed an infection - surgery in a much cheaper area of the country - that was 3-5k (the pup is OK 
). I know it’s easy to spend much more than that. I know, for me personally, if I felt my dog needed a treatment, I would have to do it, even if I didn’t have the money. I would have to dig into my retirement savings or go into debt. I know that’s not how everyone feels, but it’s true for me. It would take me a long time to save that much. Insurance makes sense for me.
Thanks, everyone. I will definitely look into Trupanion.
I’ve been very lucky in that the ACL tears were really the only major medical issues any of my dogs have ever had (and arthritis but the cost of maintaining that was well below the cost of an insurance plan).
The older dog’s ACL surgeries were just over 1k a piece. Seems like a bargain compared to what others pay! (I live in a very low COL area).
Can anyone share the type of prices we are talking about for pet insurance??? Do you pay less with a pup then an older dog? Different breeds, different prices??? Curious.
@abasket you can get a quote here, if you are curious: http://trupanion.com/
With Trupanion, they guarantee your rates won’t go up as your dog ages (although if your dog is already older, I believe rates will be higher), but they will do general rate increases, as prices go up in your area. The cost does depend on the breed.
For Trupanion, the cost also depends on your deductible (if you select a 0 deductible, it will be a lot higher than if you select $1,000 deductible). Add-ons is another one. For example, if you want to include certain specific things, like hip dysplasia coverage (now, I believe it’s included in the standard premium, but it didn’t used to be) or insurance being able to pay for PT and acupuncture, you will have to pay for an add-on, which will add to the cost.
In general, I would say your cost can range from $30-$40 a month to over $100 a month. Still, knowing that cancer treatment can cost in tens of thousands and surgery (at least in my area), even for basic issues, like hip dysplasia or leg injury, is easily $5K, I think it’s well worth it. Yes, you may never have costs that high, if you are lucky, but if I get hit with a huge bill, I would much rather the insurance be there than have to go into debt or wipe out all my savings. If you are well established with a large amount in savings, you may feel differently.
I used this website to read insurance reviews when I was looking for insurance for my pup. This was years ago, so I don’t know how good this website is now, but back in the day I found it helpful (just note that the monthly rates listed on the website seem way on the low side): http://www.petinsurancereview.com/dog.asp
The one insurance company I strongly would NOT recommend is VPI. They only pay for certain procedures, and they pay a percentage of what THEY think it should cost, not the actual bill cost.
If anyone here does decide on insurance, I would strongly recommend calling the provider and talking to them about what they DON’T cover. The reason I like Trupanion is because there aren’t that many things they don’t cover, but that’s definitely not the case everywhere. Ask specific questions - such as: “What is considered a pre-existing condition? For example, if a year into your insurance you find your dog has something, but the condition has been there since birth, you just didn’t know, would they cover it?” “Do you cover conditions that are known as breed-specific problems for the dog?” “Do you have a per-incident or per-year payout cap?” (many do!!) “What’s your policy on raising rates?” (be prepared, your rates will go up). “How do you determine if a treatment is necessary, for purposes of coverage?” (in other words, is your vet prescribing something enough, or do they reserve the right to not cover it) There are probably more questions that I am not thinking of right now - if I remember, I will post them. Oh, I would also ask them about their claims process.
The bottom line is, I wouldn’t sign up for insurance without calling the company and actually talking to them first. You never know what one of your questions could uncover.
I have trupanion for Pongo. It was between Trupanion and VPI. VPI was cheaper but has an annual limit and a complicated coverage schedule that outlines a dollar amount it will pay for each condition and procedure, which meant nothing to me since I have no real world knowledge of what the full cost of any of those things would be. Trupanion covers 90% of all accidents and illnesses and doesnt have any of the complicated schedules or exclusions. It doesnt exclude breed specific issues like bladder stones for Dalmatians, which a lot of insurances do. It does not cover basic insurance, but you are wasting your time and money trying to cover the basics. It is not a good buy, it is better to pay for basic care out of pocket. Insurance is only for emergencies unless you’re a chump.
My primary reason for wanting it was in case Pongo someday has a bowel obstruction, because Dals tend to get into mischief and I know a lot of people who have spent anywhere from 4-12 thousand dollars on bowel surgeries. Or cancer or some other mega catastrophic thing. For smaller and routine things it makes more sense to save your premiums. Since we only wanted it for mega expenses, VPI’s annual limits made me uncomfortable. I like 90% much better.
We got it when Pongo was 12 weeks old and for a $50 deductible it was $50 a month. That deductible is absurdly low, but we were really cash poor at the time so we set it low just in case. This year we will probably raise it to $500 or something low but more reasonable and only pay 20-30$ a month. Ideally, if you can afford it, I think a deductible should be $1,000 or higher and you should be prepared to absorb costs lower than that yourself, for the best deal and to TRULY use it for emergencies only, but it just depends on how your personal emergency funds are looking right now. I think pet insurance is best used to SUPPLEMENT your own emergency fund, not in place of.
One thing that I liked is that the deductible is “per incident,” and say your dog has a rash like Pongo does right now. I would pay my deductible that first visit and the follow up appointments count as the same “incident” so you have already paid your part, you dont keep paying 90% every appointment for the same issue. You probably pay more in deductible dollars than you would with VPI since VPI is an annual deductible, but I think when you look at all the factors the scales tip heavily in favor of Trupanion.
I will have trupanion for all my dogs from now on. I dont want to be in a position to have to put a dog down because I don’t have bowel surgery money, or similar, on hand at that particular moment. Better to have the money on hand and not need insurance, but if at most you’re paying $50 a month you’re talking $600 a year and one big emergency will make that policy more than pay off. And hopefully, it never pays off and youre just throwing money down the drain because your dog is perfectly healthy and you got lucky…