Do you have pet insurance?

I have found that most policies are very restrictive as to what is covered. I was well aware of the normal everyday costs of owing a pet, this includes regular vet care. These are planned for in my budget. I also put aside money into a pet savings account to cover anything major that may occur.

I would recommend that anyone who has a pet to look into pet insurance. I used to think cats just didn't get sick that much, but was I ever wrong! I wish they had had more to offer years ago when my cats were young. I had one female who developed a kidney infection that was extremely hard to treat, was on antibiotics for 6 months, had an ultrasound, had bloodwork done several times and tried to grow cultures to pinpoint the bacteria, and couldn't. Even the NC Vet School couldn't get it to grow...result was $2,000 in 6 months. Then two years later, she got sick again, and after 12 days and $1,700 I had to let her go - they thought it was liver cancer.

Now I have a 16 year old cat who has had kidney disease for 3 years. She did very well for the first 3 years with fluid treatments, diet, etc., but the last 3 months have been a roller coaster ride of tests, medications, 2 visits to the emergency hospital on weekends. Now she is doing much better. All told, since she was diagnosed in April of 2011, we have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on her care.

Years ago, I had miniature poodles, and when they got older they had problems such as fluid around the heart, special diets, kidney disease, which also ran up the vet bills. So if anyone makes a commitment to an animal, you must be prepared to deal with the consequences.

Everything I did and am doing for mine, I would do all over again with no regrets. I'm always aware of "quality of life" and when I know they don't have that, then I make the necessary decision. So think about all the things that could go wrong, and check out the insurance to see the kinds of things it would pay for that would be considered out of the ordinary, chronic conditions, etc. It could someday save your pet's life.....

Funny, I went with my neighbor to her vet just the other day, and surgery is recommended.

So ...... This is second hand (from me), but this is what I got out of the conversations she was having with the vet and office staff.

The office people seemed to think that the pet health insurance through the ASPCA is a good plan. My neighbor is responsible for the payments, but the staff then faxes her statement to the insurance Claims Dept while she's there, and it's processed and she later receives a refund check for what's covered.

If the policy doesn't cover something, the vet's office has a referral to a "care financing program" that the pet parent can apply for -- as another option.

I also gleaned from the conversations that it's cheaper to insure a younger animal than an older one(no surprise there) and there's a waiting period on some bigger expenses (just like human health insurance).

You can also google "how to compare pet insurance" and that will give you some insights, I'm sure.

Hope this helps!

Tink

Nope. So far so good without it.

No, as one poster mentioned, the policies I've seen are too restrictive.

We do, however, have a charge card....

The policies offered to us only are eligible for pets less than three years old. If you purchase the policy before three years old you can continue it. I never thought it was worth all the costs and limitations. We turned it down. Like other insurance it varies from state to state.

Thanks for your replies....I will look into the ASPCA policy but we are thinking about putting some money back each month but I know that would not cover an expensive procedure. This is our 4th puppy/dog in 35 years of marriage, only 1 dog had medical issues (allergies and she had a mole removed as well) so we have not incurred a lot of expenses, but you just neer know!!

My dog is too old. Premiums were prohibitive + didn't cover major illnesses.