Do y'all have PET INSURANCE?

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Doug N Libby

Doug N Libby

Member Since 2012
I've seen several pet insurances offered, but when I read the fine print they exclude diabetes. When we were at the vet's, I saw a pamphlet on insurance from ASPCA and it says you can get the added coverage for diabetes and annual dental. Just wondering if any of y'all have pet insurance - tidbits you've learned - pros/cons - etc.

THANKS!

Libby (& Hershey, too!)
 
I don't, however, I've been looking. Most of them seem to exclude conditions diagnosed prior to getting the insurance though.
 
I do not either.

I don't trust them.
They will bail on paying for big ticket items, such as diabetes.

They are more effective for "accidents" like if your pet gets hit by a car.
They are not helpful with illness.
I would prefer they call themselves - " pet accident insurance. "


If I ever got that far ahead financially, I would just create a savings account and put money away each month
for future vet bills each time we got a new pet.
kinda like having a kid and starting to save for college right away when they are born.

After all, we all are so good at saving and living within our means. :lol: :lol: :lol: :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:
well?
I'm sure some of you are, but I sure haven't discovered that side of myself..... :oops:
 
Thanks, y'all. I just called ASPCA and after almost :20 learned they would only offer Hershey their lowest level of insurance - won't cover diabetes or dental. But, she was sure eager to sign Oreo up! I KNOW the best time to get insurance is when they're healthy, but I made it plain, up front, that I was mostly looking for something for Hershey. So, please, don't waste my time; I had to practically beg to be released from the phone call!

Rhiannon - Of course, we allll live within our means.
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I couldn't get it for Tess after dx, but I know Tracy and Leo have it and it even covered the SRT treatment I think.
 
I have VPI on all three cats and have had it on all my cats. Luckily, I had Gracie covered before she was diagnosed...I usually take it out when they are kittens.

I have to disagree with Rhiannon on this. VPI has paid every cent of Gracie's FD charges. I don't submit test strips but, after I've met her $100 one time deductible per year, they've paid 100% on her insulin, bloodwork, vet visits, etc. up to the approved amount. So far, in the almost two years she's been diagnosed, I've not had to use every bit of the allowable amount for diabetes.

When Teddi got lymphoma last fall and was in the hospital for a couple days, had chemo, etc., her total charges were $1800. They paid all but $50.00. They paid for Gus's I131 treatment and also for his surgery and the stem cell treatments when we had them done. The only thing that I never can get reimbursed on are supplements and herbs.

I find that you have to know how to file the claims properly in order to benefit the most from the insurance. But I've been extremely happy with it and I've recouped the premium on every cat each year. I do not have any "wellness" coverages for annual exams or vaccinations as I don't vaccinate.

We also have a backup savings account in the event that any illness would exceed the allowable amounts.
 
Hi Libby, I also have the same as Marje, VPI, and fortunately, big sigh of relief, I enrolled Maggie before she was diagnosed with diabetes, so I've been pleased with it. I submit the claims right away, and at the most it's 10 days or so for reimbursement. Good luck with your decision.
 
Coverage in Canada sucks big time. The cost is so high per month and only is really beneficial with a major issue - and even then I think its capped at $1000 coverage a year. I wish Canada had better coverage options. I decided it wasn't worth it for my three adopted cats.
 
I have TruPanion. It's about $40 a month for both my cats who are 3 and 1. I got it "after the fact"....Trinket broke her leg on Halloween and that cost me more than $3000 so I was terrified to have something else like that happen. Merlin has asthma but my coverage happened after the fact so he will never be covered for asthma stuff.

Over the last ten years I've lost 2 cats early in life (both age 3) from severe and horrible illnesses which cost me a FORTUNE to treat. I never want to be in an emergency or have need a service which would cause me to choose between money and my cats, ya know?
 
Tracy DOES have insurance (I'm jealous!!!), and Leo's insulin and SRT is/was covered 80%. Not sure what level of policy she has, but it appears to have paid for itself. I looked into it some time back, and I recall they didn't have a "family plan" - so it was very cost prohibitive... Sometimes it's just easier to swallow the pill when you must, or as I told a friend - "that's what credit is for!"

Thanks to Julie (Punkin) for recommending this, I applied for "Care Credit" - which I refer to as "Grayson's credit card." If you pay off the charges (his SRT treatment) in 6 months, it's 0% interest. It is also accepted at my local vet... so it's the next best thing for emergencies! There are other terms available, but most are at competitive interest rates. So far I'm pleased with it - but then again, I haven't gotten the bill yet! ;-)
 
We don’t have insurance for the cats either. We barely can afford our own health insurance since we are self employed. Our health insurance is more than our mortgage :shock:
 
I don't have any either. It was really expensive because I checked on it when my cats were already adults and excluded too much. I didn't think it worth it. If I had babies I might though.

Melanie & Racci
 
None of the insurance companies will cover pre-existing conditions. Also watch out for ones that treat chronic illnesses as pre-existing which a lot will. Two good ones that don't ate Pets Best and Pet Plan. I went with Pets Best as at the time they were the only ones who would insure my newly adopted cat Freckles who was 15 so I insured all my cats with them. I put in big claims for a liver tumour/surgery when she was 16 and kidney disease treatment when she was 17 and expected the Spanish inquisition since she was so old when I took out the policy but they paid up in full without any quibbling. $7500 in total for their 80% :-D I was also really impressed that when I made my first big claim they had the perfect excuse to weasel out of paying as I'd accidentally entered Freckles birthday year as 2008 (year I took out the policy) rather than 1993. I offered to pay the increased/correct policy back dated to when I took out thevpolicy and they agreed to that and it just cost me a couple of hundred dollars.

I've heard good tjings sbout the Pet Plan policy which looks similar and is a little cheaper but I'm sticking with Pets Best as they seem like an honest company and two of my older cats are starting to show early signs of CRF so since I've had their policies for a couple of years it doesn't make sense to switch and not be covered if something develops quickly.
 
This was years ago, but when I did the math, it didn't pay. My GA, Mr Kitty, had lymphoma. Overall, his treatment was over $7k, which we paid out of pocket. The insurance I looked at had a cap of $2k for cancer treatment, so basically if I paid the premiums all of his life, plus the $5k they would not have paid for his treatment, it would have cost me MORE to treat his cancer than it did without insurance. Now that I have 6 cats, even though most have medical conditions, I still think it's less expensive to NOT have insurance.

I think this is yet another ECID case. Maybe if we only had one or two cats, insurance would be worthwhile...
 
donnahc wrote:
We don’t have insurance for the cats either. We barely can afford our own health insurance since we are self employed. Our health insurance is more than our mortgage :shock:
Click to expand...
Ditto that! And we still have to pay $3500 per person per year in deductible and out of pocket costs!
 
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