Pet Insurance?

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Courtney and Kismet

Courtney and Kismet

Member Since 2012
Hi All,

Forgive me if there is a post already about this topic, I tried running a search but didn't find a thread specifically about this issue. If you know of a link, please let me know.

I am thinking about getting pet insurance for Kismet... he is a young cat (3 years) and in addition to the diabetes, also has asthma. Since we are going to be treating him for a long, long time, I am thinking about investigating insurance for him. As I am sure many of you can relate, medications, supplies, and vet visits put a large dent in the bank account. I am still carrying around a couple thousand in debt on my credit card (poor graduate student/teacher here.) All of his asthma meds and inhalers are from Canada (saves me around $400 an inhaler!) I haven't bought insulin from overseas, but I think I might need to for the next refill.

So...for those of you who have pet insurance- - How does it work? How much do you save? Does it cover all meds and vet visits? Can you insure a cat with a pre-existing condition? Any companies in particular that you would recommend? Any information would be greatly appreciated!
 
Hello! I've wondered about this myself. My kitten was diagnosed at 6 months old so I never got a chance to purchase pet insurance like I had been planning. When I asked my vet about it, they supplied me with the info for the pet insurance they use. When I called, they told me that they do not cover pre-existing conditions. :sad:

Also, not sure if you've already looked into this, but in younger cats, the diabetes might be a side-effect of the asthma medication or perhaps some other medication Kismet has been on in the past (usually steroids). This means they have a much higher chance at remission, especially if the underlying cause is cleared up or removed. Of course, you don't want to remove any medication if it's necessary for Kismet's health and there's no alternative medication available, but it's good to know about in case they come out with a medication in the future that won't cause hyperglycemia.
 
Hi Kpasa, Yes, I'm aware of the possibilities of remission and the connection to asthma meds. Kismet is actually back from the falls after going OTJ in October.

I am doing some independent research and found two possible options:

Best Pets Insurance covers diabetes and other chronic illnesses, but I am not sure about their pre-existing condition policy. http://www.petsbest.com/about-pet-insur ... -insurance

And there is Pet Assure (not insurance) that covers 25% of vet visits. They do not disqualify eligibility b/c of pre-existing conditions. http://www.petassure.com/vetiventure Is anyone familiar with them? Do they cover medications?
 
I looked at Pet Assure - actually bought a groupon for it, but I had trouble finding a vet that accepted it.
The only one relatively nearby is one I wouldn't want to use.

I think the pre-existing condition rules out a lot of cats - I'd always be concerned that they'd refuse to pay if Honey had eg. a back leg injury as they'd say it neuropathy :cry:
 
When Gizmo moved in, I checked into insurance for both him and Gabby. VPI wouldn't insure Gabby due to her diabetes being a pre-existing condition.
 
My Simba has been on VPI (petinsurance.com) since he was 9 years old. He's currently 17yrs. 10mos. They cover all the costs of dental, CBCs, shots, etc. Major issues depends on the issue. But I would say they covered about 90% of the cost of his FD diagnosis, not to mention all the various UTI's etc that cropped up due to diabetes. They even paid for his ER visit.

The way it works is you take your cat to the vet, pay the bill and submit a claim. Back in the early days, they wanted the vet to fill it out, and they were able to process it quickly. Now they let you describe the care and they contact the vet for details. So it takes a few extra weeks.

Depending on your vet, some vets will let the insurance pay them directly, but you have to work that out with your vet. A lot of vets have CareCredit now too, so you can apply for credit for an expensive procedure, then the insurance helps to pay them back.

The younger your cat the lower the fees, and your cat will never be dropped from the insurance due to age. Having it has made it really easy to take him to the vet when he really needs to go.
 
Mary, was Simba already diagnosed with FB when you got insurance? That sounds amazing, but I am concerned we will be rejected because of the pre-existing condition.
 
It would be great if I could find a pet insurance that would accept Michelangelo on it! I really need to get moving with Henry's insurance because I learned the hard way with Michelangelo that waiting a bit till they're older is no bueno. :sad:
 
Mary, was Simba already diagnosed with FB when you got insurance? That sounds amazing, but I am concerned we will be rejected because of the pre-existing condition.
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I have found insurances that will accept cats with pre-existing conditions, but none of them insure those conditions so you would be buying insurance that does not cover any diabetic or asthma expenses and any complications from them.

I researched pet insurance when we adopted our younger kids two years ago. The routine stuff was a separative coverage (and cost) to get things like vet visits, vax, and bloodwork covered. I found a couple companies willing to cover my other older cat in full (14 at the time) with arthritis, but Smokey would have only been eligible for accidental as she had diabetes, pancreatitis, hepatitis, and probably something else by then. I could also get full coverage on the two boys, both diagnosed with stomatitis, but of course that would be covered. I opted to not get coverage because I didn't want to wonder what was going to be attributed to the pre-existing condition (our other younger one also had herpes diagnosis) and with so many costly things not covered, I figured it was better to spend my money on the things I knew I had to pay for instead of spending it on that AND premiums for unforeseen issues.
 
Melanie and Smokey said:
I opted to not get coverage because I didn't want to wonder what was going to be attributed to the pre-existing condition (our other younger one also had herpes diagnosis) and with so many costly things not covered, I figured it was better to spend my money on the things I knew I had to pay for instead of spending it on that AND premiums for unforeseen issues.
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That's where I'm at with Michelangelo. He's got diabetes, so they're going to blame anything they can on that "pre-existing condition," even if it's unrelated. :-x

With Henry, however, he's not been diagnosed with anything (yet nailbite_smile ) so I'm thinking of getting him coverage, even if it's simply to invoke Murphy's Law so he never needs to use it ever. :lol:
 
Re: Pet Insurance? USE PetFirst

I've had to bop around a lot of Pet Insurance plans because my cat loves to chew on electrical wires. The only one that has worked for me is PetFirst. Has anyone else here used it?
 
With 15 cats in the house, pet insurance is not affordable. Plus, pre-existing conditions are generally excluded.

In the absence of insurance, what you can do is set up a separate savings account and put some money into each pay.

Another option is to negotiate with your vet a monthly fee, based on the expected care needed over the course of a year. You might include 1 to 2 exams, blood work, fructosamine, dental cleaning, etc. - per animal - summed up and divided by 12. It gives you a steady bill and the vet a steady income.
 
Can anyone give an approximate cost for pet insurance, and give some insight in which case it would be good to have coverage? If pre-existing conditions are not covered, does the policy only work for kittens?
Thanks.
 
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