Pet Insurance

[misskate]

Originally Posted by bchgirl

Please understand with these policies the owner pays the vet bill and then is re-imbursed by the insurance carrier.

I understand that it must be investigated throughly before deciding but at $35.00 per month times 12 I would be paying $420.00 x 3 dogs = $1,260per year or $12,600 x 10 years. Hummmm...

[yorkiemini]

Yep, with several furbabies that would be quite pricey. My former Yorkie got an encephalitis and cost me about $8000. With that in mind I decided that I never want my baby to lack for any health care so I bit the bullet with Healthy Paws.

[jeane]

i talked to my vet when i got morgan and what she sugested was to take the money that I was going to pay for pet insurance and put that money in a savings account which i did

[RileyDC]

I got rid of Trupanion beginning of this year.
They upped his deductible by a LOT after his
first year Even though they say they don't
do that. They said it was based on vet costs
In the area. I don't even take Riley to a vet
In my area... I take him little over an hour
away down near my parents house.

So now Riley has his own Savings Account.
whichs earns interest. I have been putting the
$43.77 automatically in it, which is what I was
paying Trupanion as well as an additional $50.00
each paycheck. Plus I have a credit card for emergencies.

We recently had a middle of the night ER visit due
to a reaction to his vaccination...

His ER Visit was $171.57
$149.00 for the Emergency Exam…
$22.57 for the Benadryl shot….

If I had still had Trupanion, I would have got a
reimbursement of only about $20.00...

[RileyDC]

Originally Posted by jeane

i talked to my vet when i got morgan and what she sugested was to take the money that I was going to pay for pet insurance and put that money in a savings account which i did

[misskate]

Originally Posted by jeane

i talked to my vet when i got morgan and what she sugested was to take the money that I was going to pay for pet insurance and put that money in a savings account which i did

Now that sounds like very good advice. That way you know exactly what you have and don't have to hassle with "do the or don't they" plus you don't have to file. Thanks

[Lap Princess]

I have PetPlan Gold and have been very happy with it. I got Lexie as a 5 year old, so it cost a bit more than it would have if she'd been a puppy. It paid for itself the first year after a 1,000 vet bill. I pay about $40/month, a $200 deductible with 80% coverage for everything except routine preventive care, dentals, shots, etc. They are very prompt with reimbursement, and do cover genetic issues & pre-existing conditions. I have no complaints at all.

With several dogs, I can understand it gets kinda pricey. Good luck!

[avemike]

Hi Everyone..

This is very interesting. As I have a new puppy of almost 12wks I too thought I should look into it and wished I had before I got her. She came to me worms and needed medication. This caused her not to eat and she became hypoglycemic for some time. She was hospitalized over a weekend and I had a huge bill for this plus her meds and vet bill for the week she was seen. If I had taken it out I could have claimed for this time.
Now I am wondering if Hypoglycemia as a young pup would be a pre-existing condition which they may link to something else she goes on to develop like Diabetes? Also yesterday she had been into my scrapping room and found a small piece of wood I collected on the beach. She chewed this up and may have swallowed some before I noticed. She had also over eaten as I gave her chicken. later I saw her hunched with her tail down. her tummy was hard. This could have resulted in emergency vet bills as I did have to phone them for advice. Would love to know your thoughts. Tks Ax

[YorkieSpirit1]

I went with Healthy Paws also...they had really good reviews, hopefully will never have to use it, $100.00 deductible...I think it is 34.00/month. Small price to pay I think for piece of mind..of course you do have to come up with the money up front to pay the vet, but just knowing you will get 90% of it back is comforting...yes there are those who put money in a savings account every month as an emergency fund...but if something were to happen that could get depleted immediately, then what if something down the road would happen, and they have no savings left...I think an insurance policy is a good way to go...

[chestermama]

I have pets best from boise idaho been very happy, trupanion, pet plan are good and vpi is not rated very high

[ladyjane]

I have a friend who has Trupanion and swears by it...she says they have paid some very large vet bills that she has had.

I personally don't have insurance, but have thought about it lately because I am getting slammed with vet expenses.

[taxlady]

I just got Sprockets health insurance renewal info as the carrier had changed their "carrier" no changes for me, just the up-date notice thingy, I get Sprocket the wellness coverage every other year, which is the physical, shots, clean the teeth, blood work, you know, everything and that year we go all the time. The insurance has a "laundry list" of costs by the vet and almost everything that is on it is 100% covered with the exception of the spay/neuter which we don't need anyway. So for us it works well, we travel and and do not have to use any special vet or anything just pay for it and turn in the bill. I have a special credit card just for his expenses or the on the road expenses, which ever, so it never has anything on it. We use Pets Best Insurance they are out of Boise ID, their turn around time on claims is short and you can either call and speak to a live claims rep who is helpful or fax or email in your stuff, easy. I knew NOTHING about little dogs and was to the vet all the time when Sprocket first came to live with us, so I came to know the insurance ppls and the vet LOL. I hope this is helpful for you and good luck with your choices.