My 2 Cents on Pet Insurance
 

Hello all - being new to the forum, I don't know, perhaps this subject has been beaten to death, like a dead horse. But, I wanted to put my 2 cents worth in about Pet Insurance.

After my Duchess got basically the Doggie Flu, and it cost me about $600 because I had to take her to the Emergency Pet Hospital. And, the emergency pet hospital charges about double to triple what a regular vet charges for the same things during the regular 9 to 5 hours.

But hey, when your dogs poopin' blood, and it is after the vet's regular hours, you don't have much choice!

So, anyway, I decided to get Pet Insurance after that. At first, it only cost me $19.95 per month, but gradually the premium went up over the years, and I can understand that has their risk was going up, as Duchess got older. The past year, I've been paying $34.95 per month.

So, Duchess has a pretty short end of life illness, which I've written about in another thread. So, I put in a claim...on the total expenses including euthanasia (sp?) and private cremation was just short of $800.

My vet helped fill out the paper work, for free, and I faxed my claim to the Pet Insurance company nearly 3 weeks ago. And, I think, when I purchased this insurance, they prided themselves on saying that claims, or most claims (cannot remember which) are paid within 5 working days.

Well it has been nearly 3 weeks and nothing yet. And, i'll probably be lucky if I recoup $400, as it has a $75 deductible (which started out at $50, 10 years ago, I believe), and then pays 70% of covered medical expenses.

So, I'm going to have to call them and ask what is going on, but I keep forgetting to do that during the work week. You know, I get busy at work and forget to call.

But anyway, regardless of whether they pay in 3 or 4 weeks, or 5 business days, it really is only good for catastrphic diseases, or things that are covered that run into the hundreds, like several hundred dollars...which never really happened to Duchess.

Over the approximate 9 or 10 years that I carred this insurance (and I got it when she was 4 years old), I probably paid in close to $3000 (which is the policy's pay out limit on the particular policy I had).

So, over the years, I probably paid premiums amounting to about $3000, and am going to be lucky to get $300 or $400 back. So, you can see, it wasn't a very good deal for me.

So, what I started doing last year, is to put $50 a month (actually $100 every 2 months), in a 5 start conservative mutual fund ($100 automatic investments are their minimum). So, now after a year, I have about $700 in that account, that can be used for doggy care.

Had I done that back in 1998, instead of buying Pet insurance..in other words put the same amount of money into a 5 star conservative mutual fund, as I did into that Pet Insurance premium, I would probably have in the neighborhood of $4000 in that account now, even with the market's ups and downs over the years. Now, all I'll get is the measley check that they'll be sending me, for Duchess's end of life care.

So, bottom line is that I wish I had put my money into a good interest bearing account of some kind, whether it be bank savings account, money market account, or a good conservative mutual fund.

Most good quality dogs are not going to have a catastrophic illness within about their first 9 or 10 years of life. So, if you're buying pet insurance for that dog, you just might be throwing your money away. But.....if you put like $50 a month, or $100 every two months into a good interest bearing account, and don't touch it, except for the dog's medical needs, I personally think you'll be much better off.

Sure, you might have to pay some small taxes on it, but I think in the long run, most people would be way ahead by putting that money into some type of good interest bearing account, rather than in a Pet Insurance Policy.

As you can see, I was burnt tremendously, by buying Pet Insurance. I will never do it again!. Just a word to the wise, from someone who has learned. I want to help everyone, not make the same ,mistakes that I have.

Do what you want - but I wouldn't put money into a Pet Insurance program like I had ever again!

And, that is my 2 cents worth!!!

I agree with you. It is good for catastrophic illnesses or accidents, but only those that are not excluded. The exclusions are very significant, too.

All 4 of mine are insured... I pay quite a bit per year, however it's already more than paid off with Mack's illness last year... It's a gamble for sure, but if my babies suddenly need thousands of dollars worth of treatment, I want to be prepared!

I know a lot of peope decide later that insurance is not worth it. On the other side of that, some have had it and will never again go without.

If my yorkie was isured, we may have only saved a couple grand after eleven years, but we would have been paying out more consistently instead of big chunks. Some years $50+ a month easily covers things. And some months..not so much...She has had no catastrophic problems, just many fairly serious and fairly common problems.

So when we got our second dog there was no way we were skipping insurance. I just don't want anymore pets without it. This last year approx $511 was paid in. He was diagnosed with some type of bladder problem. It has cost about $1500 so far in that year. After our $50 deductible, we pay nothing towards it except 20% at the IMS. This was supposed to be our healthy dog. Who knows - he may need surgery or may need antibiotics for life. We are going to end up at a second IMS. Very grateful that bill won't be ours.

I think besides the first dog having so many issues, the other deiding factor to get dog number two insured was seeing pets and their owners while shadowing --- owners devastated that they could not afford it and animals miserable. Then a vet and staff that want to help but have to get payment to keep the lights on... Even CareCredit, while great, does not always cover the bill. With broken legs at $3-5k to repair, CCL years at $1500-$2800+, amputations at $1000, endoscopy at $1000, back surgery at $6000, liver shunt at $1500-$4000, MRI at $1500, maintaining diseases for life at $30-$a couple hundred...none of these things are really rare and it is just a small portion of what can happen. Pancreatitis, not uncommon in yorkies, if hospitalization is needed it can be $500-$1000 a night times one to five nights. A urinary tract infection alone if treated corrected here is about $250. And while pretty uncommon, it was going to cost an owner $800 er month o treat a copper storage disease unless they could find alternatives.

So jmo a carefully picked plan can be worth it.

I'm a cash type guy. I pay cash or charge and pay it off The first bill. I save more $$ that way. If I can't save and pay cash I don't need it...yet..I did as the OP suggested with my previous pup and set up a "puppy account" that dog since passed and there $$ left them for my new pup. And I will save for this one as well. Maybe good if you are unlucky and get an unhealthy pet. But if you already have $$ not worth it imo.

All four of my girls are insured too, and it definitely paid off when our Shayla had to have liver shunt surgery over a year ago which all said and done was about $10,000.00. You always have to read the fine print with insurance policies and not all plans are alike or one as good as the other.

i put the money that i would have paid out in insurance in a savings account per my vets advice and morgan will probably need his knees done in the future and the money is there

Where I put my money...I hope. Was finding a good breeder. That did genetic testing before the pups were born. And has testing results further down the breeding line. But things can still happen. No testing is perfect. But I tried to put my $$ on quality breeding. I did the buy from a bad breeder and then $pend all my $$ on vet bills. Which cost more than investing in a good pup. Hopefully everyone pups stay healthy. But even with the best Vet care there still is no guaranty they can save or help the pup. The time,love and suffering you go through to save them is hard to do. JME
But insurance is a hard call. For some it will really pay off. But for some probably won't. Guess it's just a piece of mind. I have the means to pay for any Vet bills. So for me hopefully I won't need to.

I think what IronMike86 wrote is important. If you find a good breeder, and quite frankly, pay a little more up front for a good quality dog, then chances of you needing catastrophic coverage for 10 years or so is probably pretty doggone low.

I know that we all love our Yorkies, whether we bought them from a "back yard breeder" or a very highly thought of breeder. So, I really don't want to knock those who have had medical problems with their dog. I had some medical problems with my little Duchess, who was breeded by a "BYB". But, I wouldn't have traded her for the world.

But, they were things like arthritis and cataracts, which I feel she got sooner than she would have, had she been from a genetic lineage that had better breeding for physical characteristics.

On the other hand, my Maltese (knock on wood), I spent more than double on him, than I did for Duchess, and he has been extremely healthy. He's already 9.5, and going for his annual checkup in a couple of weeks, and I don't expect any problems, but I'm going to get general blood work done, because of his age.

The new Yorkie that I'm picking up today, has been very healthy, and his grandmother was a $4000 show dog. So, I really don't expect any major health issues until he gets around 10 years old, or later. So, the $50 a month in an account will be the way I continue to go...may raise it to $75. I guarantee if I were to go out and buy a policy for both dogs tomorrow, that it would cost me close to that.

So, it is just something that you need to weigh the pros and cons of very heavily. If you feel you've gotten your Yorkie from a very good breeder, and that he/she will be very healthy because of that..I would go the savings account, "doggy account" route.

However, if you're not quite sure of the genetics of your dog, insurance just might pay for you.

I just wanted to relate my experience, and that I probably lost $2500 to $3000 by getting pet insurance for my Yorkie, over the last 9 to 10 years.

And, most of all, I'm really aggravated about how long it is taking to pay my claim - the only claim I've made in over 9 years of insurance. I would swear when I bought it that they said they'd pay claims in 5 business days. I've provided them with all the documentation I can. I'm going to have to remember to call them early next week.

Best of luck to you all, and I hope and pray that all of your Yorkies will live long, healthy lives!!!

I do pet savings account for mine. I put at least $200 aside each month for mine what the premiums would at least be for mine. I would have paid more for Cozy in premiums than her stage 1 cancer treatment cost me.

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I had Trupanion for Riley his first year and a half.... They raised his monthly payment to $43.77 at his one year anniversary... I kept it for several months and then ended up canceling it.

He now has his own Savings Acct. and I have $43.77 automatically deposited into that acct. monthly, plus I put $50 each time I get paid into it as well... Its growing quickly... Hoping I'll never have to use it. I also have a credit card for emergency expenses.

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