Pet Insurance?

[yorkie2luv]

I posted this on another thread asking the same questions. This site offers a comparative review.

Pet Insurance Review

[historytara]

Thanks for the links everybody, I found them very helpful. This thread was helpful too.

[4yorkiemom]

Just some info on Banfield -- this is not pet insurance. It is a wellness plan and it is definitely worth every penny. I used to go to the vet with my pups for shots every year and it would cost me over $300 (x4) between the exam, shots, fecal test, heartworm test... If one of them got sick, it would always run $150+ and that wouldn't even include medicine. I was generally spending $3,000+ (I do have 4 Yorkies) per year since 2 have intestinal problems.

I now take them to Banfield Vet @ Petsmart and couldn't be happier. The vet is wonderful, the techs are wonderful and I save $$$. It costs me $360/year per dog but that includes, unlimited office visits, all their shots, 2 full exams each year, heartworm and fecal tests 2x a year, discount of medication AND TEETH CLEANING! (I was paying over $300 just for the teeth alone!)

There are actually 4 levels of wellness to choose from and you can pay monthly. It couldn't be easier and last year I saved over $4,700. I definitely recommend Banfield. (Now don't you think they should pay me for this! LOL)

[ScarlettMW]

Is the wellness plan purely preventive? What happens if your dog has an accident or sudden illness?

[4yorkiemom]

if an accident or sudden illness occurs - there is no office visit fee, you get a discount on medication but if the pup needs an xray or surgery it is not covered. that is where the pet insurance comes in.

i had insurance for all my pups for the 1st 2 years but then it became too expensive to cover 4 pups (it goes according to age). if i could afford both i would have the insurance as well but at this time i only have the wellness plan.

[tlauw]

ah thank you so much, this has been very helpful!

[Jennieliz14]

Originally Posted by yorkie2luv

I posted this on another thread asking the same questions. This site offers a comparative review.

Pet Insurance Review

Bingo, just what I was looking for, but was too lazy to do a super thorough search! Thanks!

[cpuff35]

Thanks this has been really helpful. I called Banfield and enrolled my yorkie on their Wellness Plan. I wish I knew about it earlier...since I've already spent close to $500 on vet bills for all her vaccines shots, exams, etc. In any case, I still need to have her spayed, so the cost of that through my local vet would've been around $230 and plus she needs her rabies shot. So I guess for Banfield with the yearly fee of $25.95 (plus 1x membership fee of $69.98), the total for the year would be of $381.38. The following year, I will only have to pay $311.40.

[Javathon]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. This has been the most infomational thread I have come across for some time (Keep in mind I'm pretty new, so some time could mean couple hours or days). I have been freaking out about pet insurance for a while and my furbaby will some be here. In 11 days but who counting. I went over to check our new petsupermarket and started asking question about Banfield. They seemed to be exactly what I wanted I didn't even know I did. All the pet insurance was exactly that pet insurance I hadn't found "pet wellness" which is what I wanted to help with the vaccines. Here they charge $99 as the one time fee, then $263 for the year. Keep in mind this is the puppy version. Which also includes neutering and unlimited visits to the vet.

[Goose2112]

For the poster wondering about Petplan and NY...it was because we slowly launched in some states (I work for them). You can expect to see us in NY this summer, probably this or next month.