I’m talking about health insurance for pets. Two weeks ago I adopted two cats from a friend who couldn’t keep them. They’re in good health now, but I worry about what could happen if they got sick in six months or two years. Right now I’m a grad student and there isn’t anything extra to go around, so I don’t know how I’d pay if they got really sick.
Injury isn’t something I’m highly worried about - they’re indoor cats and don’t dash at the door or anything to try to escape.
If you have it, has it been useful? I was looking at petinsurance.com and it seems that I’d be looking at anywhere from $30-45/month at that site, but it’s still not something that I’m sure of the value of. Any advice would be appreciated.
I know some people who have had insurance, not necessarily from that company. For them it always seemed to be if nothing out of the ordinary happened then it wasn’t really worth it. If they got sick or broke something then a lot of times it could literally save the animals life since money was less of an issue. It’s kind of like insurance for us. If nothing goes wrong then we just lose that money. If we get sick then it’s a damn good thing we have it. I generally tell people (as a vet) if you can easily afford it then go for it, because sometimes very expensive things can happen to pets.
For instance we had a woman that adopted a cat. The cat came with a six month insurance policy (mutt cat). Well one day it gets out of the house. It comes home limping very badly the next day. I don’t remember exactly what was wrong with it but it was pretty ugly. Anyway the cat needed surgery and because they had insurance they could afford it. Worked well for them. There are a lot of people who have it that don’t really get much use out of it as well, but you never really know what’s going to happen or who is going to get sick either.
Your mileage may vary and honestly if I wasn’t a vet I don’t know what I’d do. If I had extra cash I would probably go for it, but when I was a student I don’t know that I would have.
Sorry I couldn’t be of more help; this always comes down to what the owner thinnks is best. I would tell you to shop around since there are many different insurers so you can compare prices and plans.
We don’t have insurance, which is really too bad. Our poor little dog got her leg broken when she was little, and had to have surgery (including pins in her leg). Luckily, we could manage to pay for it, but it would have been better if we had had the insurance.
I’ve got a pet wellness plan for both my cats. I don’t think it’s exactly the same as pet insurance, but it’s very similar. One of my cats has herpes, so she tends to get lots of upper-respiratory infections. With the wellness plan, all her office visits, tests, vaccinations and checkups are free and her medication is discounted. (Same is true for the other cat’s plan.)
I’ve got the wellness plan for the other cat because, while he doesn’t exhibit herpes symptoms, he catches everything she has because they groom each other and share pretty much everything. I’ve got two of everything for them, but they still drink out of each other’s water bowls and use each other’s litter boxes. So if she gets sick, so does he.
Anyway, to make a long ramble slightly shorter, I’ve found the wellness plan very useful for both animals, particularly since both of them are illness-prone. Also, it costs less in the long run than their yearly checkups and tests. I think it was 69.99 to join, and 11.95 per month after for a basic wellness plan, which includes two full yearly check-ups, one of which includes blood tests, fecal & urine tests, FHIV and leukemia tests, etc., etc., plus free office visits if they get sick and discounted medication. I got it through Banfield Veternary Services, which, I believe, is affiliated with PETsMART.
I have pet insurance for my dog. He lives with my mother since he can’t live with me at the moment. And, well, although she got attached and said I can’t have him back I still call him my dog. So my mother pays for his insurance now, I stopped paying for things when she said I couldn’t have him back. My mother also has insurance for her cat.
We’ve found it very useful. Even though my mother is a vet (though not practising, teaching) his bills are still very large. I mean, even without having to pay for a vet, most drugs, and pretty much all of the commonly required ones are dosed by body weight. And my dog is a Dobermann who weighs more than I do. And often he has to go to a regular vet, like once he needed some surgery and my mother didn’t have the right equipment at her work.
Also, Bronson’s (that’s my dog’s name) policy covers things like worming, vaccinations and other preventatives. And it’s worth it in that, even without paying a vet, it covers drugs, vaccinations, x-ray films and other things my mother is likely to use on him.
So I’d have to say it’s probably well worth it for those that can afford it, they way I figure it is that if she has already reduced costs for the pets by being a vet herself and paying cost price from bulk shipments of equipment and drugs, and still finds insurance worthwhile, it’s probably a good thing for those that pay full price.
There’s probably little point in me trying to advise on the value of the price, my mother’s pet insurance is part of her household insurance policy, and besides that, it’s in Aussie dollars.
When I saw the title of this thread, I thought, “Who would have a pet insurance policy? How would you scratch it behind the ears or take it for a walk? Would you feed it little premium treats when it does tricks? Does it leave little deductibles all over the floor before it’s housebroken?”