Puppy Insurance

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

I know this has been brought up some but since I'm new to the sight I'd thought I'd ask.
We're considering getting pet insurance on Dexter...we're noticing he's scratching & sneezes alot now after coming in from outside. We think it's possibly allergies & if so then I'm sure the vet may recommend shots.
My question is ....what is the best one to have? How do we go about getting it?Does anyone else have insurance & has it been helpful?
Any suggestions are appreciated from our doodle loving friends =]

Thanks,
Heather & Dexter

[Sally, Echo and Emmi]

Just make sure that you sign up for it and then check out the waiting period BEFORE you take Dexter to the vet. If it is something already in the record at your vets then usually the insurance will say it is previously diagnosed condition and many (if not all) won't cover it. So just make sure you know what is covered. I signed up for pet plan and I think there was a 2 week waiting period. So anything my pup was diagnosed with in that 2 week period would not be covered. I hope that helps!

[Sally, Echo and Emmi]

Someone here did a search and then I searched their top ones and decided on pet plan because they covered hereditary things such as hip dysplasia. Most of them do not cover any hereditary things. I really don't have coverage for well visits as insurance for that is very expensive. I also wanted one where I couple pick my vet. They have different levels depending on what level of deductible you want. I'm going to try to paste what this person that did a lot of research told me;

Sally, I'm soo sorry I didn't reply about the pet insurance several months ago. I had a family emergency and had to leave out of town. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate my comparison chart on my desktop. I'll tell you right now that I think petplan is better for catastrophic insurance and not for routine care. Most insurance for routine care: VPI, ASPCA, etc don't pay out enough to make it worth your while, but if you're worried about putting a hole in your pocket for something major like surgery, cancer, fractures etc, then Petplan is what I recommend because the payouts are higher and you can customize your deductible. Let me know if you have any other questions. Sorry again about the delay

So then I went to the pet plan website and started my research there. I lost my beloved black lab last May due to cancer (she was only 7) and it cost me a fortune so I don't want that to happen again!

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I just looked at gopetplan.com
for under $400 a year, coverage SEEMS great. I did the quote on my zip code, my vets zip code and my daughter in Pittsburgh. A difference between mine and vet is app 75/year and mine & daughters was 150/year. I did email them to find out why and what does it NOT cover besides dental cleaning.
Anyone have input as to what is NOT covered? Are well vet and vaccines covered? Can you keep going to your own vet - no HMO??? How long does it take to get reimbursed? Claim forms? How long is the wait period? I didn't see this on the website. What am I missing
I only thinking of getting it due to my daughters friends just spent over $4000 having knee tendons repaired and with the way Samanta jumps to catch balls, I am worried about her kness and my wallet.

[Ellen aka BeauBeau's Mom]

Adrianne, I have VPI for Beau and love it. It costs $39 per month, because I have the Premium wellcare plan, but the dental paid me back $150 when I had his teeth cleaned, and just about everything else is covered at 80%, after a deductible of $50 for some things. The vaccines are covered, and I figure it is worth it just for the peace of mind.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I emailed Petplan regarding this differences in premium payments depending on the zip code. this is the response i got:

I am not sure what the difference in premium would have been attributed to. I would suggest giving us a call at 866.467.3875 to have us re-run the quotes in order to fully address your query.

At Petplan, we made a conscious decision to exclude routine and preventative care (such as vaccinations or wellness visits) from our policies as we felt that pet owners would merely be "trading dollars" with us. Petplan offers the best coverage available for accidents and illnesses. We do not cover any routine treatment as this is a budgetable expense that would merely inflate your premiums. The companies that do offer coverage for routine care tend to do so at the expense of coverage for the unexpected where it matters most, by creating fee schedules and eliminating or severely restricting coverage for hereditary conditions. More often than not, pet owners end up paying more for their pet’s routine treatment by purchasing the coverage through the insurance company than if they had paid for the treatment out of pocket!

Any condition which first occurred or showed clinical signs before the pet's coverage started or which occurred during the policy waiting period is classed as pre-existing. This would include conditions that have not yet been clearly diagnosed, are currently in remission, are seasonal, or being controlled via prescription medications. Pre-existing conditions are normally excluded from the policy, as the purpose of the coverage is to protect against future conditions, not to pay for conditions that a pet is already suffering from.

I have not called to discuss the differences in premiums yet. I want to do the comparisons between the companies before I speak with anyone. What a decision!

[Lee Seidman]

I signed Lexi up for VPI, Vet Pet Insurance. I have gottet back my full premium during the first 9 months. They have several options, but I have the second from the top plan and have been pleased with their coverage.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

There are several Pet insurances you can purchase, some car insurance companys are now offering it with your car insurance, and some health plans at work are also offering it to employess with pets. Also its best to discuss what plans are better for you with the insurance company and get quotes, but if a health problem is on Vet record insurance will consider it pre existing. These are a few you might want to check out ASPCA, Embrace, Shelter Care, most plans vary and depends on what you want covered, they also explain what is not covered. My brother has a Doberman who will not stop eating everything and anything, the dog is crate trained and you can't take your eyes off of him. Twice now he has had surgery for blocked intestines and his stomach, it has cost my brother to date over 5,000.00. It's a gamble, just like regular insurance, sometimes you might need it and sometimes you may not, sometimes it might just pay to put that money aside, and if you never use it well than you have a nest egg, is up to you what you want to do. I do remember checking things out for Hannah, and most everything was covered for her but that was before she was 6mos. old and age varies with things also, exceptions were the joints in legs, they were covered after 2 years of age if no injury before than, they also had a list of heridatary things for most dogs, Doodles had the least. They also did not cover spaying or nuetering a dog, that was up to you. Most xrays and blood work was also covered, and they had several different plans to choose from and some even covered Vet appointment with their annual shots.

[Debbie and Thomas]

Funny you should ask this. We just signed up for pet insurance last night after reading several blogs about chronic health problems. Hopefully, we will not have to use it much. We got the deluxe plan which is 48.00 per month and cover 5,000 per year for any kind of illness. That seems like a lot right now, our GD is only 6 1/2 mths old, but as they get older the costs can add up. Our last dog, had no vet bills other than his annual check up and shots-then he suddenly became ill at age 11 years 9 months old. The vet bills were huge , but we were trying to save him. After a week in intensive care, we had to let him go and the bills were high. At the time we did not care-we were in too much grief, but when you add it up, man it is really expensive. Some of the plans I looked at only covered certain ilnesses, this one covers anything.

[Ellen]

Heather, here's a website that may help you decide which pet insurance plan is right for your needs -- http://www.petinsurancereview.com/. Click on "Dog Insurance," and the you'll see a chart where you can compare the features and monthly rates of different plans (but I'm not sure if all of the information is up-to-date). As you'll see, some plans include coverage of routine wellcare visits and others focus only on pet emergencies. You also can read about users' experiences with a particular pet insurance plan -- I found these particularly helpful. There are also links to the homepage for the various plans.

And I think that the March or April issue of Whole Dog Journal had an article about pet insurance. I remember seeing something about pet insurance when I thumbed through the journal in a pet store. If you don't subscribe to the journal, I think that you can purchase the article for a fee online.

I'm still researching which plan to get for my doodle, but I've narrowed my options to Pet Plan or Trupanion.

Good luck!

[Kyoko]

I have VIP plan for Charlie as well. After spending thousands of dollars on my 13 year old Chow Chow when he had surgery for Bloat, I chose to get an insurance for her. It took me awhile to recover from paying off the credit card debt from that expence. If I had the insurance for him, I would have recovered the cost even just partly...

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I need help - I did a comparison of petplan and trupanion insurance coverage - the comparison came from trupanion's website. Anyone know if it is true?
petplan raises their rates depending on the age of the dog??
petplan won't pay for ER vets unless it is certified by my vet an emergecy consult (so if she breaks a nail and bleeds or gets a stick stuck in her mouth that I cant get out - these are not emergencies but needs to be seen and not wait)
only pays 70% for specialists & ER vets?
anyone have experience with these kinds of issues?
This is harder than helping my girls choose a college!

http://www.trupanionpetinsurance.com/why_choose_trupanion_pet_healt...

[Lynne B]

I just looked at my petplan policy and they do have a 30% copay for specialist referrals, and for ER visits UNLESS it is a true emergency. I have had two claims and no problems with either one, payment is prompt and the customer service is great. Both times they have reimbursed me for the full amount my vet billed minus deductible and co-pay