pet insurance (yay or nay)

[Nadia]

I am sure this topic has been brought up many times before but I figured I would bring it up again...LOL

I was thinking that it may be a good idea to get pet insurance.  My husband on the other hand thinks its a waste! I just keep thinking that anything could happen and be a huge financial burden.  I figured that if we have insurance  it can help monetarily in case of an emergency.

I try and say that we have insurance for our kids and ourselves but he says "he's a dog"!

what are your thoughts, suggestions, opinions???

 

thanks a bunch :)

[Leslie and Halas]

I say YAY, YAY, YAY!  Halas has been very healthy, but I did get to use our insurance recently.  He had 4 fatty tumors removed.  Petplan looks at it per incident, so all of the 2013 costs related to lipomas were added up, and then they sent me a reimbursement for everything except my $200 deductible.  Compared to the other surgeries mentioned in this discussion, the total cost wasn't too bad, but it was still nice to get about $450 back.  I got the insurance because I know myself.  And I know that I don't have a practical limit to what I would spend on Halas' medical care if he needed it.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

If you can, start a savings plan. The problem with saving money these days is there is no return on investment.  You can never touch the money until the dog has lived a full life. 

You would have to start the savings with $10,000 and add around $250.00 ( what a young puppy costs per year ) the first year, then $290.00 the second year, $329.00 the third year, etc

If you can't do this, then get insurance today!

Do you ever want to stand at a counter and walk away from your sick dog because you can't pay?

[Bonnie and Kona]

Nadia, I could not imagine needing pet insurance 20 years ago. Vet costs were minimal and we didn't have much money. The cost of all pet care as well as human care has sky rocketed over the years. When I joined this website I got pet insurance for our dog. After several years of not using it I would occasionally debate whether it was a foolish expense. Then Kona got a tumor on his tail. The $1300 for the tumor removal and then tail amputation was reimbursed by Pet Plan minus my dedcutible. I am very grateful we had insurance as we were in the midst of moving and the huge expense that entails. A little fatty tumor on Kona's tail is nothing when you see all the things that can come up in a dog's life. I hope you can convince your husband of this good idea.

[Nadia]

Thank you everyone for all of your GREAT advice.  As soon as he gets home from work I am calling and getting it!!! 

Thanks again everyone.  I am so glad that I have a group to turn to.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

If you decide to go with PetPlan insurance you can save 5% by signing up on line and another 5% by using the promo code "doodle".

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I just went looking at my discussion post on Oscar's intestinal obstruction surgery back in April. I had forgotten some details, the biggest if which was that, even though we have pet insurance, it operates on a reimbursement model. The surgery was quoted as costing from $3000-$6000, and we had to pay the low end of the estimate ($3000) UP FRONT. The surgery costs ended up actually being just over $2200 so the vet hospital reimbursed us (days later with a check) for the over payment. A week after that we received a check from Embrace Insurance for the portion that was covered (in our case, 80% of the total cost). I remember how that initial $3000 was quite a hassle to get together on short notice. I don't know how other pet insurance companies work, but that's how Embrace works. It might be a good idea to have a savings account just for any up front costs you encounter, even if you do have pet insurance.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Yes, this was the case with Amber's emergency room visit and Petplan. We had to submit PAID invoices to Petplan so we had to come up with the total upfront too.

[Deborah Brown]

My vet says it is best for the first year and when the dogs are old.  In between, do without.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Hummmm, I can't even begin to add up all the dogs just on this site who are over a year old and not even 6 or 7 yrs old who have needed extensive Vet treatments and therapy. Interesting comment from your Vet, but maybe your vet has affordable prices for the "in between " years. I know my vet doesn't. Lol

But to answer the posters question, I feel that pet insurance takes so much stress about the financial burden, out of pet ownership. I hope to never use it for anything serious, but at least we know that we will be able to provide the best care needed, regardless of cost. I'd sure like to feel that I would do whatever we needed to do financially if we didn't have insurance, but life is so uncertain, and that may not be doable for everyone at all stages of life. That would be a sad scenario.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jack was 4 years old when he was diagnosed with Atopic Dermatitis - $600 for diagnostic, $800/year for ongoing treatment for life. He was 7 when he was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease- $4000 for diagnostics, thousands for ongoing treatment for life. And he was 8 when he was diagnosed with a ruptured lumbar disc - $2500 for diagnostics, more thousands for treatment, or we could have done the surgery for $7000. I hate to think his expenses are going to get worse, lol.

[Donna Bay & Buzz]

Karen..i totally trust your input here. What pet insurance do you have for jackdoodle?

[Donna Bay & Buzz]

And my goodness...Jack has seen his share of problems. And on this note...hubby just came in from walking Bay and said it looks like she pooped out a dryer sheet...todays the day we get insurance. Decision sealed!