The Importance of Pet Insurance

[maltese manica]

All the insurance companies for pet here in Canada really are bad. They dont even give you a discount on two dogs. I sell insurance for a living and believe in it, but not when they are so ambigious. I have been told to be aware from my vet about trupanion. there was an article about how they were really bad to this one guy. My vet also told me they gave hassles to the other clients he deals with. There is a plan called pet assure only available in the states. Theydo not care if your dog has pre exisiting conditions, they give you a card and you present it to the vet and thye give you a certain discount off the price of the medication,etc;........ looks pretty good but here in Ontario there is none of them I felt right with.

[piratelover]

When we first got our two dogs, we thought we would play it safe and have insurance on them even though everyone thought we were crazy. This was about 10 years ago. We paid about $30 a month for it. After a year we dropped it. It was not worth it to us. We figured it up and ended up losing money on it. Even though our younger dog got hurt and had to have xrays. You would have thought that it would have paid in this instance and for him it did, but over all we lost money between the two.

[Just A Girl]

I would loooove to get health insurance for my dogs. Unfortunately, I can't get my husband on board with it. He thinks it's unneccessary. Ugh! We had a miniature poodle/shih tzu mix that passed away 5 years ago at the age of 12. He had something going on, but all of his bloodwork was negative. The vet recommended an exploratory CT scan, which would have cost around $1700, & still might not be conclusive. At the time his troubles started, our little Trooper was around 10 yrs old & hubby just was not willing to spend the money, & I wasn't working at the time, so I wasn't bringing in any income. I hate it when I think back on all of it. And it makes me so mad that he STILL refuses to get insurance!
Did anyone else here successfully persuade their spouse to see the practicality of it? Because even after that, mine still doesn't. SMH! And with Cupcake being a mill dog, it's a chance I don't want to take. Especially because her legs are so bowed from being in a crate her whole life. I'm sure she'll have joint issues in her future
And not to mention, my mini schnauzer is almost 13, & Daisy is a BYB dog, so who knows what problems she may encounter...and off topic, I was in Petco the other day & they had all these different breed books, & I'm more convinced than ever that Daisy is a bichon mix. And I'm not sure anymore that she's even part maltese. I'll never know! But I still love her to bits, of course!

[Lynzodolly]

I have only paid one petplan payment and Albert became diagnosed with IMHA disease his treatment so far has cost almost £4000 pounds and he is covered with it all !!! I am so so great full to petplan right now !!...

[Furbabies mom]

Originally Posted by Lynzodolly

I have only paid one petplan payment and Albert became diagnosed with IMHA disease his treatment so far has cost almost £4000 pounds and he is covered with it all !!! I am so so great full to petplan right now !!...

I am so glad to have it too!

[Zoe's Mom88]

Originally Posted by Furbabies mom

I am so glad to have it too!

Me too! It seemed to be the best and most simple plan.

[Harley & Dakotas Mum]

I also want to encourage anyone who doesn’t yet have insurance to GET IT!

I have just paid $6,800 for Dakota’s slipped disc – we still have a follow up appointment with the surgeon to come, so I’m expecting the total cost to hit $7,000. Slipped discs can happen at any time, they can happen to a dog just sitting there minding their own business – they don’t even have to be running or jumping for this to happen.

I applied on Monday for insurance – Dakotas back wont be covered obviously, however, in 18 months time, I am able to have her checked over by the Dr who originally treated her, and then apply for a waiver. If my application for the waiver is approved, they will remove the ‘pre-existing condition’ from her policy.

I also need to get Harley covered before he turns 9 in April. He will then be given lifetime cover.

They also have a 6 month waiting period to be covered for crucial ligaments – but I can also have them checked over by our vet & apply to have that waiver removed from their policies – which I plan to do as they are almost due for their yearly check up anyway.

The insurance cost for both will be just under $80 per month, I co-pay 20% and have a $100 deductible for any claims. There is no way I could cover another $7,000 incident, and I am just so glad I was able to cover it this time!!

[Mindy's Mom]

Thanks for posting, I will do research and choose one tonight.

[Cyndilou]

We also got put Ace on petplan within a month of getting him. We choose the $100 deductible with 90 percent rembursment. It is $21 and some change a month. Well worth my piece of mind.

[StevieB]

I have Petplan, the same plan as Nida. Thankfully I have never had to use it. It was less than $200 for the year (it's about time for me to renew, not sure if it will go up or not). It's very important to sign up asap, BEFORE your dog is diagnosed with anything that could indicate a pre-existing condition. I know April had an issue with that. I think the peace of mind is so important. If anything ever happened and Steve racked up a huge vet bill, I would have a very difficult time with my husband about it (he's the breadwinner, and Steve is pretty much MY dog :-). I know we'd end up paying for whatever he needed, but it would be tough, and not to mention would put a huge financial strain on our family. So for me, $200/year is a small price to pay so I never have to have that discussion!