Is pet insurance worth it?

Pet insurance is good for unexpected accidents and illnesses. They can get expensive quickly, so it's nice to have insurance to cover the costs. Pet insurance does not cover pre-existing conditions, so if your pet is already sick or injured, it is unlikely that pet insurance will cover the costs to treat it.

For other costs like regular exams and vaccines, it's best to self-budget since these costs are expected. Some pet insurance companies offer coverage, but it is typically not cost-effective. (Imagine paying an extra $200 per year on your premiums for $200 worth of routine coverage...)

A few good questions to ask when researching pet insurance are:

1. Does the policy cover everything? Hereditary and congenital issues?

2. What are the payout limits? Will it be enough money for my worst case scenario?

3. How much does it cover for each condition?

4. What are the pricing and deductible options?

5. Is it an ongoing policy? If my pet has an illness during my first policy year, will it be covered the next policy year?

Be sure to do thorough research - Some plans don't pay based on your actual bill, but have lists of predetermined dollar amounts that they will pay for each condition which can be shockingly low in many cases. I would recommend getting an actual insurance plan that covers based on your bill so that you are never faced with a difficult and expensive situation when you *thought* you were covered.

We cover 90% of the actual bill for diagnostic testing, treatments, surgeries and medications including emergency and specialist visits. Trupanion is also the only provider to offer a $0 deductible option.

Feel free to give customer service a call and get a no-obligation quote to ask all the necessary questions and find out what's best for you.

It is definitely worth it, we saved thousands on my dogs operation when she damaged her knee at 5months old. Saving up money would be ok, but insurance will probably work out as a better deal.

Most insurance plans work on size of claim I believe, it will also depend on your vet. If its a large sum of money, I expect they will reimburse you rather than paying directly.

Also keep in mind long term conditions such as arthritis will only be covered for the first 'payment' with that condition with most insurers, after that they'll leave you to pay for weekly/monthly medications yourself so it may be worth having a small savings account if your dog may be prone to that sort of thing(its part of breed, physical activity and injuries throughout life).

Check out the basic plans. I did and we have nine dogs and it was not worth it. I wanted a plan to cover their heartworm pills, but, it took more monthly payments to have the heartworm and well check ups included. It just might help for one pet. Just be sure to read the fine lines and make sure it will cover pills and well check ups AND surgeries, if needed.

The heartworm pills are the main expense to us. For nine dogs, it is about $125.00/month. The insurance was about $90.00 a month, so it wasn't worth it to us. And most didn't cover the heartworm pill.

Type in pet insurance on google. Most let you try and design your own according to your specific needs. Your vet also should have some brochures.

Good luck.

I've never looked into pet insurance before cuz we can afford our vet bills. One of my cats got cancer once and I'm sure insurance woulda saved us a ton of money. But one option is to apply for a "Care Credit" credit card. It's a credit card for medical procedures only for humans as well as animals.

Yes it is ... my dog got attacked by another dog and it was covered by our plan. Our rates didn't go up because the other owner admited to the fault

Well you'll get money if something happens to your dog anyway so get it I say!

yes