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Is Pet Insurance Right For You? Pet Insurance 101

MonaLisa81

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I have Trupanion for 5 of my pets - 2 dogs and 3 cats. They are hands down the BEST! They pay 90% back to me, sometimes to the hospital directly so I don't even need to come up with the full amount, no limits on payouts, and have already paid over $10k on my pets in less than 3 years. I feel safe using them, love the support, and love knowing I can provide my pets with the best veterinary care and not have to worry about making rent too.
 

MonaLisa81

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I will obtain insurance if my cat's health starts failing.

Right now, she is very healthy and only requires a vet visit once a year if that.

Insurance does not cover per-exisiting conditions; it's best (and cheaper!) to sign up your pets when they are healthy, that way when something does go wrong, they can pay for it. It's like car insurance, they wont pay for the accident today if you sign up tomorrow.
 

MonaLisa81

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For the record my dog is still alive. & Banfield hasn't got anymore of my money.
Scam.........

Banfield is a joke, they're a chain of veterinary hospitals - it's like a Sizzler but veterinary hospitals! They are run by a corporation, and want to make money. Go to a smaller, compassionate, veterinary office by you - you will love it I am sure.
 

Mrs.G

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Insurance does not cover per-exisiting conditions; it's best (and cheaper!) to sign up your pets when they are healthy, that way when something does go wrong, they can pay for it. It's like car insurance, they wont pay for the accident today if you sign up tomorrow.

Actually, PetPlan does cover chronic, hereditary and congenital health issues in felines.
http://www.gopetplan.ca/cat-insurance
 

TrulySpeaking

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We had pet insurance for our big dog until he turned 10. It was getting really expensive and we were never eligible for anything with a deductible of $300 and him never getting sick. He is a rescued dog so they restricted us from anything involving anxiety as they said it was a pre-existing condition, which is not fair.

We had it for the big stuff that are relevant to his breed. Cancer, broken legs, surgery, major stuff. We didn't have coverage for small things. We were paying about $72/month when we finally cancelled due to not being able to afford it. At age 10 we also knew if he did get something like Cancer we were not going to put him through that treatment. He is lab/great dane and expected to live 10-12 years. He is in great health and 11 years old and I think he will outlive the expectations for sure. Just hoping he can avoid cancer, because my last dog died of cancer and it was horrible.

I think if you have a pure bred dog from a breeder and they are young, insurance might be worth it for big stuff that tends to be expensive, but really shop around and find a good plan with a low deductible that is easy to work with and read the fine print about exclusions!
 

KarenKing

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just stumbled upon this thread. i have some experience with Pet Insurance (PetPlan).

Had a small yellow lab mix for 5 years from 9 weeks old (he was a christmas present from my mom). Well last October he fell ill for a few weeks and eventually had seizures. Took him to an emergency vet and then to his regular one. Both told me he probably had neurological damage and he was later diagnosed with kidney failure. the prognosis wasn't good at all so i decided to put him to sleep. i had the Bronze plan with PetPlan with a $200 deductible and 80% coinsurance (20% responsibility). the vet bills totaled around $1100 and i got reimbursed back $550. PetPlan is one of the good pet insurance companies. The only "hassle" to getting reimbursed was i had to get ALL of his vet records from at least the past 2 years for claim submission but if your vet has those then you're good. You need to get the Doctor's notes for EACH visit so you need to make sure they keep those records.
 

FleurChild

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just stumbled upon this thread. i have some experience with Pet Insurance (PetPlan).

Had a small yellow lab mix for 5 years from 9 weeks old (he was a christmas present from my mom). Well last October he fell ill for a few weeks and eventually had seizures. Took him to an emergency vet and then to his regular one. Both told me he probably had neurological damage and he was later diagnosed with kidney failure. the prognosis wasn't good at all so i decided to put him to sleep. i had the Bronze plan with PetPlan with a $200 deductible and 80% coinsurance (20% responsibility). the vet bills totaled around $1100 and i got reimbursed back $550. PetPlan is one of the good pet insurance companies. The only "hassle" to getting reimbursed was i had to get ALL of his vet records from at least the past 2 years for claim submission but if your vet has those then you're good. You need to get the Doctor's notes for EACH visit so you need to make sure they keep those records.

Thank you! I am going with Petplan!
 

CHEEZITQUEEN

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just stumbled upon this thread. i have some experience with Pet Insurance (PetPlan).

Had a small yellow lab mix for 5 years from 9 weeks old (he was a christmas present from my mom). Well last October he fell ill for a few weeks and eventually had seizures. Took him to an emergency vet and then to his regular one. Both told me he probably had neurological damage and he was later diagnosed with kidney failure. the prognosis wasn't good at all so i decided to put him to sleep. i had the Bronze plan with PetPlan with a $200 deductible and 80% coinsurance (20% responsibility). the vet bills totaled around $1100 and i got reimbursed back $550. PetPlan is one of the good pet insurance companies. The only "hassle" to getting reimbursed was i had to get ALL of his vet records from at least the past 2 years for claim submission but if your vet has those then you're good. You need to get the Doctor's notes for EACH visit so you need to make sure they keep those records.

Thank you! I am going with Petplan!

I can't believe I started this 7 years ago almost. WOW!!!

And PetPlan and HealthyPaws have been getting high ratings since I posted this in 2010, and still today. I just have to make calls tomorrow to see which is the better choice for my puppy. And from reviewing both new updated ratings, they both offer 90% (PP has 3 levels, 70, 80 and 90%) reimbursement.

This is the last thing I need to do for my puppy apart from deciding on taking him for his first vet visit to either Banfield or a regular free standing vet. I would prefer that latter.
 

simo Hayer

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I can't believe I started this 7 years ago almost. WOW!!!

And PetPlan and HealthyPaws have been getting high ratings since I posted this in 2010, and still today. I just have to make calls tomorrow to see which is the better choice for my puppy. And from reviewing both new updated ratings, they both offer 90% (PP has 3 levels, 70, 80 and 90%) reimbursement.

This is the last thing I need to do for my puppy apart from deciding on taking him for his first vet visit to either Banfield or a regular free standing vet. I would prefer that latter.

I just joined Healthy paws...250 deductible...90%return
 

SimbaLuver

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I got my cat pet insurance in 2015 when he became ill. It was a great idea. I should have gotten it a long time ago but I didn't know it was worth it.
 
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Musique et Vin

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I got insurance for my cat, and thankfully so. It turns out he has severe respiratory issues and the insurance covered most of the vet bill.
 

Mz. Judgement

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Is it worth it getting insurance for a brand new kitten? With my cat I received a free trial of pet insurance but I see from the list that was posted the reviews aren't good.
 

KarenKing

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Is it worth it getting insurance for a brand new kitten? With my cat I received a free trial of pet insurance but I see from the list that was posted the reviews aren't good.

the younger, the better. Some insurance doesn't kick until a exclusion period or whatever. i think for like accidents and stuff.
 

ThereSheGoes

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Glad I found this thread. My husband and I just bought a dog. There’s a lot of great information in here.
 

MrsTresvant

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I wish my children would!

Vets are hard up for money so most basic treatments are already low cost...like human health insurance, you always overpay for sh!t you'll never use!
 

Bad Eleanor

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Excellent thread. Wish I had read it earlier. I went with Trupanion so we'll see how it goes.
 

Bad Eleanor

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Are you still with Trupanion? If so how do you like it?
So far I haven't had to use it. I have a young cat, and he has only needed routine blood tests and check ups which are not covered by Trupanion. (The blood test was because I was worried because that he wasn't eating enough but it turns out he just hates most wet food.)
 
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I have Embrace.

I will say if you have a new puppy, book your appt with your local vet as soon as you can and have them provide documents to them. If your pup has any preexisting conditions they will not cover it.

My vet submitted the documents directly to them and I received my confirmation to be reimbursed almost immediately.
 

UniquelyGemini

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Thinking about well a chihuahua is being given to me. “Toy” one so I guess a runt. I haven’t met her yet but she’s very small. I was researching the breed and pet insurance. Apparently this small breed could possibly have health issues due to them being so small and vets find it hard to treat them. I also read they may likely need to go to the vet often for checkups. What would you all suggest? I was hoping pet insurance would be like health insurance and cover
Wellness visits or help with medications if needed. But I see it’s mostly me paying out and then filing claim for reimbursement which I don’t really like.
 

NakdScorpio

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I have trupanion. I love it for my two cats. My sister hated it for her 3 dogs.

Unfortunately they don't cover preexisting conditions. One of my cats has gingivitis - totally forgot about it - so that was my biggest out of pocket expense. However they covered her other illness.
 

HakeemsHeaux

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I have Trupanion for my cat. I decided to get it about a month after I adopted her last year and never thought I'd use it but kept it just in case. Well fast forward to this week when I woke up and found two piles of her vomit on the floor and her unresponsive in her bed. Rushed her to the ER and $2K later found out that she'd accidentally ingested laundry detergent and it had made her terribly ill (she is doing better and is back to her energetic self). Submitted my invoice and got a message the next day approving my claim. Very glad I decided to get her a policy!
 

FleurChild

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My dog has Nationwide pet insurance through my job. They. just partnered with walmart pharmacy for pet medication. Thank God, cause her vet. was killing my pockets every month.
 

trulyluv

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My dog has Nationwide pet insurance through my job. They. just partnered with walmart pharmacy for pet medication. Thank God, cause her vet. was killing my pockets every month.
Has this been a good choice so far? I just signed up with them because of price and what they offer - hoping I made the right decisions for a new puppy.
 

FleurChild

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Has this been a good choice so far? I just signed up with them because of price and what they offer - hoping I made the right decisions for a new puppy.
so far, they haven't paid me any reimbursement because of the deductible and all the stuff they excluded because my dog is 14+. It may be good for a puppy, but I won't be putting adding my kittens. I still would have to pay out of pocket, they only offer reimbursements.
 

trulyluv

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so far, they haven't paid me any reimbursement because of the deductible and all the stuff they excluded because my dog is 14+. It may be good for a puppy, but I won't be putting adding my kittens. I still would have to pay out of pocket, they only offer reimbursements.
Good to know. Thank you.
 

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