Pet Insurance?

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I know this has been discussed before, but I'd like to bring it up again. I got 1 month free when I adopted Jack and of course they are trying to get me to continue the coverage after that.

There are two plans I would consider. The first is the Indoor Cat plan that covers Accidents and Illness. Somewhat limited coverage with various deductibles depending on the accident or illness being covered. All for $9.95/month and I would qualify for a 5% discount because he has a 24petwatch microchip.

The other plan covers head to tail, so it covers more illnesses with 70% reimbursable (means I cover 30% of the costs) of most illnesses. Also covers accidents. $15.75/month and again I would qualify for the 5% discount.

I know this is a personal decision sort of thing, but I'd like to hear from those who have insurance, those who don't, those who have it and have never used it and those who don't have it who wished they would have had it because something happened.

Neither Tubby nor Peanut were ever covered. Tubby was never sick a day in his life until he was diagnosed as being in the early stages of kidney disease at 15 1/2. Actually, he very rarely went to the vet until he was 15 1/2, so even though he cost me a ton of money at the end, I think I was still ahead because he cost me so little throughout his life - same with Peanut so far.

Jack, on the other hand, I'm not so sure about.....so I was thinking of getting this, even if I only keep it for a year until I know for sure that he's a real healthy cat.

So, opinions?

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

We don't have an insurance for our pets. We've always thought that this wasn't necessary. The cats go outside, but only in our garden? Maya can jump over the fence, but she almost never does. What exactly does a pet insurance cover?

[micki76]

Debbie, I'll tell you what worked for us.

When Chester was a pup, we started a savings account and took the monthly premiums and put it in that account each month. This worked best for us, we kept our money, but still had "insurance" that we could afford any medical situations that came up. This has proved to be invaluable. We also deposited any extra cash that we could come up with from each pay period. Over time we were also able to increase the money amount that we deposited, as we paid off other bills, got raises, etc.

Now we have a nice savings account that we've used several times for Chester (the girls are healthy as horses). We've had bladder stone surgery, allergy testing done 3 times, and several middle of the night emergency vet visits. We had no worries about paying for these emergency situations. Now, this wouldn't have helped us much in the beginning of Chester's life, as there wasn't much money in the account. But over the next four years or so until we had to use it, we had built up quite a bit of an emergency fund. His bladder surgery was well over $1000, and the overnight stays have been $400+ each time.

[smokey the elder]

Ah, a pet medical savings account! What a neat idea. Too bad you can't do it before taxes.

[Puppy_Love4]

I am thinking about getting pet insurance for my dog's but i don't want t he kind where it only covers half
I want it to cover everything from getting shots to god for bid they get sick and have to have some kinda surgrey...

[wolflady]

Debbie, for as cheap as it is for indoor cats per month, I would go ahead and do it for a while just for piece of mind. You can cancel it at any time, right?
Do you know if you could cover more than one animal with insurance? I have thought about it, especially with my 4 and 2 of them are getting older, plus Marius has that heart murmur that will have to continue to be evaluated every 6 months (which costs a pretty penny each time, I might add! *sigh*).

I would say go with your instinct. If you're a little concerned about Jack, even a little bit, I would go ahead with the insurance...at least for some time until you feel more comfortable with this health.
**hugs**
Karen

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Thanks everybody. Micki, I've always done it your way - just made sure I had the money set aside and I've always believed that was the best way to do it becaue that way I get the interest on the account (no matter how measly) instead of the insurance company raking it in on me.

However, I've been leaning towards Karen's way of thinking for now. I called the vet about Jack because for two days now he has had "good poop" and I was wondering what his thoughts were on removing the tooth. He said to wait until the poop situation is stabilized - 2 days is not enough - so removing the tooth is put off for a week or two. Anyway, just hearing the undecision in the vet's voice is making me lean towards getting the insurance for now, and then dropping it later....but I'm still not sure. Good thing I've got 30 days to figure this out.

Karen, they do have a multi-pet family discount. I didn't look into what it was because it was 3 or more and I only have two. Their website is http://www.sheltercare.com if you want to check it out. Their website was good and pretty much self-explanatory. I know there are other insurers out there also, so you might want to do a Google to find other companies to get comparison quotes.

Oh, and Peanut would be $29.95/month - which I won't be paying.

[chocolatepuppy]

I don't have insurance on any of my furkids, but probably would have made out like a bandit if I had it on my dogs! Mandy has a bad heart and we paid $1326. for a trip to a vet in Cleveland and two trips to OSU. These three trips occured within 8 months. We just spent $900. on Laceys leg surgery this past fall, luckily the vet charged us nothing for her second surgery as he felt he didn't do a good enough job. Lacey also had a 'hormone' problem that cost me a weeks pay once!
We luckily have a vet that since we have four furkids and of course are no stranger to the vet will take payments or post dated checks or whatever they can do to help us. The trips to the 'big' hospitals for Mandy we had no choice but to put on our credit cards.
I have considered pet insurance, don't know if I'll ever get it though.