Pet insurance

[jazzy]

I honestly had never heard of it until about a week ago. Growing up I lived out on a farm where animals (sad to say) were replacable. Smokey died? Grab a new one out of the field. Lucky had to be put down? Get another from the shelter.

Now I have my babe who means the world to me. I don't take his life lightly.

Do you have pet insurance? Why or why not? How much do you pay? Where through? Any comments, discussions?

[doggy lover]

Tucker has insurance through Vetinsurance (www.vetinsurance.com) I pay $50 per month I put a claim in the other day for ear drops and received a reply by email saying he was covered the same day and then the cheque will be in with in a few days. Tucker has not been a sick dog so only the odd claim for antibiotics, ear or eye drops. But they are fast with their claim, check out their website for more info.

[Macomom]

I have pet insurance on my two large breed dogs as well.
I saw too many friends dogs go through EXPENSIVE hip and knee surgeries as well as a cat who was diabetic and on insulin for years.
My thoughts are: how committed am I to long term pet care? If something happens, how can I afford it, and for how long?

[chico2]

I take my chances with my 3 cats,it would be too expensive with all of them.
The Insurance I looked in to does not cover regular maintenance like teeth-cleaning etc...and one of mine have a pre-exsisting condition,not covered.

[sugarcatmom]

There's a great site here that compares the different policies and has customer reviews: http://www.petinsurancereview.com/

You definitely want to read the small print. As chico2 pointed out, pre-existing conditions aren't covered, and some insurance companies try to find a way to link every other ailment back to that pre-existing condition so that those aren't covered either. But there are some good policies out there, and if I were to get a new pet some day, it would be something I'd seriously consider (after having spent 10s of thousands of dollars over the years on 2 cats ).

[mafiaprincess]

Some companies won't cover some problems with some breeds.. Like won't touch anything that could relate to hip dysplasia on all GSDs, etc.

Pet insurance companies exist to make money, not to help the consumer out. I've known more than one person who has had coverage for a good amount of time, put in claims and had the company pay out way less than what the policy should have, or not at all.

You still need the cash on hand in most cases to pay the vet, and only then do you get reimbursed so you are at their mercy. Fighting them never seems to go well.

I prefer savings accounts. Putting in so much monthly for the sole use of non-regular vet bills.