Insurance

[Asha]

The Parvo fiasco has led me to this next topic; insurance. I was wondering what type everyone uses, monthly cost, what it covers, and has anyone ever experienced using the insurance for an accident or surgery, any insight into feelings, complaints etc. would be really appreciated.

[johninny]

i did a little research a few months back [ more than a few?] and since then there was some discussion of insurance by others somewhere on the forum, including some people who had great experience with plans paying for some very expensive procedures. [ sorry i do not remember more.]
through the research, consumer reviews, and word-of-mouth, i determined that there were decidedly 3 plans that stood above the others. i will have to find my notes. meanwhile, if i am slow to do so and if you want to move fast, i do remember that Trupanion was one of the best.

[johninny]

i did a little research a few months back [ more than a few?] and since then there was some discussion of insurance by others somewhere on the forum, including some people who had great experience with plans paying for some very expensive procedures. [ sorry i do not remember more.]
through the research, consumer reviews, and word-of-mouth, i determined that there were decidedly 3 plans that stood above the others. i will have to find my notes. meanwhile, if i am slow to do so and if you want to move fast, i do remember that Trupanion was one of the best.

[LyonsFamily]

I did a lot of research on insurance before I took Odin in for x-rays. I was looking for one that would cover hip dysplasia if that ever came up since it's a fairly expensive disease. I got quite a few quotes and decided against it all because cost wise, it just didn't make sense. Just a note, when getting online quotes, nobody has Dutch Shepherds, so I went with malinois since it was the closest thing.

The quotes I got for Odin and Elli, 2 and 3 years old right now were around $90 a month and there was still a $200 deductible per visit. If I wanted no deductible, it shot up to $115 a month for both of them. For only 1 dog it was $86, the second just got a discount. If I paid that for their entire lives, I'd be spending $14000 total on insurance, $7000 each. I've had quite a few dogs in my lifetime and dealt with everything from heartworms, blastmycosis, a protuding eye, hypothyroidism, and routine vacs, spay/neuters, etc. I have a pretty good idea what emergency care costs and how often they pop up and have never exceeded $7000 in a life time. I decided the best bet was to make a separate pet savings account and just put money aside every month for them.

There is care credit available if you run into an unexpected vet emergency and can qualify. It basically works like a credit card, but is available for medical purposes for both human and animals. That's my fall back if I don't have enough in my pet savings, then I'll just pay toward that every month until it's paid off.

One program I do like is Pet Assure. It's not a insurance, but a discount program at participating vets. You get 25% off every service. My quote for both Odin and Elli was $12.42 a month combined.

[Asha]

I like the idea about the savings account. Having that money set aside for them will keep my mind at ease. And, like you said, the care credit card is a good fallback. We looked into that last week while at the vet with my cousin's sick dog, it seems like a pretty fair repayment schedule and interest rate.

[Sugars Mom]

I agree with Stephanie, we decided that paying the monthly premium over the years would likely add up to more then actual medical expenses, if any. Putting the money away for emergencies made more sense to me. Now having said that, we don't actually put the money away...but when Sugar broke her leg, and had a $3500 vet bill after it was all said and done, the vet presented us with a credit option with no interest where the amount can be paid off monthly.

[Kazdog]

I would actually suggest insurance for the first year or two. I had insurance on my two shelter dogs for the first year and got paid out more than I paid in. When got my DS, I thought "He's healthy, I won't do insurance this time." Guess what? He developed severe allergies. I spent a large amount of money on him his first year and I will be paying for immunotherapy for the rest of his life. Not inexpensive.

You really are not out that much paying for a year or two if that's all you do.

[LyonsFamily]

Another point I forgot to mention is to be careful and read the fine print about vaccinations. Nearly every company I looked into required DHLPP +Rabies every year without it ever lapsing. For those of you that don't vaccinate for everything or go every few years or titer like us, your policy may be void when it comes to claim time.

[johninny]

void for completely unrelated stuff?! ''nearly every''....do you remember which ones did not have such requirements?

[LyonsFamily]

void for completely unrelated stuff?! ''nearly every''....do you remember which ones did not have such requirements?

I can't remember all of them. I know a few still covers the dog as long as it wasn't from the disease not vac'd against, but the only one crossing my mind right now is Tesco in the UK. I thought Trupanion was the same as Tesco, but there's a lot of strange wording in the policy on vaccines that could be taken either way, so it'd be best to call and find out. My main disgust was that the others wouldn't cover an unrelated injury with no vacs. I understand if my dog gets Parvo and I didn't vaccinate for Parvo it wouldn't be covered like in Tesco's case, but why would it matter it I vac'd or not if I was filing a claim for something like a snake bite or bloat?

Now that I'm on my computer and not my phone, I'll add to that last post.

There are other small print things too aside from vaccines. Trupanion, for example, requires that every dog get a yearly dental exam and, if the vet recommends it, tooth scaling. How many of us get our dogs teeth scaled every year? How healthy is all of that anesthesia? What vet doesn't try to upsell and "recommend" a full dental? When I worked in the clinic, we were told to recommend yearly dental cleanings as a preventative measure whether the dog needed it or not. This policy is the same with many companies.

A few companies, including Trupanion, also don't cover things such as injuries for fighting, getting hit by a car, hormonal skin conditions, aggressive behavior, etc, if the dog wasn't neutered before turning 1 unless your vet recommends a different age. So, for those of us that prefer to wait to neuter or leave our dogs intact, make sure your vet is on board with your reasons and get documents stating that before dealing with a claim.

Most policies also have fine print about raw diets and repeat injuries from the same activity, so it's very important to cover all of your bases before paying these premiums and later finding out your claim isn't covered.

[TexasMedy]

I agree Lyons Family. I have ever bought insurance for most of the reasons you have outlined.