Dutch Shepherd Forum

Have a question - do you guys have pet insurance for your dog?

Any and all comments wanted. I'm on the fence about it for Odin.

I've thought about getting it before and looked into rates, in the end we decided it would be easier to just have an emergency fund set aside.

ZodiacT wrote:I've thought about getting it before and looked into rates, in the end we decided it would be easier to just have an emergency fund set aside.

That's a good idea....those rates get to be a bit pricey.

I never had pet insurance before, but when Xena came flying, crashing and careening into our lives, we reconsidered. I now have her and Thor on Petplan. It is about 300.00 per year (each) with a 500.00 deductible. and it covers 100% of vet costs, 80% of specialists up to 12,000.00.

It will cover them for life if I maintain coverage....

For 10 years none of my pets went to the vet (except for rabies). Then all of a sudden, my smallest siamese eats the foam rubber off of my cello stand and had to have surgery (twice). Other siamese stopped eating, but it turned out to be an upset tummy (400.00 worth of x-rays later) My DSH cat had a mystery illness and was in intensive care for a week ($$$$) My old dog grew a tumor in his ear practically overnight and had it removed (800.00+) <sigh> You just never know.

We opted not to insure Sugar and figured putting the money aside would be just as well (we really don't put the money aside tho...).

When she broke her leg, it was $3500 when it was all said and done. Wish we had insurance for that, but whatcha gonna do.

My understanding is the insurance goes up as they age, so see if you can find out. Plus how much is the deductable? What does insurance cover or not cover?

I think the answer lies in how much of a gambler are you.

Good golly Molly!! My vet friends would surely love to be practicing in your areas with those costs. That is outrageous! But like you say, whatch gonna do?

Thank goodness a very close friend is also my vet so I exchange helping out on emergencies, etc, so my vetting is freeeeee!!

GSDNanny wrote:

Thank goodness a very close friend is also my vet so I exchange helping out on emergencies, etc, so my vetting is freeeeee!!

Nice! Bartering is the best!

I've had Embrace pet insurance for a few years, and have no complaints. I use CareCredit to pay the vet, and use the insurance reimbursment to pay off CareCredit. CareCredit has alot of promotions with 0% interest for 2-12 months too, so I don't have to worry much about getting slapped with interest (unless I don't pay it off in the interest free time), and they have no annual fee. I also don't have to worry about having a large sum of cash up front in case of emergencies. There's nothing like knowing I've got several thousand dollars at the drop of a hat if I ever need it. Typical reimbursment time is about 2-3 weeks, and they're very friendly, professional , and caring people. Embrace also covers alot that others do not, and their payouts are substantial.

thanks all for your input. Am now checking out insurance and will check out Embrace and Petplan.

At one point I had one of my horses insured but I never had any of my dogs insured. Its so hard to say if It its worth it or not. Of course if something happens youll be glad you did, but If your okay for years youll be sad you spent that money. Its a toss up. I wish I had Dog bed insurance though.

Dutchringgirl wrote: I wish I had Dog bed insurance though.