Pet insurance?

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Sno bored

Sno bored

Joined
Jan 2, 2006
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Location
Breckenridge, CO
I have never had my own dog before and my vet said pet insurance is a good idea. My dog is an 11 month old aussie shepard/husky mix. So far he has only been in for PM, shots and getting his nuts chopped.

What thoughts do people have on the subject? Good idea, saved you money? Bad idea, waste of money? Any plans better or worse than others?
 
My ex-wife insisted on it and I thought it was a waste. Had two dogs get bit by the same rattler. $4,500.00 in emergency and vet bills when the dust settled. I seem to recall that the Insurance covered well over half. I was paying 40 bucks a month per dog. so it paid for itself right away.

Still have it on my current dog and I found I don't stress out about taking him with me on trips. Dogs are like kids and always seem to find ways to get hurt.

If you can afford it- do it- the peace of mind is worth it. And I use VPI.
 
I have never had pet insurance for my dogs. I pay the bills when they come in. Once I had just sold a vehicle and was planning to use the money for a vacation but my retriever badly sliced up her paw on a bottle some kids had broken. So the money went for an operation. In her 11 year life, we probably spent just over $3,000 in vet illness and injury bills. At $40/month or $480/year for pet insurance it would be about double the amount we paid.

I guess I am just old fashion (or you may say cheap) when it comes to a sick animal and a big vet bill. Sometimes you just have to say it is wrong to spend $3,000 on a surgery or treatment on a pet. IMO, it is definitely wrong when you will just be extending their painful existence for your benefit or wrong when there are other more important needs.

When Ruby got lung cancer, the vet suggested we begin her on chemo therapy. According to the xrays she already was down to 40% lung function. Of course, the chemo was going to cost thousands of dollars with a very slim (if not zero chance) of any remission and recovery. But I am sure that veterinary industry would make a nice amount of money. Now imagine if you have insurance to cover that expense. Ask yourself if you would be able to say no to the vet. It's not easy when you've had a dog as a part of your family for 10 or 11 years and has grown up with your children. In the end, I decided that we would put her on meds to make her last days as enjoyable as possible and let her enjoy as much love and treats as her body could handle. We also decided that when the time came, we would pay the $260 for the vet to come to the house to put her to sleep rather than the $40 at the clinic. We had 3 more weeks with Ruby, they weren't easy weeks but they were much kinder than what her time would of been had we gone the vet recommended route.

BTW, we have two rescued golden retrievers now ... and a new vet. He's a country vet, so it is a bit of a drive. But he holds the same values and he is a damn good vet.

Sorry for the long post. Just don't want people to assume they have to do what the vet industry promotes for their benefit.
 
TemeculaTim said:
My ex-wife insisted on it and I thought it was a waste. Had two dogs get bit by the same rattler. $4,500.00 in emergency and vet bills when the dust settled. I seem to recall that the Insurance covered well over half. I was paying 40 bucks a month per dog. so it paid for itself right away.

Still have it on my current dog and I found I don't stress out about taking him with me on trips. Dogs are like kids and always seem to find ways to get hurt.

If you can afford it- do it- the peace of mind is worth it. And I use VPI.
Click to expand...

I've been looking at VPI and may go with them. In your case it looks like it was a smart move.
 
I do not have pet insurance for any of my animals. I do however realize that I need to set a limit for what I am willing to pay to get them better. Sometimes you have to look into what the insurance will cover. In some cases you can have insurance, but it only covers accidental things like swallowing coins or things like that. Everyday stuff it will not cover.

It is hard to place a price tag on your pets life, I know that. We have 2 dogs that if we reached the monetary limit, I would say put them down, but one.....he's my partner's boy.....if anything happened to him I don't know if there is a limit high enough to keep him going.
 
The best benefit is that it covers annual shots and vaccinations, thus practically paying for itself, emergencies aside. Perhaps someone can remind me if it covers euth and cremation. I know for a fact that paying for a dead dog really flipping sux: it's the last thing you want to deal with after nothing else has gone right.

My best buddy has pet insurance on all the critters in her house, and it literally makes a difference whether the family can afford to take them in for treatment or not. The best benefit is that it covers annual shots and vaccinations, thus practically paying for itself, emergencies aside.

I'll prolly get insurance on my next young dog: current rescues were mature when they moved in, even the random 'toe in door' + 'tree ripped his flank' + 'snake-shot by @-hole while in fenced yard' bills are still no higher than $500, ea.

My first dobergirl tho, wish they'd had insurance when she hit the ground years ago. $1300 obstruction, and something major, tho cheaper, each year until she passed, about 500-800/yr x 6 short years. All at a time when paying the vet bill meant eating beans n rice and selling plasma. Glad those days are done.
 
make sure you get one that DOES cover annual shots etc though. Some don't.......you have to read all the fine print. Make sure you research really well when you decide on one to go with.
 
I don't have it nor researched it as a friend is a Vet.

My lab tore her ACL in the left knee 2 years ago and her right 10 days ago. Surgery to repair was last Tuesday and here are the pictures of the surgery if you have the stomach to view them. Welcome to Facebook

Shane
 
Pet insurance is a business. They are running the numbers and know that they will make more money then they will pay out. It isn't much different than going to the casino. The casino always wins most of the time. If your insurance coverage pays routine shots and visits, you can be sure you are paying for it with higher premiums. Most packages have a low maximum annual pay-out, that would not cover much when you start looking at complex surgery, hospital time and drugs required for a major trauma or illness. If the insurance companies can't make a lot more money than they pay out, then they won't offer insurance. After all, they have to pay their own staff, overhead and their investors.

So yes, some pet owners will benefit greatly from pet insurance. However, most people will not realize a financial benefit over what they would pay during the life of their pet without insurance.
 
AATLAS1X said:
I don't have it nor researched it as a friend is a Vet.

My lab tore her ACL in the left knee 2 years ago and her right 10 days ago. Surgery to repair was last Tuesday and here are the pictures of the surgery if you have the stomach to view them. Welcome to Facebook

Shane
Click to expand...

How much does ACL surgery cost?
 
AATLAS1X said:
I don't have it nor researched it as a friend is a Vet.

My lab tore her ACL in the left knee 2 years ago and her right 10 days ago. Surgery to repair was last Tuesday and here are the pictures of the surgery if you have the stomach to view them. Welcome to Facebook

Shane
Click to expand...

wow....hard to look away, but made me want to vomit just a little bit......
 
A little update

Having fought with an insurance company the last 6 months over my own health claim, I am sure the issue around pet insurance is just an insurance industry wide thing. Most of them will try to do whatever they can to wear you down so they don't pay what you have paid years to be covered for. :mad:

Pet insurance ordeal riles dog owner - British Columbia - CBC News
 
I recently talked to one of my old roomates, he has two bernise mountain dogs. One of them has had 3 ACL surgeries $1200 each for two of them and $2500 the other one. That's $5000 and the dog is only about 3-4 years old. I'm glad my dog is smaller and healthier.
 
Warms my heart to hear when anyone gets some $ back from these $ vampires. But being insurance companies, if they see ACLs becoming a big issue with a certain breed, then they will either remove it from the policy or charge a lot more to have it covered.

I have also talked to my vet about ACL issues because GR also have that issue. His opinion is that it is easily preventable by keeping your dog skinny and fit. ACLs often go when we expect our lethargic and over weight dogs to all of a sudden leap in the air or spring across a cobble stone river bed.
 
canucksafari said:
Pet insurance is a business. They are running the numbers and know that they will make more money then they will pay out. It isn't much different than going to the casino. The casino always wins most of the time. If your insurance coverage pays routine shots and visits, you can be sure you are paying for it with higher premiums. Most packages have a low maximum annual pay-out, that would not cover much when you start looking at complex surgery, hospital time and drugs required for a major trauma or illness. If the insurance companies can't make a lot more money than they pay out, then they won't offer insurance. After all, they have to pay their own staff, overhead and their investors.

So yes, some pet owners will benefit greatly from pet insurance. However, most people will not realize a financial benefit over what they would pay during the life of their pet without insurance.
Click to expand...

x2, IMO, you don't insure against the inevitable, you're going to pay the cost one way or the other.:frown: You're basically prepaying for vet bill that you may or may not incur.:hhmm: You're better off to put $40/mo away, if you need it, it's there, if you don't you've built up a nice nest egg..:meh:
 
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