OT: - Pet insurance | The Boneyard

OT: Pet insurance

John

John

Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Messages
16,051
Reaction Score
19,701
We got a new dog after about 10 years without one. The old dog was somewhat sickly and I remember the vet bills, so definintely intersted in some insurance options. Our vet gave us some brochures to pet insurance companies, and I'm wondering if there's a better one that we should go for? Any small print to look out for? Thanks for the input.

Got brochures for:
Trupanion
Embrace
ASPCA
Nationwide
 
John said:
We got a new dog after about 10 years without one. The old dog was somewhat sickly and I remember the vet bills, so definintely intersted in some insurance options. Our vet gave us some brochures to pet insurance companies, and I'm wondering if there's a better one that we should go for? Any small print to look out for? Thanks for the input.

Got brochures for:
Trupanion
Embrace
ASPCA
Nationwide
Expand ...
Our baby girl (1 year old black lab mix. Rescued just before restrictions went into place) has idiopathic epilepsy. It's not covered because she had a seizure within the two week grace period, but everything else is. My wife ended up getting something through Healthy Paws.
 
We did the pet insurance thing (Nationwide) for 2 new puppies about 18 months ago. About $55/month for each - $110 for both. Bottom line is I don't think it pays for itself, unless your dog needs major surgery. We dropped it. Unlike human health insurance there are no negotiated lower prices. They pay a little of this, a little of that, and you still have substantial out of pocket in addition to monthly charges for insurance when not much is happening.

Better option, if you can afford it, is set up a monthly escrow to pay for dog vet expenses should they occur.
 
.-.
John said:
Our vet gave us some brochures to pet insurance companies, and I'm wondering if there's a better one that we should go for? Any small print to look out for? Thanks for the input.
Expand ...
Pet insurance brochures were handed to you as it's potentially easy dinero for your vet. Alternative: set aside the monthly premium amount in your own account for potential vet charges. Hit a pre-set total target amount you'd feel comfortable spending on Rover's health. Boom, there's your pet insurance.
 
Last edited:
We have a 4 month old puppy and went with HealthyPaws when we brought him home at 8 weeks. We pay $40 per month with a $250 deductible and a 90% reimbursement rate. No cap on payout.
 
John said:
We got a new dog after about 10 years without one. The old dog was somewhat sickly and I remember the vet bills, so definintely intersted in some insurance options. Our vet gave us some brochures to pet insurance companies, and I'm wondering if there's a better one that we should go for? Any small print to look out for? Thanks for the input.

Got brochures for:
Trupanion
Embrace
ASPCA
Nationwide
Expand ...
We had the company that Nationwide bought...forgot the name. They paid a portion of bills that varied based on the issue...including routine care. Our pup had malignant tumors needing a few surgeries at a young age and emergency surgery for a ruptured sleep much later...it was worth it for us.

For our new pup, we opted for a higher deductible plan that doesn't cover routine care, but kicks in for higher amount items like surgeries, cancer treatments, injuries, etc. Went with Pet's Best as felt it was the best combination of price/coverage/deductible. The premiums get substantially higher as the dog ages.
 
Last edited:
.-.
We had MetLife Pet Insurance - PetFirst. We have four cats. Yes, I know that is a lot of cats. But they are small and don't eat much. We dropped it (the insurance not the the cats) eventually. Can't remember why.
 
1610480298089.png
 
We have a 5-year-old dog. My wife got pet insurance for him through her work for the first year. Like others have said, it covered nothing that we incurred (routine and "emergency" visits; vaccinations). It's really for major surgeries, etc.

We dropped it after the first year.
 
HeyMoe said:
We have a 4 month old puppy and went with HealthyPaws when we brought him home at 8 weeks. We pay $40 per month with a $250 deductible and a 90% reimbursement rate. No cap on payout.
Expand ...
I think this why she went with it.
 
.-.
My guy is unfortunately on his way out. Only 8.5 years old and has cancer. We don't have insurance. We took him to the local animal hospital and they gave us a great rundown of expectations and costs. Major surgery (technically two surgeries at the same time) and chemo would get him an extra 12-18 months. We decided not to put him through all of that and just treat him like a king for the few months we have. it was going to cost a lot, but I still think we would've made the same decision if it was covered.

My neighbor is on his second Golden since we've known him. First one had cancer and he said insurance paid for the majority of the treatments, but Stanley only got an extra six months. Rosy is only 5 years old and needs knee surgery. Seems like his insurance will be good for that. Even if it covers the cancer treatments, however, I just don't know that it's a good step to take with an animal that doesn't understand what you are putting it through. My opinion though.
 
Doctor Hoop said:
We did the pet insurance thing (Nationwide) for 2 new puppies about 18 months ago. About $55/month for each - $110 for both. Bottom line is I don't think it pays for itself, unless your dog needs major surgery. We dropped it. Unlike human health insurance there are no negotiated lower prices. They pay a little of this, a little of that, and you still have substantial out of pocket in addition to monthly charges for insurance when not much is happening.

Better option, if you can afford it, is set up a monthly escrow to pay for dog vet expenses should they occur.
Expand ...
That's kind of what insurance is all about. Post/handle?
 
Get a Job said:
That's kind of what insurance is all about. Post/handle?
Expand ...

Not necessarily. For a human, health insurance often covers office visits, vaccinations and other minor stuff. Or, at least part of the cost.

For pets, you are paying out of pocket for all that. Only thing it's good for is catastrophic or dogastrophic costs.
 
Chin Diesel said:
Not necessarily. For a human, health insurance often covers office visits, vaccinations and other minor stuff. Or, at least part of the cost.

For pets, you are paying out of pocket for all that. Only thing it's good for is catastrophic or dogastrophic costs.
Expand ...
Hey oh! Good one! (not sarcatstic)

I get that there may be factors that make pet insurance less valuable than other types. I am simply pointing out that one does not buy insurance to have it pay for itself. In fact, I'd venture to say that most people actively root against their insurance coverage "paying for itself."
 
.-.
Chuck said:
My guy is unfortunately on his way out. Only 8.5 years old and has cancer. We don't have insurance. We took him to the local animal hospital and they gave us a great rundown of expectations and costs. Major surgery (technically two surgeries at the same time) and chemo would get him an extra 12-18 months. We decided not to put him through all of that and just treat him like a king for the few months we have. it was going to cost a lot, but I still think we would've made the same decision if it was covered.

My neighbor is on his second Golden since we've known him. First one had cancer and he said insurance paid for the majority of the treatments, but Stanley only got an extra six months. Rosy is only 5 years old and needs knee surgery. Seems like his insurance will be good for that. Even if it covers the cancer treatments, however, I just don't know that it's a good step to take with an animal that doesn't understand what you are putting it through. My opinion though.
Expand ...

Sorry to hear about your pup. Relish the last few months you have you sound like your pup is lucky to have you and I am sure it's not easy but the best to all of you! :(
 
When my pup (pictured in my avatar) Amber was 6 she had an accident in a dog park. It was a head on collision with a Golden going after a bouncing ball full speed. At the time they both fell, she stayed down an extra second or 2 but got up and kept playing and was perfectly fine until 3 days later she couldn't walk. We took her local they had no clue but were afraid of cancer but had no way of telling. Had to bring her to Tufts in MA to see exactly wha was up and just for that it was going to be over 2K to find out. Then after bringing her there to find out we had good news and of course bad news. Good news is it wasn't cancer bad news was she had a double herniated disc which would not get better without a surgery which would run 5-6K. Of course she was our baby despite not being told it was guaranteed we had to give her the chance at a good life again. Long story short after weeks and weeks of recovery, walking her around all day with a sling etc etc she survived and within 4-5 months was running like a puppy again and lived to over 16 lost her Aug'19.

Ok so in regards to this thread I am unsure of what would've been covered but if you wouldn't make a decision to let your pet live unless you had it, and I get some can't afford it, then why not have some? I can tell you they loved our dog at Tufts and were so damn happy we wanted to go through with the surgery because so many people say no and put them away. It was fun to visit her every night for 2 weeks and be with the people that helped her live and have 10 more years. Do what you can whether it's insurance or whatever to keep these family members alive unless it means they will only be in pain no matter.
 
8893 said:
Same as dental insurance, i.e., useless and rarely cost-effective.
Expand ...

I'd disagree with that. Family of four and I pay like $10/week and haven't seen a bill for cleaning, x-rays or anything else in years.

I will say this. If you have kids who will need braces, that isn't covered by dental insurance. Make sure you opt in for a HSA at work if possible and use that to pay off those costs. For my kids by paying up front, I got a 15% discount on the cost. Used the HSA to pay it off and the money going in to an HSA is pre-tax money.
 
Get a Job said:
That's kind of what insurance is all about. Post/handle?
Expand ...
True, but it's still a cost-benefit calculation, and even with the major surgery you're basically catching up with the previously paid premiums. I believe it's better in pet care to set aside the money yourself if you can. Obviously if you can handle the monthly cost plus what the insurance doesn't cover and don't want to risk a major expenditure, have at it.

We have Brittanys, Bonnie & Clyde. Previously our Brittany Willow got grievously ill at age 10, and the vets both locally and at Angell Memorial in Boston really never gave us a diagnosis. Great compassionate care, just no diagnosis. After 5 figure$ of care without much change we eventually put her down. Didn't have insurance, and we thought with the new Brittany pups we'd get the insurance. (*see below) Doing the calculation, though, we saw that we were paying $1300 annually for insurance and we still had substantial out-of-pocket via deductibles plus what wasn't covered by the insurance. The gamble is that your pet won't need such a thing more than once.

*So ... we got the two Brittanys in September 2019, 8 weeks old. Wife was walking them on the driveway about a week after they arrived, planned to but hadn't bought the pet insurance yet. They're weaving all over the place, and she accidentally steps on Clyde's leg. Doh!! Four pins (also 5 figure$) later and he's now doing great. Decide on the pet insurance as soon as you commit to the pet, and don't procrastinate. Our 1 week delay was costly.
 
Last edited:
Nothing worse than when a dog needs an $8,000 surgery and you don't have insurance (been there). We got a puppy at the beginning of COVID and got a policy through PetPlan. I've liked it so far. They let you customize your policy, so we went with the lowest deductible of $250, with 80% of eligible bills reimbursable. Paid the annual premium in full (around $270) and he's covered up to $5,000 for the year. Already hit the deductible and it has saved us a ton. Totally worth getting.
 
I have watched enough Dr. Pol episodes that I am ready to be the ultimate DIY dog owner.

I am so ready to lance an abscess it ain't funny. Splinting a leg. No problem. Pulling out quills. Ready.
 
.-.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,522
Messages
4,580,379
Members
10,490
Latest member
7774Forever


Top Bottom