Pet insurance for dog and cat

[Anonymous]

Uncomplicated animals. Never had pet insurance in the past but both are now about eight years old and looking ahead I am wondering if it is worth the investment. What do you use for insurance and how much is it? I did a casual online form for Trucompanion and it came out to $500 a month for both pets!

[Anonymous]

That seems high, we use http://www.petsbest.com/

[Anonymous]

We use manypets, the basic option covers surgery etc and cost $20 something monthly.

[Anonymous]

We paid years and years of premiums. I wish we had just "self insured"

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t do this.
Choose a premium you like, and set that aside every month on your own.

That would help level set pet medical that does come up..

[Anonymous]

We have Natiinwide pet insurance through my employer. I think it’s around $49 deducted from each paycheck. For us it has been worth it. Most recently our dog needed a trip to the emergency vet that resulted in a $1,100 bill that we got around 80% reimbursed back to us.

[Anonymous]

We have Figo through Costco. The price was reasonable, but I have a young dog.

[Anonymous]

Trupanion is great and will work directly with most vets so you don't have to deal with reimbursment, but it's expensive. From what I've read of petsbest (reddit this), you'll get a bunch of hassle and denials.

If you're expecting big bills soon, it may be worth it. If you're not going to put your older pets through major surgery/treatments, you're probably better off "self-insuring" and just setting the $500/month aside in savings earmarked for vet bills.

Most insurance won't cover exam fees or well visits, and some don't cover standard preventive care (heartworm meds, flea/tick, etc.). Read the fine print.

[Anonymous]

I got quotes from multiple insurance companies, picked the lowest one, and started putting 75% of that into a "pet account" that is there for me to use for significant pet medical expenses when they come up.

It isn't the same thing as insurance, of course, and is a risky strategy if you can't afford a huge vet bill should it happen. But I have enough savings that I can cover any expense I need to pay for, so this is what makes sense for me.

[Anonymous]

Try Healthypaws, we've had them for almost 12 years. The premiums go up as the pets age but when our animals (2 dogs, one cat) were around the age of yours, our premiums were $125. Of course this was many years ago and costs have increased but our current bill for our 12 year old German shepherd and two new kittens (~6 months) is $187. The deductible for the kittens have grown to $500/yr, it was $250 before for the GSD and our other dog and cat. Since getting insurance, they have covered about $20,000 of surgeries @ 80%.