pet insurance

I am pondering signing up the new pooch for some emergency medical insurance. I am hearing both the pros and cons of the deal. Some say that if you put the premium amount into a savings account instead of into the insurance you would come out ahead. On the other side of that I know an awful lot of people who have had to dig out the credit card when fido got hit or ate something bad. Any opionions? Any reccommenations for a company?

 

Well that can go one way or the other, we got us a pup 2 months ago, we thought about insurance, but decided not to go with it, sounds good but it adds up and heck put it into a saving, at least there you get interest on the money, with the insurance prem's you get no interest earned.

And what happens if your new dog gets hit by a car say 3 years from now, and does not survive, there goes all the money down the tubes.

My thoughts, don't do it.

 

Insurance can be a really good thing for a pet for some of the reasons mentioned. I would check into common problems that could occur with your dog and see what the costs of those can be compared to the premiums. Also check to see what regular visits costs (shots, exams) and what the insurance will help cover.

As far as eating something they shouldn't, well, either its going to be something simple to take care of, long term (damages caused) or putting the animal to sleep is the most humane route.

If your dog rarely gets outside in the front where it can be hit by a car, then the odds of it happening are very slim. I'm not going to say none, because a lot of dogs hit by a car, motorcyle or even a bicycler are inside pets that have become disoriented when let outside for whatever reason (thunder and storms seem to trigger that effect). If your dog rides with you a lot in your car, the odds of it jumping out at an unopportune time is increased. You may also want to check with your car insurance carrier about medical care for your dog if an wreck occurs while the dog is a passenger. Some insurance carriers to have provisions for owners of pets, other's don't. This may be a deciding factor in carrying outside insurance soley for pets.

I don't have any recommendations for insurance carriers. Its been awhile since I've checked in to it. I had 2 Catahoulas that I wanted to insure because of some problems the male could run into as an adult dog. However, due to the fact that we moved and the yard was too small to be healthy for them I had no choice but to find a more suitable owner with a better environment for them to live.

Kay

 

I have 3 dogs and I was in the same boat your in. I thought about insurance myself a few years ago. I will say this, the cheaper insurances, the ones that cost like $9.00 a month don't really cover much, i don't think they cover yearly shots, and the things they do cover, the chances of your ever getting are very slim.
The $20.00 a month plans cover alot but thats a lot of money to put out each month. You have to remember this also, if something was to happen to your dog disease wise, most likely it will happen when you dog gets older. If you were to put $20 a month in the bank in 10 years you'll have well over $2,000 and most of those insurance company's only cover up tp 2k.

Don't get me wrong there are a lot of "But what if" that could happen, so there is a lot to think about.

This is another thing to think about and this is the main reason I don't get it. Which is, will your Vet accept your insurance. Most of the vets around here said they don't accept insurance, they told me I have to pay the bill in full and that I can deal with getting my money back from the insurance company on my own. They told me they had to many problems with these insurance companys and they will not deal with them any more. The insurance companys don't want to give up the money and there is to much paper work.

I guess I've been pretty luck because now my dogs are 3 years old and the only thing they had was lime disease and the insurance company wouldn't have covered that. Even if they did after the $50.00 deductable they have on ever thing they cover, it wouldn't have cost them a penny.

I would strongly suggest you read the very, very tiny small print and there is a ton of it with those insurance company's.




Good luck in making your choice. Hopefully your dog will have a long and healthly life.

 

10 years at $20 will actually be $2400 then add in the interest.

 

Good question...
We did have Pet Insurance..for a number of years...and it seemed ok for a while. The premium costs started out OK..even for our 'special' petigree breed, LH Mini Dachs..
...but over some time, the return on 'investment' ...or basically having our medical bills covered by the insurance co., were not as great as before because of the 'deductable' ..and sometimes 'repeat' treatment.
We added up our costs....and determined that our medical costs...almost equalled the premium costs to have the insurance..and payment to many claims submitted, did not amount to enough to keep the plan.
So we nixed it.. and just pay out of pocket....
It may be cost effective with a very young dog...as this plan did have a replacement cost if one 'lost' their pet due to accidental death...
But overall, for us now, anyway....Its just not worth it....