Is Pet Insurance the answer?
Sunday, February 14th, 2010 at
2:16 am
I have a miniature long-haired 6month old doxie. I’m wondering if I should get pet insurance. I’ve been looking at VPI and TruPanion. What do you think? I would like her to be covered for any back problems and cancer.
Filed under: Pet Insurance
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I had VPI for my dogs when they were young.
The two policies were over $500 a year (for breeds not prone to health issues)
What I found with the insurance was they pay you back what THEY FEEL the procedure was worth. It was really a pitiful amount.
I think its best to just bank the money you would spend on the insurance and use it for a catastrophe if it occurs.
I think insurance is a good idea, I have purina’s insurance for both my chihuahuas. The reason I chose them was because they cover genetic problems, and they pay a percentage of the actual cost (some only pay a set amount for each type of surgery, regardless of how much your vet actually charges you)
Read as many reviews of the companies as you can find. I’ve always heard that these policies are a bad deal, so I’ve never got one. I’ve heard things like they’ll do everything they can to keep from paying – sort of like human health insurance companies, but worse.
Pet insurance is a great idea and very beneficial to people whose pets do not already have lots of preexisting conditions. Since your dog is still a baby, I’ll assume that she is in good health which means that you could definitely benefit from pet insurance in the long run. She’s at that mischievous stage of her life so she could get into trouble, also she has many years ahead of her so who knows if something could happen.
I have Trupanion for my dog and I’d definitely recommend it. Plus, you’d get the lowest rates — they don’t increase your rates due to pet aging so if you sign up while your pet is young, then you get those lower rates for the entire life.
Trupanion covers just about everything except preexisting and hip dysplasia is an optional add-on.
Compared to vpi, I like that they cover 90% of the actual bill and don’t do benefits schedules.
Check out petinsurancereview.com and also trupanion has a good compare chart on their site at
http://www.trupanionpetinsurance.com
Look over all plans very carefully. Some plans won’t cover for genetic diseases. Doxies are prone to back problems, therefore any problems related to her back would not be covered.
yes you should get some ether way all pet owners need some any thing could happen if you love your pet as family member would;t you want to do any thing to help them in any illness
Read the policy carefully. Not all policies cover orthopedic issues or cancers – especially if the breed is prone to them.
You have to realize that insurance is a BUSINESS set up to make money EVEN AFTER paying on policies **&** paying their employees and paying for advertising. The idea is to take in more money than they will pay out — it’s a gamble whether you will ever collect as much as you pay in.
I’ve found it more effective to simply set $30 a month into a savings account to cover any unforeseen veterinary expenses. I have well-bred dogs who were bred from health tested parents. I feed a very high quality diet and my vet bills are negligible. (as an example – Miss Dora is 6.75 years old. I’ve paid about $1500 in vet bills for her in her entire life… had I paid the $30 per month for vet insurance I would have paid $2430 for insurance so far – BUT WAIT – her biggest vet bills were breeding related and the insurance doesn’t even cover those!!!)
Do the math and decide what is best for you.