Pet insurance?

[Jackiemohro]

I looked into insurance when he was about 8. Super expansive so we decided not too. I calculated when he stays healthy for a few years, I can use this money for whatever happens. I also suggest to create your personal „cat fund“ instead of opting for insurance. For us so far it worked so far even though we had a few more vet bills since last year.

[Mightyqueen801]

I haven't, Kara, but I did do a "Care Club" program through the vet/animal hospital that I use, which is a national chain. (Not sure it's OK to say it here, as I don't want to appear to be promoting, but if you are interesting, DM me.)

For a price that could be paid in a lump sum or monthly payments over a year, I got a year of care that included all the recommended exams, blood tests, vaccines, teeth cleaning, plus no charge for the visit if he got sick. Of course, if he needed treatment outside of that, I would have to pay, but as I said, the office visit was less.

It was around $1500 for the year, and it would have been around $2000 if I did all those things and didn't have that plan.

I chose to do it because he is up in years. During the year he also had a few other exams that weren't covered by the plan (such as an echocardiogram when they thought they detected a heart issue, and an abdominal scan when he inexplicably had a rapid weight loss), which cost me money, but in the end, he turned out to be pretty health for an old guy.

I didn't renew it right away because he'd been looked at up, down, and sideways. Not sure if I will in the future at this point. Anyway, it might be an option that your vet offers.

[ChevySpoons]

Originally Posted by Rene S

My advice to you is to READ THE FINE PRINT first. Many policies exclude a number things, down to specific cancers. Know what you're paying for.

Originally Posted by Lola4

... Read the fine print of the ones you are considering. That should answer all your questions.

And a third admonition to read the fine print. My ex-wife and I were considering pet health policies--until we saw what the bottom line was, and what was excluded, in the fine print.

Basically, our cats would be covered for the most tragic of consequences: cancer, being run over by a car (all of ours were indoor cats, meaning they'd never be out where a car could run them over), broken bones, sewing up scars from a fight, heart attacks, euthanasia (but only under certain circumstances) and so on. What was specifically not covered, were everyday ordinary things: an annual vet checkup, rabies shots, dental health, and pretty much everything else.

We'd be paying for insurance coverage that our cats would never use, and that would cost us more annually that our cats would use in regular checkups (which the insurance didn't pay for anyway), plus any ordinary treatment they might need. We decided to just pay the vet when our cats needed care, and it always worked out to be less that we'd pay in premiums to a pet insurance company.