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I'm looking into getting pet insurance for a 4-year old dog I'm about to get. No known health problems at this time with him, but I want to give him the longest, healthiest life possible. My parents have had dogs for decades, but never got pet insurance for them. Fortunately none of our pets have required any expensive surgeries, and any medications my parents have always just payed out of pocket. Their dogs lived to be old (12-15 years on average).
Do you have pet insurance? Do you believe in it, or no?
I have it on both dogs. It is just what it is; insurance. Like human health insurance you never want to use it, but it is there just in case.
One dog is under VIP, the other under Pet Plan. In a month, both dogs will be under Pet Plan.
No. What I would do instead, is get the cost of pet insurance, then pay the amount of those monthly premiums into a savings account. Self-insure. Then if you end up not needing it, all that money is yours later on.
Pet insurance is there to make money for the insurance company.
And you need to see what is covered, as well. The more coverage, the more expensive. You could save up the monthly premium and have almost $1000 in a pet emergency fund each year, collecting interest, instead of paying for a service that you may never need.
I stick with my two vets because they are "old school". They don't automatically treat my dogs with a human level intervention. My old hound lived quite happily for 5 or 6 years after we realized her cruciate tendons in her knee were completely blown out. We didn't do the surgery for many thousands of dollars, and she still went running daily for years afterwards. Not as vigorously, nor as long, but she was a happy camper!
When I went to the vet down the street, I never got out without a bill in the hundred's of dollars. I don't know if I was paying for their boat, or what. Anyway, my two "old school" vets say the same thing - they think everybody is going to have to do the insurance route, because vet care is just becoming too expensive. Since this is coming from vets who care as much about their customers as they do about their animals, AND as much as they care about their WALLET? I listen to them. It isn't just the vet's time we are buying. Xrays are cheap, relatively. Ultrasounds, MRIs, meds - it all costs - and those costs are going up.
I do not have insurance for my dogs. My past dogs were healthy up until they developed cancer and many of those insurances do not cover cancer unless you are paying an expensive rider to cover it. I have money set aside so it is unlikely I would ever find myself it a situation of not being able to pay a vet bill. Had I had insurance I think it would have cost me more then the vets bills have.
1. Be smart about what treatments you agree to for your dogs, they are dogs, not people. I had to treat a dog that I recently adopted for heartworm. The Massachusetts way was about $1500 because x-rays and ultrasounds were involved before and after the treatment. The southern way (I adopted the dog in TN) was only $350. Same medicine but no x-rays or ultrasounds. I lived in MA, so I talked a local small veterinary practice to do it the southern way, but I had to buy the medicine from the TN vet. The medicine was only available in bulk pack and the larger vet hospitals near me (Angell Memorial) refused to sell a small dose of it to my vet.
2. For emergency large vet bills, I have a CareCredit credit card. For vet (and people medical bills too) over $500 (and check that your vet takes this credit card) and confirm this promotion) you have one full year to pay off the bill in full without incurring any interest charges. Make sure though, that you are paying more than the minimum payment required in order to meet this goal.
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