Pet Insurance Question

[Holg3107]

This has come up in our house recently and I'm wondering what peoples input/experience has been with pet insurance. We have a 12 week old lab pup and are trying to decide wether or not to get insurance. We are leaning that way so I would like peoples input on insurance companies and if you think its worthwhile. Doesn't seem like its been discussed much on HW.

[Curly]

Stilly just mentioned pet insurance in another thread:

pet insurance is becoming less of a novelty these days and more of damn good idea. I have used "trupanion" and they are awesome. definitely changed the way I used to look at pet insurance.

I looked into it years ago and never thought it would be worthwhile.  Sounds like maybe it is now........

[Stilly bay]

its like any insurance just another bill wheneverything is ok, and a life saver when the chit hits the fan.

a couple years back we got a complimentary three months of trupanion pet insurance when we took a new pup in for his first vet exam at a new to us clinic. two weeks later we had a major emergency and trupanion refunded us 80% of a $600 dollar bill. it was no hassle for reimbursement and that was just from a promotional sign up. IMO its a good thing to have and Trupanion is a good place to get it from.

[Holg3107]

Yea Curly, Stillys quote it what got me thinking about starting a thread on it.

Thanks Stilly, I will check out trupanion.

[Happy Gilmore]

Just had one of my puppy buyers stop in for a visit. (got to play with a great little puppy today) He said he'd signed up for insurance when he took her home 5 weeks ago. A week later pup got some bad water on his farm and got giarrdia....$600 later he didn't have to pay the bill. I've never had it but, I don't think it's a bad deal. I know a lot of folks who've started buying it.

[Special T]

So how much does it cost a month? year?

I kinda look at it like extended warrenties on your TV and such. They don't offer those to save YOU money!

I would say if you can't afford the $600 you probably can't afford the dog. The only thing that i would say the real benefit would be for something like your dog get cancer, tears their ACL or requires some other kind of major surgery.  I think it may prevent you from having to make the hard decision that $X,000 is too much money for me to spend on my dog with marginal results expected.  What is the Cap on expenses?

[Stilly bay]

I kinda look at it like extended warrenties on your TV and such. They don't offer those to save YOU money!

I would say if you can't afford the $600 you probably can't afford the dog. The only thing that i would say the real benefit would be for something like your dog get cancer, tears their ACL or requires some other kind of major surgery.  I think it may prevent you from having to make the hard decision that $X,000 is too much money for me to spend on my dog with marginal results expected.  What is the Cap on expenses?

its legalized gambling no doubt. and I agree if you can't afford an unexpected vet bill taking a bite out of your bank account you probably have no business taking on the responsibility of a hunting dog that will get banged up frequently. but chances are if you can't afford a random vet bill; you probably can afford the chump change required for pet insurance - usually $20 -30 dollars a month for dog.. thats less than your average bag of dog food.

what if your dog gets hit by a car and needs a major surgery? pet insurance could be the difference between digging a hole in the back yard or someday hunting over your dog again.

[10Key]

We have had pet insurance from day one on our dog. Our thought was that the dog would be in the field quite a bit, upping the odds of an issue(s). It is also great piece of mind knowing that when something comes up, $$$ isn't' the first determining factor whether or not to have a procedure done. In the three years we've had our mutt, we have submitted and been reimbursed for upwards of $4k in vet bills...Yes, we are neurotic

Cost depends, our plan in less than $30/month and has a $250 deductible on each issue. After that, it is all covered, up to the max (something like $20k)

[Stilly bay]

we are RESPONSIBLE AND FORWARD THINKING

there, fixed that for you.

[Cascade_fisher]

We have Trupanion for our dogs.  It is legalized gambling but when the chit hits the fan and I don't have my local vet discount it covers me for those Sunday ER visits.

[KyleMB123]

The only reason any insurance is profitable is because the majority of people pay in more money than they receive in claims.

[Heredoggydoggy]

I never had it on the dogs I had years back, but with vet charges getting so high, I'd get it now, especially with all the hazards a hunting dog gets into in the field.  Barbed Wire, broken glass, sharp metal and rocks, etc.  I must have spent a small fortune having the vet get cheat grass seeds out of my dog's ears, and the antibiotic stuff to stop the ear infections from said seeds.  I always felt that if I got out of the Vet's office for under $100, I was doing good!  And that was 10 years ago...

[YellowDog]

Pet insurance is like any other insurance.  Its insurance.  If you have it and never need to use it it seems like a waste, if you have it and need it it can be a life saver, if you don't have it and need it you or a loved one could be in serious medical and financial duress.

I declined to purchase pet insurance on my female lab nearly 8 years ago and have paid $5,000 TPLO surgery on both back knees to deal with torn ligimants and miniscus plus the pre and post op expenses diagnosing and managing the injuries.  I think that some of the pet insurances provide some payment toward annual exams and vaccinations but am not sure.  Hidsight is 20/20 but I wish I had bought the insurance on my girl.  Most of the time pet insurance wont be needed and it is true that if you have one or maybe two $500-600 vet bills in the life of your pet you're probably doing not too bad and if you can't afford that out of pocket you may not really be able to afford a pet in the first place but the big expenses can really cause a lot of stress and difficulty.   

[Special T]

Don't get me wrong, If you think you need it buy it. I would imagine that hunting dogs have a better "need" for it than other dogs. I'll just use an  example with 10Key's numbers... I was hunting the salt with a buddy of mine and his dog. His dog cut the pad on his foot fairly bad on  oyster shell or glass. To get his dog stitched up cost something like $450. Unfortunately the dog was down for the rest of the season. You only used up about 6 months of your payments... The deductible is where most of the money is "saved" by the insurance company.

[Holg3107]

Good info guys. I will strat pricing out some different plans today. $20-$30 per monthmay be well worth it.