My female Cav, Sasha supposedly has IVDD so I am investigating insurance for my male Basil. Does anyone have experience with obtaining insurance from ASPCA in the US? I am looking at the level 4 plan which includes an annual dental cleaning. It is $94 per month. The sample policy states that hereditary, genetic and congenital disorders are not covered. In 2010 I spent $1800 on vet bills. Year to date I've spent $1,475. The annual premium for Basil would be $1,128. I'm just trying to figure out it obtaining insurance makes sense. Any advice about how to go about making this decision would be greatly appreciated!
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Obtaining Insurance
- Thread starter DSB Cavs
- Start date
Reptigirl
Well-known member
Just in my experience the plans that cover routine vet care are WAY over priced... I'm paying $35- $40 a month to have 90% of my Cavalier vet bills covered and $0 deductible. BUT it excludes office visits fees & routine work... I know with what my vet charges me I figured I pay about $200 a year per dog on "routine" care at her office. Sometimes even less. My vets office visits run between $29 & $39 depending on the reason I'm there. Most other things have been covered by there insurance... but that is just me I know different vets charge different fees. I also buy my flea & tick & heartworm preventions online at a much cheaper fee. The insurance I have covers genetic conditions such as SM & MVD. If it doesn't cover those conditions I wouldn't even consider it. My insurance has reimbursed us over $8,000 in the last year for 3 dogs.
I think it's really a crap shoot as to whether or not you'll pay more premium than you will ever collect OR if you'll have a huge claim and will recover far more than you've paid in premiums.
I've had multiple pets for 30 years, and I'd never insured them. But I enrolled my 8 year old in PetPlan two years ago (let it lapse a few months because I was so angry about the high % premium increase but then picked it back up again before his MRI which was done for research purposes) and I enrolled my rescue girl (3-4 yrs old?) as soon as I adopted her off the street. Thus far I've paid premium for a couple of years and made ZERO claims. The only preexisting condition for both dogs is mild luxated patella - neither will ever require surgery. Their coverage does not cover routine and I only purchased it for catastrophic - esp. as I move into my older years where my disposable income will become less. So I'm paying the premium on top of my regular vet bills - routine blood chemistry, yearly dentals, etc.
Every month I think I should drop insurance when I think about what I could do with that premium money.........but I keep paying it because of fear. I have spent over $5,000 in a short time on a past dog for cancer treatment, and I've had a couple of teenaged dogs need short term hospitalization for kidney failure and spent a couple thousand on each of those. I just don't want to have to face a decision of putting my dog down because I'm not able to hospitalize him/her. Such a frustrating subject - I've paid homeowner's insurance for 30 years - probably $30,000 in premiums - and I've never made a claim there either.
Pat
I've had multiple pets for 30 years, and I'd never insured them. But I enrolled my 8 year old in PetPlan two years ago (let it lapse a few months because I was so angry about the high % premium increase but then picked it back up again before his MRI which was done for research purposes) and I enrolled my rescue girl (3-4 yrs old?) as soon as I adopted her off the street. Thus far I've paid premium for a couple of years and made ZERO claims. The only preexisting condition for both dogs is mild luxated patella - neither will ever require surgery. Their coverage does not cover routine and I only purchased it for catastrophic - esp. as I move into my older years where my disposable income will become less. So I'm paying the premium on top of my regular vet bills - routine blood chemistry, yearly dentals, etc.
Every month I think I should drop insurance when I think about what I could do with that premium money.........but I keep paying it because of fear. I have spent over $5,000 in a short time on a past dog for cancer treatment, and I've had a couple of teenaged dogs need short term hospitalization for kidney failure and spent a couple thousand on each of those. I just don't want to have to face a decision of putting my dog down because I'm not able to hospitalize him/her. Such a frustrating subject - I've paid homeowner's insurance for 30 years - probably $30,000 in premiums - and I've never made a claim there either.
Pat
Often I feel like I should just send my premium $ directly to one of you and save the middleman!!!
Pat
Actually, check out the sticky at the top of this forum called "insurance" and read that post. There is a link to a good article by a vet comparing insurance companies. The websites often are very good and not easily revealing the "gotchas" so I wouldn't rely on just the insurance company websites.
Pat
Pat
I live in CA and just ran across this information regarding Trupanion and huge premium increases. Go to the end. There are a few people that responded to the thread in the last few weeks that stated their premiums increased dramatically.
http://www.petinsurancepro.com/trupanion-pet-insurance-review/
http://www.petinsurancepro.com/trupanion-pet-insurance-review/
Blondiemonster
Well-known member
I have embrace. They r pretty wonderful too. Also cover genetic stuff.