Pet insurance

[Calandra]

Hi All,

What is your take on pet insurance? My upcoming cav will be my first dog, and I'm aware of their special medical issues that may surface some years from now. Do most of you have pet insurance? Do you think it's necessary/ helpful? Any insight will be appreciated!

[Karen and Ruby]

GET IT GET IT GET IT!!!!<

Make sure you get lifetime cover and not these 1 year waste of money and time policies!

It is THE most important thing you will be able to do for your puppy!!

I don't think anyone should be getting a Cavalier with out Insurance - these problems are so expensive to treat!

[Calandra]

GET IT GET IT GET IT!!!!<

Make sure you get lifetime cover and not these 1 year waste of money and time policies!

It is THE most important thing you will be able to do for your puppy!!

I don't think anyone should be getting a Cavalier with out Insurance - these problems are so expensive to treat!

Thanks for your reply! I was told to look at the AKC insurance, but that there are others out there. If you or anyone has recommendations of pet insurance companies to look at, I'd appreciate it.

[Reptigirl]

I would not own a Cavalier without having it enrolled in pet insurance! Health care is SO expensive! We have spent well over $10,000 in 18 months with 3 Cavaliers.

I'm not sure of your location but if you are in USA I know Pet Plan & Trupanion are good companies. You NEED to make sure they cover genetic & inherited conditions. Also make sure you have a reasonable yearly limit. (I'm with Trupanion and they have NO lifetime limit and NO limit per condition.) I would be VERY skeptical of polices that have a "limit" per condition.

Just using one of my SM dogs as an example. We paid $2500 for an MRI, $83 a month for medication and if we decide on surgery that could be another $3,000. That's not counting all the follow up visits with specialists where just the office visit is $100.

My other Cavalier has a heart condition that requires her to be checked out every 3 months. The check up alone runs $300 plus we spent over $3,000 getting it diagnosed. This doesn't even count all of our emergency room visits.

I have Trupanion for my Cavaliers and have been very happy overall. We pay around $40 a month for each Cavalier and it has REALLY been a life savor for us.

While not all cavaliers will need the insurance as a puppy/young dog some do. One of my cavaliers was diagnosed with CM causing him sever pain at only 6 months old and has been on medication since. The trickiest thing about pet insurance is they don't cover "pre existing" conditions so that is why the smartest thing you can do is enroll them as a pup. You never know when something is going to come up!

Here is a good site for comparison: http://www.petinsurancereview.com/

[denali]

I would get it.

I didn't have it for my previous cav and i regretted it. He had a skin condition that costed us hundreds, and then there were the accidents.
Like the scratch on his eye, another few hundred, he got kennel cough somehow, another few hundred and the lst goes on!

I must say i do have it now, and have not yet had to claim anything on it. Fingers crossed it stays that way!
But Kokoda is only 7 months old.....
I am currenlty covered for routine care as well, so I can claim all his checkups etc.
They also pay a bit for council registration, desexing, teeth cleaning, nail cutting etc. But I just cut his nails and i brush his teeth myself

Just have a look around to find the one you like. I visited our vets and gathered a variety of brochures.
I ended up choosing one that supported our RSPCA as well as providing one of the best insurance options

[LJW]

I agree about getting lifetime cover. If you're in the UK, I use Petplan.

[dandelos]

Thanks for your reply! I was told to look at the AKC insurance, but that there are others out there. If you or anyone has recommendations of pet insurance companies to look at, I'd appreciate it.

Some additional info/links here.

It came down to Trupanion vs PetPlan for Skippy (we ended up getting PetPlan). AKC was nowhere near consideration as they were extremely costly in comparison. As you compare plans, make sure you look at the fine print concerning hereditary issues as well as eye coverage. We heed and hawed for the longest time about whether or not to get insurance for Skippy, after we eventually got him enrolled+covered, the peace of mind was amazing.

[Calandra]

Thank you all for your feedback. I will get insurance based on what you've all said and will start researching some of the companies mentioned. I'm in the US (in GA).