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Pet Insurance - Please advise

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

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Anybody really looked into pet insurance? Or have you bought it?

Thoughts on it's value to both your bank account, and your mental status?

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments and posts. :mrgreen:
 
Dragonfly said:
Anybody really looked into pet insurance? Or have you bought it?

Thoughts on it's value to both your bank account, and your mental status?

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments and posts. :mrgreen:
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No and I wouldn't either. I can't imagine it's cost effective and I've had some pretty significant vet bills in the last year with aging dogs.
 
When I was a veterinary assistant back in the early 90s it was not worth it. I don't know about nowadays.
 
One thing to keep in mind: most pet insurance plans require you to pay the full bill and then they reimburse you.
 
I've looked into it in the past and it just wasn't worth it. The number of high vet bills I've had simply doesn't warrant it. I think I've only had 3 high bills, things over $1000, in the past 25 years. I just pay things out of pocket.
 
Dragonfly said:
Anybody really looked into pet insurance? Or have you bought it?

Thoughts on it's value to both your bank account, and your mental status?

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments and posts. :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

What kind of pet insurance? Health, accident, damages?
 
Dragonfly said:
Anybody really looked into pet insurance? Or have you bought it?

Thoughts on it's value to both your bank account, and your mental status?

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments and posts. :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Pet health care is damn near the cost of people care. There's a lot of plans available. But like human health insurance the price varies depending on the coverage...like say "chronic illness coverage".

The ASPCA has their own insurance plans....

https://www.aspcapetinsurance.com/research-and-compare/pet-insurance-basics/whats-covered/

But I think Progressive and few other major insurance companies do offer pet insurance.
 
Dragonfly said:
Anybody really looked into pet insurance? Or have you bought it?

Thoughts on it's value to both your bank account, and your mental status?

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments and posts. :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

We considered it. If I told you how much money my wife and I have spent...currently have a cat undergoing chemo for stage 4 lymphoma (remission!!!).
Anyway, read the fine print. They cap, exempt, and deductible the policies we looked at into worthlessness. None of the big ticket bills we've had would have been covered even 20-30%.
 
Dragonfly said:
Anybody really looked into pet insurance? Or have you bought it?

Thoughts on it's value to both your bank account, and your mental status?

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments and posts. :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Ask your vet. I have heard some people say it is wonderful and some say it is worthless. I get mutts. When they go they go. I cannot imagine it being worth it unless you have some expensive registered animal with known defects bred into them.
 
Unless you're going to go to extraordinary means - as you would with a human - to keep the animal alive it doesn't seem worth it. And even then most policies I looked out didn't cover the whole bill.

I love my pets but when it's time it's time. I'm not going to spend thousands on keeping an old at the end of his lifespan alive.
 
Dragonfly said:
Anybody really looked into pet insurance? Or have you bought it?

Thoughts on it's value to both your bank account, and your mental status?

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments and posts. :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Pet insurance is great for vets and, MAYBE, great for people who can afford it. It's great for vets because they can raise their prices. May be great for pet owners because, if their pet has a catastrophic accident or illness, they will perhaps save some money.

It's horrible for pets because vet prices will raise, and those who can't afford insurance will end up putting dogs to sleep or, even worse, letting them suffer an agonizing death. Our local vet charges $400 to euthanize a dog. More if you don't want to take its body home to bury it in your yard. Disgraceful. And the cause of much suffering.
 
Dragonfly said:
Anybody really looked into pet insurance? Or have you bought it?

Thoughts on it's value to both your bank account, and your mental status?

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments and posts. :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Oh, I think you'll find a problem finding any plan by any company that covers "pre-existing diseases, etc".
 
Gaius46 said:
Unless you're going to go to extraordinary means - as you would with a human - to keep the animal alive it doesn't seem worth it. And even then most policies I looked out didn't cover the whole bill.

I love my pets but when it's time it's time. I'm not going to spend thousands on keeping an old at the end of his lifespan alive.
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This is me. And besides, I don't think extending their life is fair to the pet. I think it's selfish because it's the whim of the person. (Most cases, there are always outliers.)


MaggieD said:
Pet insurance is great for vets and, MAYBE, great for people who can afford it. It's great for vets because they can raise their prices. May be great for pet owners because, if their pet has a catastrophic accident or illness, they will perhaps save some money.

It's horrible for pets because vet prices will raise, and those who can't afford insurance will end up putting dogs to sleep or, even worse, letting them suffer an agonizing death. Our local vet charges $400 to euthanize a dog. More if you don't want to take its body home to bury it in your yard. Disgraceful. And the cause of much suffering.
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We paid $150-$200 a few years ago. That included them dealing with the body. (I needed to be there for him, but I didn't want a spot to be "There he is." for the rest of my life.)

Which is kind of strange, considering normally getting out my vet's door for less than $100 for the most minor thing is a major victory.
 
MaggieD said:
Pet insurance is great for vets and, MAYBE, great for people who can afford it. It's great for vets because they can raise their prices. May be great for pet owners because, if their pet has a catastrophic accident or illness, they will perhaps save some money.

It's horrible for pets because vet prices will raise, and those who can't afford insurance will end up putting dogs to sleep or, even worse, letting them suffer an agonizing death. Our local vet charges $400 to euthanize a dog. More if you don't want to take its body home to bury it in your yard. Disgraceful. And the cause of much suffering.
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You can't legally bury a pet in the yard in my town. They must be buried either in the one local pet cemetery or cremated at the same cemetery. And if you want a private cremation so you can get your pet's ashes back that costs even more.
I just did that with one of my dogs. $525 when all was said and done.
 
Gaius46 said:
You can't legally bury a pet in the yard in my town. They must be buried either in the one local pet cemetery or cremated at the same cemetery. And if you want a private cremation so you can get your pet's ashes back that costs even more.
I just did that with one of my dogs. $525 when all was said and done.
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Legally... ;)
 
MaggieD said:
Pet insurance is great for vets and, MAYBE, great for people who can afford it. It's great for vets because they can raise their prices. May be great for pet owners because, if their pet has a catastrophic accident or illness, they will perhaps save some money.

It's horrible for pets because vet prices will raise, and those who can't afford insurance will end up putting dogs to sleep or, even worse, letting them suffer an agonizing death. Our local vet charges $400 to euthanize a dog. More if you don't want to take its body home to bury it in your yard. Disgraceful. And the cause of much suffering.
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Wow, Maggie. My Vet came to my home and euthanized my Maltese dog of 15 years. She only charged 150.00. I had my dog cremated. It was another 100.00. I know, it sounds crazy cremating a dog or some other pet, but that's what my dog's last wishes were. Oh, along with his teddy bear that he had to have with him everywhere we went since he was a little puppy. ;)
 
Removable Mind said:
Wow, Maggie. My Vet came to my home and euthanized my Maltese dog of 15 years. She only charged 150.00. I had my dog cremated. It was another 100.00. I know, it sounds crazy cremating a dog or some other pet, but that's what my dog's last wishes were. Oh, along with his teddy bear that he had to have with him everywhere we went since he was a little puppy. ;)
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We had a cat put down and cremated for a total of 90.00 last summer. There was no charge for euthanizing. That vet wasn't the best, but imo they handle that part correctly.
 
Porkuloss said:
We had a cat put down and cremated for a total of 90.00 last summer. There was no charge for euthanizing. That vet wasn't the best, but imo they handle that part correctly.
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That's pretty inexpensive. That's pretty incredible that you didn't have to pay for the euthanization.

My dog's vet had been his doc since he was like 2 or 3. My dog was at home in his bed when she euthanized him. I was glad that we could do it at our home. So I thought her fee was reasonable. I had to take him to a pet crematorium about 25 miles away. It's on a lake in a sem-rural area. They were nice folks. The urn we picked was only like 20.00 in addition to the cremation, which as I said earlier was 100.00.

But I haven't gotten another dog. Don't think I can go through that again. Too fricking sad. It's like losing a kid.
 
Gaius46 said:
You can't legally bury a pet in the yard in my town. They must be buried either in the one local pet cemetery or cremated at the same cemetery. And if you want a private cremation so you can get your pet's ashes back that costs even more.
I just did that with one of my dogs. $525 when all was said and done.
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Really!! Bury the dog and move on. It amazing how many people ask how high when the government says jump.....

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk
 
Removable Mind said:
That's pretty inexpensive. That's pretty incredible that you didn't have to pay for the euthanization.

My dog's vet had been his doc since he was like 2 or 3. My dog was at home in his bed when she euthanized him. I was glad that we could do it at our home. So I thought her fee was reasonable. I had to take him to a pet crematorium about 25 miles away. It's on a lake in a sem-rural area. They were nice folks. The urn we picked was only like 20.00 in addition to the cremation, which as I said earlier was 100.00.

But I haven't gotten another dog. Don't think I can go through that again. Too fricking sad. It's like losing a kid.
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I agree. That's the first pet I've personally taken to have euthanized. I raised that one from a 10 week old, so yeah, painful.

I had no pets between childhood and when my wife and I got married. She took the previous 2 that went herself and I never saw the bill.
 
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