To Cover the Cat

Pet insurance for me was right up there with pet massages and painted poodle nails in importance. Yet the ever rising cost of pet care may make this no a truly money saving option. Pet insurance is by some estimates going to cost you at least up to two thousand and possibly up to eight thousand over the life time of many pets. Yet there are some pet parents who are going to get a second mortgage to get their pets the latest life saving treatments, and for these folks pet insurance can make sense.

New Treatments that cost a paw and a paw:

Americans are expected to spend eleven billion dollars on pet care. The reason is that procedures designed for Fred are now available to Fido. You can fight you cat’s cancer with chemo or radiation or buy your pug a kidney transplant. If you have problems finding out what is wrong Fluffy you can now benefit of a MRI. All of these advances are costing Vetinary practices a fortune to provide the clients with the latest technological advances. Simply put if you choose to go all out it will cost you more than you could ever imagine.

Still only 3% of Americans actually carry pet insurance but that is up from 1% in 1995 and there are more choices now than ever before. Even employers are getting in on the act and many now offer pet coverage as a benefit option. These pet policies have deductibles, co-pays and caps just like their human policy counterparts and like picking human policies you must pick a policy that fits your budget and situation.

The oldest insurer is Veterinary Pet Insurance. Rates have climbed over 26% annually over the last decade. Many policies exclude breed related problems such as an hip dysplasia. Pet age plays a huge factor in coverage. Most will not cover pets over 9 years in age or charge very high premiums to do so.

Still there are common situations that could end tragically without the coverage. Our pets consume foreign objects all the time. Having to have one object blocking your dog‘s intestine can cost your thousands in surgical expenses. This is a procedure covered by most policies.

If you are seriously consider pet insurance I would talk to the family Veterinarian s. Pet policies like people policies may restrict who you go to in their provider network. I would find out if your family vet accepts pet insurance and what type they accept. I would also ask them to what advanced procedures they offer. If the expensive procedures offered are not something your small town vet can provide than you need not bother with the coverage. The chances your will be able to drive several miles in a pet health crisis to state of the art care are slim. Also if your vet refers more complex issues of chronic illness in pets to local specialist then you need to find out what type of coverage these specialists accept. There are also plans that reimburse you for procedures. These plans just repay you an out of pocket amount. If you have cash on hand for such pet health crisis and can pay out of pocket these plans may make sense .

Lastly, look at other options you may have in case of pet emergencies s and chronic illness. If you have a pet emergency room near your house call and ask if they make payment arrangements. You may be better off in the long run paying off the crisis once it occurs than paying for years for services you may never actually need. Also if you have cash on the local vet emergency clinic may give you a discount on paying the whole bill up front. Don’t discount your local Veterinarian school either. They may offer state of the art or experimental treatments as part of their teaching process at a discounted rate over that of the established Veterinarian specialist. An once of prevention in the case of pet health applies as well. Creating a safe environment for your pet where he is less likely to swallow something harmful or need surgery to stop internal bleeding because he was hit by a car can save you literally thousands. Also parasite prevention and keeping up with vaccinations and taking the veterinarians nutritional advice can ward of a large amount of chronic health conditions in our aging pets.

In the end if I had the funds I would cover my more active younger and adventuresome pets. I have a multi pet house hold and by its vary nature the likely hood of a pet health crisis is multiplied. Most of us have to make hard decisions in regard to our oldest and most beloved pets and decide when we are going to let nature take it course and take our beloved furry charges. It is part of the pet owning process and no coverage in the world prevents us having to make these hard decisions.