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Post by maurinsky on Jan 20, 2021 9:53:18 GMT -5
Does anyone have pet insurance for their animals? If so, how do you like it? Does it meet your needs and save you money or is it unnecessary? Would love to hear from people who have it and love it, if possible.
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Post by RobinAnn on Jan 20, 2021 11:01:37 GMT -5
1. You need to get it before your animal has any issues. (Had a cat that I thought would be always at the vet because he got into a $1000 fight after being at my house for one month. When I tried to get insurance, they told me he would have a 100% exclusion for mouth issues. Decided insurance wouldn't be useful if he was prone to fighting and injuries.) Had a dog with ACL issues. There was a 1-year pause on such treatment. So, we had one knee operated on (~4500), got insurance for two years so that she could have the other knee done on month 13. (This was on the advice of my vet.) 2. Never used the insurance for anything but that surgery. 3. Insurance is good if you think your animal will be accident-prone, has genetic issues, or might eat odd objects.
Just my quick thoughts.
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Post by nansel on Jan 20, 2021 11:52:31 GMT -5
I don't, but I have a friend who does and promotes it big time on social media. She fosters cats for my shelter, and is very active. A few years ago PetPlan gave her a "pet parent of the year" award and flew her down to Florida for a huge awards banquet, that's how much of a fan she is!
What I gather from her is that it's valuable as long as, like RobinAnn said, you get it before your pet has any issues, and also if you're likely to take your pet in at first signs of trouble. My friend has an older dog now, and she takes her in for any sign of a lump or bump, and has had multiple biopsies and a couple of surgeries, all covered. I'm more of a "wait and see if it causes trouble" sort of person, and Dh and I wouldn't do chemotherapy for a pet, for example. So I don't know if it would be worth it for us.
Other people I know say that you're better off just saving up the premium amount in an emergency account and using it if you need to. But of course, one accident and that could easily be wiped out.
So I guess it's like any insurance! If your dog ends up with an ongoing condition like allergies and ear infections and the like, it'd totally be worth it. If your dog is generally healthy, then it isn't so much.
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Post by maurinsky on Jan 20, 2021 15:11:38 GMT -5
Thanks for the input! Bubba is a healthy guy who has allergies, we give him a Zyrtec every day. So far he hasn't tried to eat anything weird - Doug's brother has had two labs that have had surgery for eating non-food items (socks and underwear). Bubba hasn't even tried to chew on socks or underwear, but I am already seeing Oscar gravitate towards socks!
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emmjay
Full Member
Posts: 1,734
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Post by emmjay on Jan 20, 2021 15:24:14 GMT -5
I have insurance but I feel like it’s more common in the UK. It seems like everyone has it here. My dog has skin issue that have required surgeries to remove lumps, plus she has anxiety, and she eats things she shouldn’t. I’m also the type of person who will bring her in right away for everything instead of waiting and seeing. So for us, it’s worth it. My parents’ last dog used to eat everything. One time he ate one of my dad’s socks, so he had to have surgery to remove it, and while they were in there they found an entire dish towel!
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Post by shaena on Jan 20, 2021 19:23:37 GMT -5
I have never had it for any of my pets. My daughter got a pure bred Doberman puppy and the breeder suggested it to her.
He had 2 knee replacements, before succumbing to cancer a few months ago. He would not have knee replacements without the insurance, it still cost over $5000.
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Post by RobinAnn on Jan 20, 2021 20:09:12 GMT -5
One of my labs puked something up one evening. Being a "good" dog mom, I looked at it and found out it was a tea-towel that was butter-soaked from covering phyllo dough. I had tossed it in our laundry sink and Decker couldn't resist. I guess I forgot about it until he puked it up 3 or 4 days later. (I know I was lucky.)
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Post by ysolde on Aug 16, 2021 18:23:47 GMT -5
We had Trupanion for our cat since she was a kitten, but the cost kept increasing, even though we never once used it. So now, we are going with Embrace. Much more reasonable, and covers annual exam as well as emergency care and things like cancer, diabetes, etc.
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