Dog Insurance Pros and Cons
Submitted by admin on June 13, 2013 - 1:46pm
Dog insurance is a hot topic these days. Is it necessary or a waste of money? Over on PetGuide.com, we’ve gone over the pros and cons of dog insurance so you can make an informed decision on whether it’s right for you.
You’ve been antagonizing over the decision of whether or not to buy dog insurance. Sure, your puppy may be healthy now, but what about in the future? You can’t predict if your dog will get into an accident or get cancer and require costly treatment. On the other hand, your dog may only require yearly vet visits for many years. So what should you do? Let’s go over a few pros and cons of dog insurance… we hope it will make the decision a bit clearer for you.
Pros:
· There are lots of dog insurance companies to choose from, and all of them offer a variety of policies and coverage. These policies cover all types of vet care, from annual checkups and immunizations, to long-term treatment and rehabilitation.
Cons:
· You have to pay for the vet bill out-of-pocket first. Only after you pay are you able to send in the paid bill to get reimbursed.
To read the rest of the Dog Insurance Pros and Cons article, visit PetGuide.com.
Thanks for the read, I am trying to find a good one in Toronto.
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Cory & Penelope
Ask Celine ... I think she had insurance from Canada
that was a life saver for her with Stella.
We use Petsecure, it's a Canadian Company
Our vet put Tucker on it for free for 3 months and we've just stayed with it. I think we'll keep it for a while "just in case".
Katie & Tucker a.k.a "Porkchop"
My luck
With my luck so far, insurance money could be better spent on better foods [raw] which is cheaper than kibble surprisingly, since when he was young all Brother has cost me is shots and his tail was docked as he had a bad infection....$250. out the door with the correct type gas used and an overnight stay, and meds included. And follow up for stiches removed, included! Love this guy!
Buddy had demodex and it was treated very cheaply, so that's all I've spent on them except shots and flea meds......
But....My nickname is Lucky, so it may not be so for you. This is over a four year period, and I have no way of knowing the future of course.
I do have a loan company I do business and I can get a check pretty fast if anything was beyond my reach, I had insurance and never made a claim, so all my money went to making myself feel like I was doing the right thing.
Also I have a working relationship with two vets and both would treat my dogs with no discussion over payment, but I pay when served and have proven that, so a plan will trump hand wringing your hands if you have a need.
So it's a choice you have to make........
Steve
Mean people still suck
Insurance
Think about your home and auto insurance. They are for catastrophic accidents, right? I think of pet insurance in the same way.
If you have sufficient dollars saved to cover a catastrophic health problem then no need for insurance, if no savings then you may definitely want to consider it.
In my case, when I was married, we could manage those expenses on our joint income/savings without needing insurance. In the 16 years I've had bulldogs I calculated my BIG expenses (surgeries) vs premiums paid on 5 dogs and I would pretty much come out evenly. If it was on 3 of those dogs (Norbert, Ester & Kohl, at this point) I would not have needed any insurance and be far ahead financially speaking without it.
Point is you should be able to afford the "normal" out of pocket annual expenses without insurance and if you don't have a savings of (6 months income + a pet stash) then insurnace may definitely be a good consideration. Especially if you only have 1 dog.
The costs of veterinary care has increased considerably in the past 10 years, with new methods, equipment, etc. and our incomes have not followed suit.
In the future I will likely get insurance on my next puppy, because my income/savings when retired will be limited and a catastropic health cost would be more difficult financially.
Yes I had PetSecure too
Saved my financial bacon. Stella had A LOT of health problems over her life and they never gave me a hard time about refunding vet bills.
I 100% recommend keeping the insurance. You never know.