Pet insurance

Hey there whoever reads this. Ive got a question. Do you happen to have a friendly companion, who might get into a wee bit of mischief?

Well i just so happen to myself. Shes a 7 month old black lab. Got her through a story id care to explain at a later date when she was 8 weeks old. 2 weeks into my puppy experience she was stung on the side of her snooter by a ground wasp. When she was 5 months old she happened to swallow a chicken leg bone. 6 months old she ran into a ice auger while fishing(it was off and laying down under the truck, small cut not humpty dumpty situation).

So i looked into pet insurance. This is interesting due to the fact its a reimbursement policy across the board. Insurers apparently pick over claims and what they will pay for and how much they will pay. So i chose Manypets. Its a monthly payment with a reimbursement of upto 10k, does not to my knowledge cover potential genetic issues, but has a emergency policy.

So my questions to the community is: is this worth it? Is it a racket? Do you insure your pets? What company do you use? Have you run across companies that you would/wouldn't recommend?

Would love input and opinions

a reply to: Gloomyloki43

I don't have info for you, but I think it is worth it. If you have a pure breed dog that you bought for 2 grand or so, get it for them as a puppy. As you know, vet bills are ridiculous. My daughters work actually offers it. I think it runs about 10 bucks a month too.

I have an 11 year old rescue pitbull, and did not get the insurance when she was young. She needed an emergency surgery last year that the vet wanted 3 grand for. A rescue near me did it for 400. The insurance would have been helpful if I had no option but the expensive one.

a reply to: Gloomyloki43

Insurance regulations vary by country and state/province, is this in the US, Canada?

Check your DM, just messaged you

a reply to: Gloomyloki43

Here's a copy of the "ManyPets" health insurance policy: static.manypets.com...

Extracted from: manypets.com...

You are to be complimented on your financial wisdom.

talk to your vet office. they would know if they pay claims or if it is worth buying. i know my dentist said dental insurance was a waste because they do not pay for most expensive procedures. a reply to: Gloomyloki43

a reply to: Gloomyloki43

If you do not have the financial means to handle a few thousand in vet bills at a time, then pet insurance is going to make all of the difference for you. Especially as your puppy reaches its senior years. It could be the difference between your dog getting much needed treatment or needing to be euthanized. It's better to get them insured before there is anything preexisting as well. But if you think that you could pay for the vet bills out of pocket with little trouble, then you do not need pet insurance.

If you need help picking an insurance, post some links to what you are considering, and I will try to help you understand what it would cover. Tag me if you do, so that I know to come and take a look.

One of my senior dogs had a stroke last Saturday, and it's cost me about $5000 so far with the emergency visit, bloodwork, imaging and medication. The good news is that he is pretty much just fine after getting medical care and starting the right medication.

originally posted by: HODOSKE
talk to your vet office. they would know if they pay claims or if it is worth buying. i know my dentist said dental insurance was a waste because they do not pay for most expensive procedures. a reply to: Gloomyloki43

Have spoken with the vet office, however their response was "due to the billing process we cannot recommend one insurance policy over another because of the way it works being reimbursement"

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: Gloomyloki43

Insurance regulations vary by country and state/province, is this in the US, Canada?

Check your DM, just messaged you

I reside in the great state of Wisconsin, and im more than happy to check out new options. Thanks for the interest.

a reply to: Gloomyloki43

Since she is a puppy still, if you are able to start right away by putting $200 or $300 minimum into a savings account every month that is just for vet care, you should be more than able to cover anything that might come later in her life.

originally posted by: tamusan
a reply to: Gloomyloki43

Since she is a puppy still, if you are able to start right away by putting $200 or $300 minimum into a savings account that is just for vet care, you should be more than able to cover anything that might come later in her life.

Well yes i have a little squirrel holed away for such. But due to the way policy seems to work is i pay out of pocket the entire bill and then hope for reimbursement. So i suppose its just an unfortunate situation.

originally posted by: Gloomyloki43

originally posted by: tamusan
a reply to: Gloomyloki43

Since she is a puppy still, if you are able to start right away by putting $200 or $300 minimum into a savings account that is just for vet care, you should be more than able to cover anything that might come later in her life.

Well yes i have a little squirrel holed away for such. But due to the way policy seems to work is i pay out of pocket the entire bill and then hope for reimbursement. So i suppose its just an unfortunate situation.

Also sorry to hear about the pup. Strokes are rough but many pets for him and hope recovery goes well and smooth

originally posted by: Gloomyloki43

originally posted by: tamusan
a reply to: Gloomyloki43

Ah, good. That is very smart of you and tells me that you care a lot for your puppy. Having pet insurance could still be a smart move on your part because you could get some of your money back. There is also something called CareCredit that you should look into in case you ever need it. They will let you finance vet bills up to the limit that they give you, but I find the interest to be a little exploitive.

I do have pet insurance on the ones that I've had since they were puppies. The pet insurance that I use is the Nationwide Pet Insurance Whole Pet Plan. I also have some dogs that I've adopted that came with some pre-existing conditions, and I felt that paying insurance premiums for them wasn't worth it. My pack has recently grown from 5 to 7.

Thank you. My pup is doing kind of well today. He just has a little bit of a head tilt.

edit on 7 3 2022 by tamusan because: (no reason given)

edit on 7 3 2022 by tamusan because: (no reason given)

a reply to: Gloomyloki43

The text isn't showing in my last reply, so I am posting it again.

Ah, good. That is very smart of you and tells me that you care a lot for your puppy. Having pet insurance could still be a smart move on your part because you could get some of your money back. There is also something called CareCredit that you should look into in case you ever need it. They will let you finance vet bills up to the limit that they give you, but I find the interest to be a little exploitative.

I do have pet insurance on the ones that I've had since they were puppies. The pet insurance that I use is the Nationwide Pet Insurance Whole Pet Plan. I also have some dogs that I've adopted that came with some pre-existing conditions, and I felt that paying insurance premiums for them wasn't worth it. My pack has recently grown from 5 to 7.

Thank you. My pup is doing kind of well today. He just has a little bit of a head tilt.

a reply to: Gloomyloki43

We’ve had pet insurance on both of our elder cats.
It pays for itself after 1 visit a year.
When they were about 4 years old - they’re 11 now, I got them insured.

If there’s an after hours emergency- it more than pays for itself. Just for an animal to be seen after 6 pm up here, it costs $450. That’s just to let the poor animal in the front door.
The vets gouge here. HARD.

But with the pet insurance, that $450 vet fee can get blown out their arse!
Because these lil bastards are covered for after hours care.
$190 a year. Half to 3/4 off surgeries, maybe more depending on the needs.

If your a pet owner, that brings your animal to the vet maybe once, more often every two years for blood work or check up, then it may not be worth it - but that also depends on a lot of factors, like known issues with the breed, their age, things like that.

It sounds like your little one will benefit from it. But for the first 4 years for the cats anyways, they went once to get fixed each. And to get their shots. They are indoor cats also. So that plays a factor in things as well.

My wild cat though, he doesn’t qualify for pet insurance because he’s considered an exotic animal.
Luckily, we’ve been with the same vet for 12 years now and we asked her before getting him if she would allow him to come in for shots, neuter, all that fun stuff.
Because some places won’t allow exotic animals in the clinic.

a reply to: Macenroe82

Just for an animal to be seen after 6 pm up here, it costs $450.

It all depends on where you go. For my pet emergency a little over a week ago, I went to an emergency vet that I had never gone to before. I was surprised when the bill was only about $70 more than my regular vet charges me for a senior exam/labs. The emergency vet also did a lot of diagnostics and sent him home with meds. But yeah, most emergency visits are exorbitant. It would have been 3 or 4 times as much if I had gone to the closest emergency vet. Luckily, they didn't have a vet on a Saturday night and I went to one that was 20 minutes further away.

a reply to: tamusan

I’m in Northern Ontario.
We get price gouged on everything here as it is.
There are like 5 vet clinics in town, each of them charge ridiculous fees.
Yet, you drive 3 hours east to an even more isolated town, and their prices are half of ours.

There are a few people who even set up a cross boarder service.
We’re right on the Minnesota boarder here. You go to one of their clinics, and it’s quarter the price on everything.

a reply to: Macenroe82

It's similar for me. I live in a semi-remote location and they gouge us on everything.

We don't even have an emergency vet near us. The closest one is an hour and a half away.

Here in the uk pet insurance is crazy money 1-2k per year for a dog and thats minimum far wiser if the pet is young to stick that into a bank account for it .

i visited the vets on Tuesday and was seen for a maximum 10 minutes of which we spent most of that discussing about his chip implant number and registration as he was a shelter dog 2.5 years ago .

cost of ten minute visit £ 78 , cost of Metacam online £ 3.40.

so in the last two and a half years saving £ 5 a week for vets bills in a account or in my case a jar and paying the vet on Tuesday i have saved £ 500 plus .

i can now go online to the vet supply shop and buy the 10 ml bottle for 3.40 or the bigger 180ml bottle for 20 £ which is a no brainer when i will need it daily