Insurance Rates for Pets

Just like the health insurance available for humans, you can buy insurance coverage for your pets too and avoid the expense of hundreds or even thousands of dollars if you need to take your pet to see a veterinarian.

 

Pets are like members of a family. You sure give them love and would want them to be safe and live happily for as long as possible. Many pet owners spend thousands of dollars when their pets develop illnesses due to age and characteristics of the breed or if the pet has an accident and fractures a bone. When affording health costs for humans in the family becomes difficult, the additional costs to cover health care for pets becomes overwhelming which might make it prudent to have a pet insurance policy in place..

 

The Pet Insurance

 

The insurance rates for pets varies according the type of the pet, the breed of the pet, the age of the pet and according to any preexisting health conditions. An important point to note is that a pet insurance is not like the health care plans like the HMO or PPO health plans that humans have. The pet insurance is a fee for service type plan. The pet insurance company pays only when you pet has a vet visit that is covered by the insurance plan. If your pet has an accident, you need to pay the cost first from your pocket and get it reimbursed from the insurance company by filling out some forms.

 

Do you really need a pet insurance?

 

The insurance rates for pets vary widely and therefore it is important to figure out the total cost that you would spend through out the life of the pet for insurance and how much you might actually spend given the small chance of your pet getting an accident or a severe health condition.

 

As a matter of fact, only a very small percentage, like less than 5 percent, of pet owners actually get a pet insurance.

 

Pets like birds and exotic pets like reptiles often are kept only in the cages. These pets hardly meet an accident while inside a home where they spend most of their lives anyways. Secondly, even if the owners love their bird pets so much, they know in their heart of hearts that it can always be replaced by buying another bird. They know it is a better option for the bird as well as themselves to put the extremely sick bird to eternal sleep rather than put it through the travails of surgeries. However, each pet owner is different and most would love to have their animals as long as they can and keep them healthy. If you prefer to have an insurance for your bird, there are insurance companies these days who can provide you the insurance rates for birds and exotic pets.

 

It is an entirely different matter when it comes to pets like dogs and cats. The dogs are very lively and playful pets and they are indeed like family members. The dog owners know how much love they get back in return. The cats fall in a similar category. Since both the cats and the dogs have a long life, it might be a good idea to buy an insurance that can provide monetary help if need be. You would find many insurance companies that provide insurance rates for dogs and cats.

 

One of my friends is a great animal lover. She picks up rescued and abandoned cats who are often injured and sick. Last time one of her four cats, had problems walking and my friend spent about five thousand dollars on the cat. Unfortunately, the cat seemed not comfortable even after several weeks of treatments and multiple surgeries. Finally, she realized that she was giving more pain to the cat by making her undergo all the surgeries and it was a better option to put her to sleep. It was not an easy decision but she said it was a wise one. As you must have guessed by now, she never bought pet insurance. I asked her if it would have made a difference if she had pet insurance and her reply was that having the insurance would have only made her get more treatments for her cat and eventually make its life miserable. At least now her cat is relieved of all the pain.

 

A cat or dogs insurance might cost you around $25 to $70 dollars a month depending upon the breed and age of the pet. Many pet owners calculate to figure out that even if they have to spend one time a couple of thousand dollars, they would still be saving money by not having a pet insurance.

 

Some pet owners also found out the hard way that the basic regular checkups, shots, sterilization and preventive care are not covered by the pet insurance. You would still need to pay all these from your own pocket. Secondly, many times the insurance companies have strict rules that make it hard to cover even accident treatments for pets. So the point was why pay the pet insurance companies when they would not cover most of the costs for your pet? Again, very franly, the answer depends a lot on your own judgment and preferences. Personally, I have a dog that we love so much and get much more love in return, but if the time comes, I plan to pay the money from my pocket rather than get an insurance plan for him.