Pet Insurance?

EveAndHerThieves · May 13, 2019

Hopefully this is the right place for this. My cats have all become jealous of each other and all suddenly have medical problems. It's getting expensive very quickly. Does anyone have pet insurance and found it helped? Which type? Is it worth it? I have an ultrasound, a full blood panel, dental cleanings, one with chronic weight problems, another who is likely to get hit by a car one of these days, and now an infected wound. Even cutting down the bills by a few bucks would help.

(I don't ACTUALLY expect him to get hit by a car, btw. But one of these days he's going to do something stupider than normal and get hurt)

daftcat75 · May 13, 2019

I have Trupanion. I signed up last year because Krista was a month away from never being eligible again. Trupanion won't take any new policies after their 14th birthday.

Trupanion and likely all the others have an 18 month look-back period for pre-existing conditions. None of Krista's IBD or pancreatitis was covered because she had a vomiting visit in that look back period. None of her dental work is covered for the same reason. What's left? Well, they did reimburse me for 2/3 of Krista's big hospital stay at the beginning of the year for her liver. That wasn't in the look-back and they covered all the expenses around her liver and gallbladder treatment at 90% after the deductible was met.

For me, to keep the premium affordable ($60/mo for a 15 year old), I chose a high deductible: $1000. The deductible is per condition but once met, it doesn't reset each year. So I've already met her deductible for liver/gallbladder if she has a recurrence.

I don't know what the premiums are for younger cats. But I suspect that it's likely the same deal. It doesn't really become affordable unless you max out the deductible. In that case, you're pretty much paying for catastrophic insurance or anything that is not now, hasn't been in the last 18 months, but could become a chronic and recurring expense in the future.

Is it worth it? It could be. Insurance is always a gamble. You could end up paying a lot into premiums and either never need it or never be able to use it (preexisting conditions.) But if it does finally pay out, what Trupanion reimbursed me for earlier this year should cover her premiums for the rest of her life.

GalaxyGirl · May 13, 2019

daftcat75 said:
I have Trupanion. I signed up last year because Krista was a month away from never being eligible again. Trupanion won't take any new policies after their 14th birthday.

Trupanion and likely all the others have an 18 month look-back period for pre-existing conditions. None of Krista's IBD or pancreatitis was covered because she had a vomiting visit in that look back period. None of her dental work is covered for the same reason. What's left? Well, they did reimburse me for 2/3 of Krista's big hospital stay at the beginning of the year for her liver. That wasn't in the look-back and they covered all the expenses around her liver and gallbladder treatment at 90% after the deductible was met.

For me, to keep the premium affordable ($60/mo for a 15 year old), I chose a high deductible: $1000. The deductible is per condition but once met, it doesn't reset each year. So I've already met her deductible for liver/gallbladder if she has a recurrence.

I don't know what the premiums are for younger cats. But I suspect that it's likely the same deal. It doesn't really become affordable unless you max out the deductible. In that case, you're pretty much paying for catastrophic insurance or anything that is not now, hasn't been in the last 18 months, but could become a chronic and recurring expense in the future.

Is it worth it? It could be. Insurance is always a gamble. You could end up paying a lot into premiums and either never need it or never be able to use it (preexisting conditions.) But if it does finally pay out, what Trupanion reimbursed me for earlier this year should cover her premiums for the rest of her life.

I want to get them for my 3 young cats. Still debating.

daftcat75 · May 13, 2019

GalaxyGirl said:
I want to get them for my 3 young cats. Still debating.

Doesn't hurt to run through their premium calculators to see if it's reasonable. If they are indoor only, you probably don't need it until they get older. But the lookback is brutal. By the time you have decided they really need insurance, you've probably already paid a few bills for now disqualified conditions.

ailish · May 13, 2019

I rescued Ailish when she was 1 year old and had no preexisting conditions. I got insurance immediately because I didn't ever want to have to make a medical decision based on money. I was particularly worried about accidents, because we had a dog when I was young who got run over by a car in our driveway. He was a beloved dog and thankfully, my father was able to get him the best care and he survived, thus avoiding a disaster for the dog, grief for two little kids and two parents, and guilt for my grandfather who ran him over completely by accident. The dog was peeing on the wheel of my grandfather's car went he went to move the car! I hope my insurance is a complete waste of money and Ailish lives a long healthy life and dies in her sleep at an old age. But if not, I feel like I can get her the care she needs.

kittyluv387 · May 13, 2019

It's only worth it for emergencies. Or else you'll be paying too much in premiums. I have it for one of my cats and it's a high deductible plan. This is fine by me because I can handle most Bill's. Just will have a hard time for thousands of dollars, which is what insurance is for. I have Healthy Pawz and pay about $17/month for my 4 year old cat.

verna davies · May 13, 2019

I had insurance on all my three cats and after 3 years and no claims decided to cancel. Within 3 weeks one of my cats had a condition called Eosinophilic Kerititis. It needs medication daily and regular check ups with a specialist for life. Its costing me a fortune. Get insurance I say, you never know what is going to happen.

daftcat75 · May 13, 2019

kittyluv387 said:
pay about $17/month for my 4 year old cat.

I spend more than $17/mo on streaming subscriptions I don’t watch. (But I will! Because the shows are so compelling. That I don’t watch them.

)

I may even spend $60/mo (my 15 yo’s premium) on things far more wasteful than insurance. :paperbag:

Furballsmom · May 13, 2019

verna davies said:
Within 3 weeks one of my cats had a condition called Eosinophilic Kerititis. It needs medication daily and regular check ups with a specialist for life.

I'm so sorry this happened!

verna davies · May 13, 2019

Furballsmom said:
I'm so sorry this happened!

Thank you. I have now taken out new insurance but the EK is classed as pre existing so not covered. We never know what is going to happen to our cats and vets fees are so expensive I now realise that even a basic insurance gives peace of mind.

Leomc123 · May 14, 2019

Wow here in australia our pet insurance only covers non - preexisiting conditions, like car accidents or from the date that you insured your cat, if your cat gets arthritis all of a sudden, they will say it was a pre exisiting condition so insurance wont assist to pay. If the cat gets arthritis in one leg, they will pay, but on both legs they will not pay. If your cat was healthy and after the date of insurance your cat gets cancer, they will say its a pre-existing condition and not pay.

So in otherwords your pet needs to be hit by a car then they will assist with xrays, blood work, operations. Everything else that happens after the date you insured your cat for will be considered Pre-existing. That is how ausralia pet insurance work.

Also the insurance will only treat the non- pre existing conditions in a car accident. So for example your cat from the accident gets arthritis from a bone injury, they will say that arthritis was there before your pet got injured, or blood clot after the accident, your cat had a clot before the cat had an accident and is not accident related so it is a pre-exisiting condition .

verna davies · May 14, 2019

That's tough

Leomc123 . Does it still apply if you took your cat to your vet and he reported no arthritis, no cancer shown up in blood works etc.

Pet Insurance?

EveAndHerThieves

TCS Member

Thread starter

daftcat75

TCS Member

GalaxyGirl

TCS Member

daftcat75

TCS Member

ailish

TCS Member

kittyluv387

TCS Member

verna davies

TCS Member

daftcat75

TCS Member

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee

verna davies

TCS Member

Leomc123

TCS Member

verna davies

TCS Member

Latest Posts

Connect with us