Curable pre existing conditions are usually/sometimes covered if the animal has gone for 12 months without having that condition occur again. Incurable ones usually aren't. However, you have to do research through a number of policies and read carefully to see what you need and are looking for. If you change the original policy later, such as asking for a higher deductible, it will usually make everything that occurred before the new policy date pre existing, so then you invoke the curable/incurable clause.